The Great Range Traverse Adirondacks
The Great Range is probably the most ambitious traverse throughout the entire Adirondack park. It encompasses 8 high peaks, 10 total peaks, and 20 miles of almost 9,000ft of elevation gain, it’s a lot! Looking from the map, you could tackle on Skylight and Gray peaks as well, adding an addition 2 miles, and two more high peaks. This would make the hike a 22 mile day with just over 9,000ft of elevation gain. This is definitely not a hike for the faint of heart!
This all being said, there are a couple of different ways to hike this range/traverse if you are interested. You will need to cars, because either way you hike this range, you will end up at a different lot than where you started.
Okay, in this post you will learn about the great range traverse hike, the great range traverse Adirondacks, the entire hiking route, great range traverse ny, great range traverse parking, and more.
This post is all about the Great Range Traverse.
Great Range Traverse:
Great Range Traverse Hike
Okay, to get started, there are two different ways you can hike this range, either from the Adk Lodge or from the Rooster Comb parking lot. Honestly, either way you hike it, they both come out to be about the same elevation gain and mileage. You will need two cars to hike this traverse because you will either end up at the Adk lodge or the Rooster Comb parking lot. These two trail heads are about a 15 minute drive from one another, so you don’t want to walk it.
If you start this hike from the Adk Lodge, the benefit is, you get the biggest elevation gain out of the way first, by hiking to Mount Marcy. However, if you don’t want to do this, and have more of a slower grade climb, then you can start from the Rooster Comb parking area. Also, you start from Rooster Comb, will hit all the high peaks and end on Marcy (or Gray and Skylight if you want to these on).
Compared to starting at the Adk Lodge, you will see Mount Marcy first, then do a lot of up and down. However, if you start at the Rooster Comb parking lot/trailhead, you will gradually incline the whole time. This is why, I suggest starting from the Rooster Comb lot, because it’s more straight forward.
Great Range Traverse Parking : Rooster Comb Parking/Trailhead
To get to the Rooster Comb parking lot, you will get on Interstate 87 North or South (depending where you’re coming from). You will take Exit 30 towards Keene, Lake Placid, and Whiteface Mountain. You will take a left onto Route 73 (or right, if you’re coming South). In about 2.3 miles you will come to an intersection where you will stay left towards Keene, Lake Placid, and Whiteface Mountain. Then in 8.1 miles you will see signs for the Rooster Comb parking area, you will take a left into the parking lot. This is a pretty big parking area.
Great Range Traverse Parking : Adk Lodge
To get to the Lodge you will continue straight for 13 miles instead of 8.1 on Route 73. You will go through the town of Keene, at the end of the 13 miles you will see a small intersection. There will be a small sign indicating to keep left for the High Peaks, which is what you want to do.
After this intersection, you will continue straight again for 11 miles, then take a left onto Adirondack Loj Road. You will follow this road all the way down for about 4.7 miles. You will come to a booth, where you will have to pay $15 for parking or $7 if you are a member of the Adk Club. If there is no attendant at the window, there is a slip/mailbox box next to the window, that you will open.
There will be an envelope that you will take and open. Inside you will find a parking sticker for your car and inside the envelope is where you will enclose your money. Then, there will be a slip in the window, where you will put the envelope with your money in. Make sure if you get there before 7am, to bring exact change, because there will be no one attendant at the window to exact your money.
Starting at Rooster Comb (End at Adk Lodge)
After you park at the Rooster Comb parking lot, you will follow the signs towards Rooster Comb summit (about 2.8 miles in), then onto Hedgehog Mountain (about 3.5 miles in, about .7 miles from Rooster Comb summit). Then you will head towards Lower and Upper Wolfjaw (start of the high peaks you will hike). You will hit Lower Wolfjaw first, in about 1 mile, then in about another .7 miles you will come to Upper Wolfjaw (about 5.2 miles total, so far). After the Wolfjaws you will head towards Armstrong Mountain, which is about 1 mile away. Then you will hike towards Gothics which is about 1.5 miles away.
After Gothics, you will continue pass its summit, and hike down the infamous Gothic Cables, then see signs for Saddleback Mountain. You will reach Saddleback summit in about .7 miles (about 8.4 total hiked so far). After Saddleback, you will hike to Basin, and encounter yet another famous portion of the Adks, the Saddleback Cliffs. Now, keep in mind, if you go this way, you will have to hike down the cliffs.
Now, I have only hiked up the Saddleback Cliffs, never down them, but people say they are a little easier going down, but who knows. I think it’s all about your preference and perspective. After the cliffs, you will be on your way to Basin Mountain, which is about .7 of a mile from Saddleback. There are some pretty technically steep parts here, so just be careful. Then you will be on your way to Mount Haystack, which is about .9 of a mile from Basin.
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Getting to Mount Haystack and Mount Marcy
Make sure you don’t stop at Little Haystack instead of Mount Haystack (you will now be at about 10.5 miles total). After Haystack, you will hike down Mount Haystack and take a left at the Basin and Haystack trail intersections. You will take a left, towards the Phelps trail. You will see signs for Mount Marcy, which is where you want to start hiking towards. Mount Marcy is about 1.5-2 miles away from Haystack. Then after about 12.5 miles, you will be at your final peak of the day, congratulations! What a feat to accomplish! But now, you have to hike back down.
Adding Gray and Skylight High Peaks
You could add on Gray and Skylight, which will add about two more miles to your hike. To do this, you will hike .8 miles on the backside of Marcy. Thus, continue pass the Mount Marcy summit, and follow the yellow markings on the rocks, and you will eventually fall back onto the tree line.
Then you will come to an intersection, where again, you can turn left towards Skylight (.5 miles away) or right towards Gray. For Gray you will take a right and continue down a little bit until you see a cairn of rocks, where you will turn off and in about .5 miles you will come to Gray Peak. After Gray, you will come back down the way you came, and continue to follow the trail you were on before the rock cairn, back down.
You will have hiked about 14.5 total miles now. To continue back down, you will want to follow signs for the Cloud of Tears, and then to Avalanche Lake/Pass, then to the Marcy Dam, then back to the lodge/parking lot. You will come to the parking lot in about 6.4 miles. Which means you will have hiked about 21 miles!
If you don’t wish to hike Gray and Skylight, you will follow the Van Hoevenberg Trail down, which is about the same distance as the other way, and you will hike the front side of Marcy instead of the backside. I HIGHLY recommend following a great range traverse map while you do this hike or follow the AllTrails map here. My directions are VERY brief in comparison to what you will actually hike and have to follow. So, please keep this in mind, if you decide to hike this traverse.
Starting from the Adk Lodge (End at Rooster Comb)
Now, if you start from the Adk lodge, you will follow signs towards the Marcy Dam (about 2.4 miles in), then to Phelps and Tabletop, Mount Marcy summits, and the Van Hoevenberg (8.3 miles to get to Marcy summit). You will see signs for Indian Falls, which you will walk pass, this will be about 5.3 miles in.
You will continue to walk until you reach the top of Mount Marcy (New York’s highest peak). You’ll start to reach the beginning of the rock faces of Mount Marcy about 7.4 miles in, then about half a mile (little less) more you reach the summit of Mount Marcy.
Getting to Mount Haystack, Basin & Saddleback
From Marcy, you will hike back down the rock face (that you came up), back into the tree line, where you will see signs for Haystack and the Phelps trail. You want to turn right here and follow the signs towards Haystack (about 2 miles away). After Haystack, you will hike back down the way you came, where you will reach a split at the end of the rock faces. Here you will turn right towards Basin.
Basin is about .9 miles away, with a steep .9 of a mile. After Basin, you will continue pass the summit in the tree line, towards Saddleback for about .7 of a mile. Be careful because this is a steep decent down. About .4 of a mile before the summit you will encounter the Saddleback Cliffs. Again, just be careful here, especially if you are shorter, there are some tricky parts.
Getting to Gothics, Armstrong & the Wolfjaws
After Saddleback, you will continue to Gothics and Armstrong peaks. Gothics is about .4 miles away, you will climb up the Gothic Cables as well. If you get nervous on open rock faces I would HIGHLY recommend hiking this traverse with someone to help you up the cables. Or start from the Rooster Comb parking lot/trailhead.
I’m okay on open rock faces and I felt kind of uneasy on the cables. I thought it was easier going down the cables than up. After you reach the Gothics summit, you will hike pass Gothics, towards Armstrong. Armstrong is about 1.5 miles away. Then you will continue pass Armstrong towards Upper and Lower Wolfjaw.
Getting to Hedgehog & Rooster Comb Mountains
Upper Wolfjaw is about a mile away. Then you will continue towards Lower Wolfjaw which is about half a mile away. After the Wolfjaws, you will hike to Hedgehog Mountain which is around .5 of a mile away, a little less. Finally, you will hike to your last peak of the day, Rooster Comb, which will be about 1.4 miles away. Then, you will hike to the Rooster Comb parking area which is about 2.8 miles away, a little less.
And that’s the Great Range! It is quite the challenge, but I’m sure for some of you, it’s light work. But for people like myself, it is a challenge, doable, but a challenge. I hope (if you are able) you take on this massive hike one day!
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The Lower Great Range Traverse Loop
Okay, a nice introduction or little sister to the Great Range Traverse loop is the, Lower Great Range Traverse. This is about a 17 mile hike with an elevation gain of 5,475ft. On this hike, you will encompass 6 different peaks and 5 total high peaks. You will start this hike from the AMR or the Ausable Club, which you will need a reservation for if you plan on hiking the loop from May 1st through October 31st.
You can make one here. It’s really easy to make a reservation and they are free, but you will need to print your reservation out and show it to the parking attendant and the ranger at the parking and hiking registration area. Or you can take a picture of your reservation on your phone and show that.
Getting to the AMR or Ausable Club Parking Lot
To get here by car, you will get on Interstate 87 North or South, depending on where you are coming from. You will take Exit 30 towards Keene, Lake Placid, and Whiteface Mountain. You will take a left onto Route 73 (or right, if you’re coming South). In about 2.3 miles you will come to an intersection where you will stay left towards Keene, Lake Placid, and Whiteface Mountain. Then in 5.9 miles you will take a left onto Ausable Road.
The parking lot will be on your left, as soon as you turn. Be careful, because this turn from Route 73 is right after a big hill, going down. So, make sure not to gain a ton of speed, because you’ll have to slam on the breaks to make the left hand turn onto Ausable Road.
Starting the Lower Great Range Traverse Loop
To start off this hike, you will begin at the AMR parking lot, then you will walk pass the parking lot up the dirt road. Once, you see the golf course, you will see signs on your left towards the hiking trails and you will follow these signs, until you get to the hiker registration area (about .5 miles away total from AMR parking lot).
After you sign in, you will walk on the infamous Lake Road for about 2 miles until you see the cutoff for the scenic route towards Sawteeth and Colvin, on your left. When I hiked Gothics and Sawteeth, I didn’t see this cutoff, so I walked all the way down towards the dam (about 3.5 miles away) and to Rainbow Falls. You will find signs towards Gothics and Sawteeth here, which will be about 2.5 miles from here but straight up.
Getting to Sawteeth & Gothics High Peaks
If you take this way and go all the way down Lake Road, there will be a trail split, where you can do Sawteeth or Gothics. I would hike Sawteeth first, so you don’t have to backtrack. But again, if you take the scenic way to Sawteeth, you won’t have to worry about this. You will hike straight to Sawteeth, then continue pass it towards Gothics.
You will also pass Pyramid Peak before Gothics, which is also super pretty. Pyramid is not a high peak, but a beautiful mountain. After Gothics, you will continue to Armstrong (about 1.4 miles away). Then you will be on your way to the Wolfjaws. Upper Wolfjaw is about a mile away and then Lower Wolfjaw which is about half a mile away.
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Getting to Armstrong & the Wolfjaws High Peaks
Before you get to the summit of Lower Wolfjaw, you will come to an intersection, the Wedge Brook Trail Junction. There will be signs for Lower Wolfjaw (to your left) and then another sign for Lake Road/East Branch Trail, you want to first hike to Lower Wolfjaw, then come back down to this intersection and hike to Lake Road/East Branch Trail.
You will hike the Wedge Brook Trail for about 1.2 miles until you come to another intersection for the East Branch Trail. Then, you will continue on the East Branch Trail, which will parallel Lake Road until you will eventually come back out onto Lake Road. You will follow the East Branch for about .9 of a mile.
Getting Back Down
After the .9 of a mile, you will come back onto Lake Road for a very short distance then to the gate, then to the hiker registration area. You can sign out, then be back on your way to the AMR or St. Huberts parking lot. And you are done and have just completed 5 more high peaks! This is a really cool loop with awesome views!
There are a couple other ways you can hike or split up this range/loop if you are interested. But I recommend just hiking all of them, if you can, because it’s more efficient and you’ll feel super accomplished after you hike all of the peaks. However, if you are trying to take your time with hiking the high peaks, then I would split this loop up.
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How to Split Up the Lower Great Range Traverse Loop
You can hike just Sawteeth, Pyramid, and Gothics together (I first did this) from the AMR and Ausable Club, which is about 12 miles. And then you can hike the Wolfjaws and Armstrong on their own, from the AMR/Ausable Club. You can also hike the Wolfjaws and Armstrong from the Garden Parking and the John Brooks Lodge. I don’t suggest this way unless there are no reservations at the AMR. Hiking these peaks from the Garden is much longer and confusing. Thus, I would save yourself the confusion and extra miles and just hike these from the AMR if you can.
Final Thoughts About the Great Range Traverse Adk
Again, all these hikes are awesome, in my opinion. I love hiking in the Adirondacks because they are so rewarding and impressive. Even though the Adirondacks can be ill-marked and WAY longer than their mileage says, their views are ALWAYS worth it, most of the time. Anyways, I hope you hike some of these traverses and thank you so much for reading, take care and get hiking!
