Lake George Hiking : Sunrise Mountain & Jabe Pond + Others
Lake George is full of fun, scenic, easier, hikes that most people can do and easily drive too. I think the Lake George area is a great introduction to hiking, especially if you are new to higher elevation gains. Lake George hiking is no where near as tough as Keene Valley/Lake Placid and the High Peaks, but it is a good introduction into hikes that actual have a mountain view at the top and elevation gains.
I have spent almost every summer in Lake George and I’m an adirondack 46er, so yes, I have done my fair share of hiking and a good amount of it in Lake George. There are a couple really fun and beautiful hikes that I recommend if you are in the Lake George area and want a nice view. However, what I recommend is based on your hiking ability. Later in this post, I will recommend several hikes in the Lake George area, that are either beginner, intermediate, or advanced.
In addition, in this post, you will learn about Lake George hiking trails with waterfalls, Lake George hiking challenges, Lake George trails easy, Lake George hiking mountains, Lake George hikes for kids, and more.
Lake George Hiking:
Lake George Hiking Trails Waterfalls
There are some trails you can hike in Lake George that have waterfalls, however, a lot more have ponds that you can hike to. Jabe Pond and Sunrise Mountain are a great hike if you want to hike to a body of water. The best hike for waterfalls in the area is Shelving Rock Falls. Shelving Rock Area of the Lake George Wild Forest is a total of 3 miles round trip with an elevation gain of about 700ft, which is not bad. I would recommend this to any beginner hiker. They have nice falls that you can swim in along the hike, as well, as a nice view at the summit.
Jabe Pond & Sunrise Mountain
This is another loop where you will see a mountain summit and pond/body of water. My friends and I hiked the Jabe Pond path, in Bolton Landing, New York. This is a great hike for immediate hikers, as the summit is not too far. It is about 1.5 miles to the summit of Sunrise, but very uphill throughout the entire hike. After the summit, to get to the pond it is another 1-1.5 miles, thus roundtrip this path is about 6 miles. However, my friends and I did get lost a couple of times, thus the total milage is probably, more around 4-5 miles roundtrip.
Traveling to this trail, is fairly easy, but you might miss the parking area. From Albany, NY, you want to, get onto interstate, 87 North. Then, you will take exit 24, toward NY-9N and US-9, and drive about 24 miles (give or take). On your left you will see a tiny parking area, that only holds about 5 cars maximum. This parking lot is VERY easy to miss, it will be on your left, before you see Sunrise road (on your right). Thus, once you see the sign for Sunrise road on your right, you’ve gone too far.
Lake George Hiking Mountains
Once you have parked, the trail is to the right of the parking area, and you will follow that until you reach an intersection. This intersection will have different signs for which trails to follow and what color the trail markers are. For the Jabe Pond loop, you want to follow the Bob James trail. However, to start, you can just follow Sunrise Mountain trail, because they both go to the summit of Sunrise. You can also download and follow the AllTrails map (have to be pro member to use offline/without phone service).
You will follow the red trail markers all the way to Sunrise summit. When hiking to the summit of Sunrise, it’s uphill the ENTIRE way. The last bit of this trail is extremely steep, so be prepared for that. But, the views are very pretty, I felt like I had stepped into Scotland and the Highlands, it was so majestic.
This would be a great hike to watch the sunrise or sunset at, as it is not too long, but still has an incredible view (hence it’s name, Sunrise Mountain!). I would definitely advice you to bring headlamps if you wish to do this, you can find some here.
On Your Way Down
On your way down, if you only wish to hike Sunrise, then just follow the same trail up, to go down. However, if you want to continue to Jabe Pond, follow the white markers, which are past the summit. There will be an intersection, informing you if you wish to continue to the pond, or a couple other trails accessible from this hiking region as well.
Once on the trail to the pond, you will follow the North Jabe trail to the red trail, then to the white trail, then you will follow the blue trail. The blue trail will bring you to a parking lot, which means you’ve made it to the pond. Walk past the parking lot, and you will find the pond (lake, it’s a pretty big body of water). There is also another hiking/walking trail that goes along the pond.
There are many places you can sit and relax at, when you are at the pond. You can also kayak at the pond, and there is a way to access the parking lot, where you do not have to hike Sunrise Mountain. However, to get to the pond parking lot, you will need a vehicle with four wheel drive and a high under clearance, it is mostly dirt and rough roads.
To get back to the Sunrise parking lot, go back the way you came. So you will travel back through the parking lot, and onto the blue trail. There will be the same intersection that you pasted on your way to the pond, and again, you want to follow the Bob James trail.
Be very careful, because it is very easy to get lost coming back, because there are so many other trails you can access from this hiking area. There are also many more intersections you will come across, so again, just make sure you follow the Bob James trail.
That being said, this is a great loop, that you can easily make into an afternoon or all morning hike. You can stop at the pond and have lunch, take a little swim, kayak, or do more walking around the pond! All around, this is a great hike, and great way to spend your day on the pond. I would rate this as an intermediate hike because of the elevation gain at Sunrise and this loop can be quite hard to follow at times.
Lake George Trails Easy : Pole Hill Pond
Another great hike to do within the Adirondacks is the Pole Hill Pond loop, where you hike Pole Hill and it’s pond. This trail is a beautiful hike that goes along lake George, New York, specifically in Bolton Landing. This hiking trail is about 45 minutes from Saratoga Springs, New York, about an hour and 25 minutes from Albany.
The drive to Pole Hill Pond, is not bad, because the trail is located right off the main road. However, the parking area is very limited, there is only room for about four cars. So, get there early if you want to hike. The Pole Hill Pond trail, is a loop that encounters a summit and a gorgeous pond. There were two times, my friends and I, thought we had arrived at the summit and pond, but they were merely fakes, and much smaller than the real deal.
This trail, if you follow the blue, is very steep, and really gets the blood pumping, so be ready for that. Also, the trail was about two miles longer than what was written on the trail head and AllTrails. On the trail head it said the loop was 4.5 miles, although, when we finished, my phone informed us, we had walked a little over 7 miles. Overall, this was a beautiful hike, the summit was gorgeous.
There is also another way to the top, if you do not wish to follow the blue trail, as it is pretty steep at parts. If you wish to follow a more gradual incline, there is the yellow trail you can follow instead. However, I am not sure if the yellow trail is longer than the blue, so I would keep that in mind as well, if you are interested in the yellow trail. I think my favorite part of the hike was the pond. The pond was gorgeous and so peaceful. In the summer, But, this would be a great hike with a swim after.
Other Lake George Hikes
The couple trails I mentioned above are only a FEW of the Lake George hikes, here I will list some more, from easier to most difficult.
- Stewart’s Ledge Trail : this is a very easy, very beginner mountain, it is a total of 1.4 miles with a 272ft elevation gain.
- Inman Pond Trail : this is a great walk with a nice view of Inman pond, again, this is a very beginner trail, being only 3.6 miles round trip with a little over 400ft elevation gain.
- Thomas Mountain : this another beginner trail and great to do with your kids, it’s a total of 3 miles with almost a 800ft elevation gain.
- Pilot Knob Ridge : this is a beginner to moderate trail being almost 4 miles total and a little over 1,328ft of elevation gain.
- Cat Mountain : beginner to moderate, being 4 miles round trip and about a 1,000ft elevation gain, but harder to follow. You could pair this is Thomas Mountain as well.
- Potash Mountain : again this is a beginner to moderate trail being almost 3 miles total with a little over 1,000ft elevation gain.
- Black Mountain : this is an intermediate trail being almost 6 miles round trip with an elevation gain of about 1,200ft.
- Sleeping Beauty : if you hike this trail from the first parking lot, it’s about 7 miles long, but from the second parking lot about 3.5, with an elevation gain of about 1,400ft. I would say this is an intermediate trail.
- Buck Mountain : this is a solid intermediate hike, being about 7 miles long with almost a 2,000ft elevation gain.
- Prospect Mountain : this is a shorter trail however, you have SO MUCH elevation gain in only 1.5 miles. It is a total of 3.3 miles with an elevation gain of about 1,500ft, I would rate this again, as a solid intermediate trail.
- Tongue Mountain Range : this is a difficult/advanced hike, it’s about 15 miles long with a little over 3,000ft of elevation gain. You will need two cars for this route and there are rattle snakes, so beware.
Lake George Hiking Challenge
There is a famous hiking challenge in Lake George, the Lake George 12ster. In this challenge, hikers will hike 6 different peaks and then another 6 peaks from the Tongue Mountain Range within the Lake George area. Here is the registration form you can fill out after you hike all 12 peaks and here is where you can send your form to. Lastly, here you will find all the 12 peaks associated with this challenge.
That wraps our post about Lake George hiking. I hope you found some new hikes to explore and see some new mountain views and waterfalls. Thank you so much for reading and I hope this article was helpful to you.
