A Complete Trail Report On Rooster Comb & Snow Mountain of the Adirondacks
If you don’t know, the Adirondacks, are a mountain range in New York State. They are mostly located in the towns of, Keene/Keene Valley and Lake Placid. Rooster Comb is located in Keene, NY. It is a very popular, moderate hike (if in shape) for people to climb during the summer and fall months. The peak right next to Rooster (accessible from same parking lot/trailhead) is called, Snow Mountain. Both are great hikes, however, I prefer Snow Mountain, because it’s less crowded.
I have grown up in upstate New York (about 2 hours away from the Adirondacks) and am an avid hiker (I’m a 46er). Thus, I do have a lot of knowledge and experience when it comes to hiking in the Adirondacks. I will say Rooster Comb is a great summit, if you are looking for a moderate hike. It is about 4 and a half miles round trip, with a little over 1,700ft of elevation gain. If you are in decent shape, you will still be huffing and puffing when climbing this trail. 1,700ft is almost 1,000ft of elevation gain per mile, which is a lot. It may not seem like a lot because it’s low mileage but TRUST me, mileage is not what exhausts people, it’s the elevation gain.
However, we will learn more about Rooster Comb and Snow Mountain elevation gains, mileage and more in this article. In addition, I will talk about Rooster Comb parking lot, Rooster Comb Inn Keene Valley, Rooster Comb trailhead, Rooster Comb hike difficulty, Rooster Comb hike Adirondacks, and more.
This article is all about Rooster Comb.
Rooster Comb :
Rooster Comb Parking Lot & Directions
To get to Rooster Comb and Snow Mountains, you will start on interstate 87 North or South (depending on where you are coming from). You will get off on exit 30 going towards Keene, Lake Placid, and Whiteface Mountain. If you are going north on 87, once you take exit 30, you will take a left on to Route 73, if you are coming south, you will take a right onto Route 73. Once on Route 73, you will stay on it for about 2.2 miles, then you will come to an intersection, where you want to stay left towards Whiteface, Keene, and Lake Placid. Then in about 8.1 miles you will see a decent sized parking lot, that you will take a left into.
Rooster Comb Trailhead
Once you have parked your car, you will find a bridge/footpath to follow into the woods. You will shortly come to a trail spilt, where you will want to stay left towards Rooster Comb instead of going to the pond. This trail is pretty well marked, you should be able to follow the signs and trail markers for Rooster Comb all the way up and be fine. If you feel more comfortable having a map, here is a link to download the AllTrails Offline Map (have to have the pro version of AllTrails to do this).
Once you get to the summit, you will follow the same way down as you did up. I think the summit is beautiful. However, I like the view right before the actual summit. I don’t know why, put I think it’s prettier. Also, this is one of the few trails that I have hiked in the winter and summer time, but I actually prefer it in the winter. It’s way less crowded and I think the snow covered peaks are more beautiful than the green colored peaks.
{Related Article : Ski Resorts in New York & Catskills Skiing}
Rooster Comb Hike Difficulty
Like I said, Rooster Comb will still be challenging even if you are in decent shape. However, if you are in good hiking shape, then you will be fine on this hike. If this is your first hike, you might want to reconsider. Anything in the High Peaks Wilderness is a lot for your first hike. I would recommend hiking in the Lake George region first. Rooster Comb hike length is 4.5 miles total, round trip.
As previously stated, Rooster Comb mountain elevation gain is just over 1,700ft. This is a tough elevation gain. There’s pretty much no rest from the incline until you get to the summit. Which is why I say you want to be in good shape to complete this. Elevation gains are no joke. Separately, both Rooster Comb and Snow Mountain are about 5 miles total, round trip. Some people pair these two peaks together, which is a great way to get in shape for hiking the 46er’s, if you are interested. Together, both these peaks are about 10 miles, but again, a tough 10 miles. I would allow yourself at least 3 hours to hike one peak, and about 5-6 hours to hike both peaks.
Also, this parking lot gets pretty crowded in the summer and fall months (anywhere from end of June to end of October). If you are planning to hike here on weekends during these months, I would get there no later than 8am, earlier if it’s a holiday weekend. Otherwise, this is easy to drive to, has lots of parking, and is very straight forward hike.
Hiking Snow Mountain
Now, moving on to Rooster Comb’s neighbor, Snow Mountain. This hike/climb is pretty similar to Rooster Comb, as it has a tough elevation gain, and is also around 5 miles long (AllTrails is wrong with the distance). Again, to get here, you will follow the same directions to Rooster Comb, as both peaks are accessible from the same parking lot.
You can also access Hedge Hog Mountain and go onto the Wolf Jaws (high peaks) and the whole Great Range Traverse, if you are interested, here is a link to the total traverse. To get to this trail, you will start this hike the same way you start Rooster Comb and follow the bridge/foot path right next to the parking lot.
Summiting Snow Mountain
Again, there will be a trail split pretty early on, you want to stay left towards Rooster Comb. After about .7 of a mile, you will come to an intersection, with different signs, informing you on which direction each trail goes. If you stay to your right, you will climb Rooster Comb mountain, and if you go to your left, you will climb Snow mountain. Thus, you want to stay to your left and hike Snow Mountain.
When hiking Snow mountain, and you REALLY want to PAY attention to the trail markers, because they are pretty spaced out. Also, this trail is not as traveled as Rooster Comb, therefore, the trail has a lot more fallen trees and branches on the footpath. I highly suggest bringing some sort of another navigation tool, such as an AllTrails map or another map that you like to use while hiking.
Once you go to the left towards Snow Mountain, you will start to follow the red trail markers for a little over a mile. Then, you will come to another intersection of signs, informing you to stay left, again if you wish to continue on Snow mountain. And this time, you will start to follow the blue markers, instead of the red. Then, after a little under half a mile, you will come to another intersection of signs, and again stay to your left for Snow mountain, and you will begin to follow the yellow markers, for about .3 of a mile. Then you will come to the summit of Snow Mountain.
Overall Thoughts of Snow Mountain
The climb to this summit is very rocky, and yes, there is definitely some climbing involved in some areas, but totally manageable. And again, the view is gorgeous. You can see Giant and Noonmark extremely well from this summit and many other mountains. To get back down, just go back the way you came. I would say this trail is dog friendly, but just be extra careful on the last .3 miles of the trail, because it is very rocky, and the summit does feel like you’re on the edge of the earth. But other than that, I would highly recommend this trail, it is quite steep in places, but again, the view is so worthwhile.
Rooster Comb Inn Keene Valley
Not too far from the Rooster Comb hike, is the Rooster Comb Inn in Keene Valley, New York. The Rooster Comb Inn at Keene Valley is literally a minute drive from the trailhead. You could walk to the trailhead/parking lot if you couldn’t find parking at the lot. In addition, it is about $100 – $145 per night, depending on what room you want to book, which you can find more about here.
Overall Thoughts
Overall, I really like these two peaks, I have never hiked them together in the same day, only separately, but I think both are worth the trip. I would rate them as moderate trails but I would be in decent shape to hike these mountains. Thank you so much for reading and I hope this article was helpful if you are interested in climbing these peaks.
