A Guide to McKenzie Mountain and Haystack Peak in the Adirondacks

McKenzie Mountain and Haystack Peak are two mountains located outside of Lake Placid, New York, apart of the Adirondack Mountain range. These mountains are definitely challenging and less rewarding than other mountains in the Adirondacks, however, if you want to get into hiking shape or prepare for the 46ers, hiking these two peaks will definitely do the job.

Now, when I say these two peaks are less rewarding, I really mean, Mount McKenzie. I have yet to hike Haystack Mountain, but I’ve heard, it’s not as difficult as McKenzie. You can hike these two mountain separately or together. I have only hiked Mount McKenzie and I did not pair it with Haystack. If you do pair it with Haystack, it is very similar to hiking different high peaks together. Hiking these two trails together is a little over 10 miles with an elevation gain of over 3,000ft.

In this post, you will read about McKenzie Mountain, McKenzie Mountain wilderness, McKenzie Mountain Lake Placid, McKenzie Mountain trail, McKenzie Mountain hike, McKenzie Mountain camping, Haystack Mountain, Ampersand Mountain, Baker Mountain Saranac Lake, and more.

McKenzie Mountain & Haystack via Jack Rabbit Trail

You can hike McKenzie and Haystack in one of two ways. Either via the Jack Rabbit or the Ray Brook (Route 86) Trail. I hiked McKenzie via the Jack Rabbit Trail. Looking back, I would recommend hiking these via the Ray Brook Route, simply because of the convenience of parking and trail markers. Most people prefer the Jack Rabbit Trail. However, parking is much more limited here, as you have to park on the road, and there are only a few spots. Whereas the Ray Brook trail, has its own parking lot. 

Directions to Jack Rabbit Trailhead

Both these trails and trailheads are located in Lake Placid, New York, apart of the McKenzie Mountain Wilderness. To get to the Jack Rabbit trail, you will start on Interstate 87 North or South (depending where you are coming from), and stay on this highway until Exit 30. At Exit 30 you will take a left onto Route 73 (if coming from 87 North, you will take a right if coming from 87 South), towards Whiteface, Lake Placid, and Keene Valley. In about 2.2 miles you will come to an intersection, where you want to stay left towards Whiteface and Lake Placid. Then you will continue straight for 13 miles, on Route 73.

You will pass through the town of Keene Valley, then pass through another little town of Keene. At the tail end of Keene, there will be a tiny intersection, where you can continue to your right towards Whiteface and Jay. And or you can take a slight left, towards the High Peaks, you want to stay LEFT, towards the High Peaks. There will be a small sign on your right, indicating this as well. After, you will stay on Route 73 for another 13 miles, and you will pass some other famous trails, like Cascade, Porter, and Pitchoff.

Jack Rabbit Trailhead

After the 13 miles, you will take a slight left onto Military Road, then in 3 miles you will turn right onto Carolyn Road. Then in half a mile you will take a slight right onto NY-86, then keep left onto Saranac Avenue. Then in .4 of a mile, take a left onto Whiteface Inn Lane, then in about 1.3 miles, your destination will be on your left. You will have to turn around, so you can park on the right side of the road. Again, there are only about 4 spots maximum here, so plan accordingly (aka get here early). This is also located in a residential area, so it may feel like you’re not suppose to park there, but you can if you are hiking.

From the Jack Rabbit Trail, Mount McKenzie is about 3.6 miles away (one way), and to get to Haystack Mountain (from the trailhead) its about 4 miles or so, a little more (one way). In total this loop is about 9 miles with about a 2,500ft elevation gain. If you are trying to complete your 46er challenge, this loop will be right up your alley. I recommend hiking McKenzie first, because it is a harder climb then come back down to hike Haystack. You can follow the trail markers, however, they aren’t many. Thus, I would follow the AllTrails map to hike either one of these peaks or both.

{Recommended Article : A Complete Look at Ampersand Mountain, Saranac Lake}

Hiking the Jack Rabbit Trail

After parking at the Jack Rabbit Trail, you will continue walking straight, don’t turn left, keep straight, and you will come upon the hiker registration area. You will also see signs that say how far McKenzie and Haystack are. Hiking McKenzie from the Jack Rabbit Trail is much quicker than hiking it from the Ray Brook Trail.  

In about 1.9-2.1 miles you will come to an intersection, where the Jack Rabbit and Ray Brook Trail intersect. There will be a sign indicating to go left for Haystack (2.1 miles away) and another for the Ray Brook Trailhead. There will be no sign for McKenzie, but once you’re here, this is your indication to go right for McKenzie Mountain, which you will follow red markers for. McKenzie Mountain doesn’t have a lot of trail markers along the way, so just watch for the ones that are there. Or, again, follow AllTrails offline/downloadable map. There will be a summit sign, on one of the trees, indicating you have made it to the summit of McKenzie, yay!! It has a nice view of Saranac Lake.

To get to Haystack, you will hike back down from McKenzie summit to the intersection between the Jack Rabbit and Ray Brook trails. You will follow the signs that will tell you what direction to go for Haystack. Once you get to the summit of Haystack, you will retrace your steps back to that intersection then to your car.

Thoughts about McKenzie Mountain

To be honest, I did not enjoy hiking Mount McKenzie. The view is nice but I have seen prettier summits for much less effort. Also, this trail was hard to follow in my opinion and the elevation scrambles were just ridiculous. Overall, I thought it was too much work for not enough pay off. If the view had been more spectacular, then maybe I would feel differently. Now, I have not hiked Haystack, so I can’t say anything about that peak being worth it. But, McKenzie I can. Thus, really, I would only hike McKenzie if you are trying to get in shape for the Adk 46ers or if you’re completing the Saranac 6 challenge.

Directions to Ray Brook Trailhead

Okay, if I didn’t bum you out too much and you’re still interested in hiking these peaks, here is how to get to the Ray Brook trailhead. to get to the other trailhead you will also get on Interstate 87 North (or 87 South, depending where you are coming from), until Exit 30. And follow the same directions, as above, until you get to Military Road. You will take a slight left onto Military Road, but you will take a slight left in 3.6 miles onto NY-86, instead of a right onto Carolyn Road. Then in 1.4 miles the parking area will be on your right, and there will be a sign indicating the parking area for these mountains.

Ray Brook Trailhead

Once you park, you will walk to the hiker registration area. And from Ray Brook, Haystack is about 3.3 miles away, and McKenzie is about 5.2 miles away. This loop altogether, round trip is about 12.4 miles with about a 3,000ft elevation gain. And for this loop, I recommend hiking Haystack first, then McKenzie, because they are right in a line with one another. Whereas the Jack Rabbit Trail, Haystack is to your left, and McKenzie is to your right.

This has about the same elevation gain as the Jack Rabbit Trail, but its a little more straight forward, which is why I personally recommend hiking these trails this way. However, if you aren’t interested in hiking both of them within the same day, then I would park at the Jack Rabbit Trail for McKenzie (much shorter), and the Ray Brook trailhead for Haystack (again much shorter of a distance this way).

Treadway Mountain

Okay, another great mountain, different from where McKenzie and Haystack are, is Treadway Mountain. Treadway and Pharaoh Mountains are apart of the Pharaoh Lake Wilderness Area. They are both located in Paradox, New York. I have not hiked Treadway, but I have hiked Pharaoh Mountain and loved it. I would assume Treadway is very similar to it because they are located in the same wilderness area. Paradox is off of Exit 28 on Interstate 87 North. 

To get to the Treadway, you get on Interstate 87 North, or South, if you live north of Exit 28 on 87. You will take Exit 28 towards Newcomb. At the exit you will go towards NY-74 East toward Crown Point, Ticonderoga-Ferry. In .3 of a mile you will take a right onto NY-74 toward Paradox Lake, and Ticonderoga-Ferry. Then in 13 miles you will take another right onto Putts Pond Road, then finally in 4.1 miles, you will see the parking area.

From the trailhead/parking lot you will walk to the hiker registration area, sign in, then from there, follow the signs towards Treadway Mountain. In total this mountain is about 8.5 miles with an elevation gain of 1,312ft. It does have a rock top summit, it is super pretty, it overlooks Pharaoh Lake. It’s especially pretty for sunrise or sunset, with the water sparkling off the sun, super pretty.

Overall Thoughts

And that wraps up our overview of 3 different hikes within the Adirondacks. You can easily make these into more advanced hikes, with hiking Haystack and McKenzie together, or have a more moderate day with just Treadway or Pharaoh Mountain. While I have not hiked Haystack or Treadway, they look beautiful and much more manageable than McKenzie. Again, I wasn’t a huge fan of McKenzie and would not recommend it unless you want to get into better hiking shape (aka prepare for the Adk 46ers) or complete the Saranac 6 hiking challenge. Thank you so much for reading and take care!