Essex County Highpoint Trip Report

Mt Marcy

Date: September 23, 2008
Author: Edward Earl

I found a route that avoids the somewhat steep ($9) parking fee at the Adirondack Loj.

On NY-73, 11.0 miles W of the center of Keene, I turned S on the Adirondack Loj Rd just E of a large open field. This point is a few miles E of the Olympic ski jumps S of Lake Placid. 3.8 miles later, I turned L on Meadow Lane. (The standard approach to Marcy does not take this turn but continues straight ahead 0.8 more miles to the Loj itself.) Meadow Lane, which is unpaved but OK for any street legal vehicle, heads E for about ½ mile, then turns briefly S before arriving at a fork. The R branch is gated and continues S, whereas the L branch turns E. I parked at one of several convenient pullouts near the gate.

A sign by the gate says that Marcy is 7.6 miles down the R branch, which is the road used to access the ranger station near the Marcy Dam but for all other legal purposes, it's a trail. I hiked this road/trail about 2½ miles to the Marcy Dam. At that point, the route joins the standard route from the Adirondack Loj. Since it's a state HP, it's already well-documented, and I won't describe it any further here.