Catamount Mountain: An Isolated Gem of the Adirondacks

Catamount Mountain

 What’s going on my Road Trip Warriors!? This past Wednesday (8/15/18), my brother Alex and I took a trip into the Wilmington area near Whiteface Mountain. We did not have a full day to hike so I found us a shorter climb in the Adirondacks. The mountain I found for us was Catamount Mountain. Only having a round trip distance of 3.5ish miles, I did not expect much. It has about 1560′ of elevation gain according to All Trails. I have to say that I underestimated this mountain and have fallen in love with it.

Information for the catamount mountain Hike

Catamount mountain sits isolated from surrounding peaks making it that much more prominent. The highest elevation of the mountain is 3173′ and the climb up it is moderate to steep (You do gain 1560′ feet of elevation within .8 miles). The first half mile of the trail is flat and throughout the woods. After that easy trek through the woods, the trail changes quite quickly. It is a fairly steep climb the rest of the hike up to the summit. You’ll find yourself climbing up a mix of dirt and rocks along with bare rock. About 1.4 miles into the climb, I reached what was one of my favorite parts of the hike. It was a rock chimney that we had to climb up and there are some great views at this point as well. 

Rock Chimney to climb via the Catamount Mountain hike
Catamount Mountain Rock Chimney

After passing through the chimney, it isn’t long until we hit the false summit. Being pressed for time, we did not stop here. If you do have the time, stop at the false summit and take in some of the views. You will be able to see Whiteface as well as many other surrounding peaks. After this, it is not much longer until the summit. The rest of the hike involves a lot of bare rock, but it is a lot of fun. 

catamount Mountain summit

Due to its isolation, the views from the peak of Catamount Mountain are breathtaking. There are also a lot of areas on the summit to walk around and take photographs. There were beautiful yellow wildflowers and Whiteface towered over surrounding peaks in the distance. There are also quite a few water bodies visible such as Silver Lake and Union Falls Pond. We chilled out and ate food and made sure to take as many pictures as possible like we normally tend to do.

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View From Catamount Mountain Summit
View from summit of Catamount Mountain
Another View From The Summit
Wildflowers on Catamount Mountain peak
The Beautiful Yellow Wildflowers
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Whiteface Towering in The Distance

Gear/Items to Bring 

The only suggestions I have for items on this hike would be to bring enough water and food. It is not a long hike and the trail is pretty easy to follow. There were one or two spots along the trail where we had to stop and double-check that we were going in the right direction. Besides that, our trip went rather smoothly. I also suggest carrying a first-aid kit and bug spray. I took a few scrapes climbing some rock scrambles. I did not use my first-aid kit (I am a road trip warrior), but I always keep it on me in case. I also carried our Canon camera in my bag so we could take photos with that as well. These are just my suggestions, always bring what you’re most comfortable with.

Trailhead

The trailhead for this mountain was easy to find. If you are heading towards the mountain on Plank Road, you will eventually come across a parking area on your left where the trailhead is.

Related hikes

RTW Note 

I hope this post was helpful and enjoyable to anyone that took the time to read it. If anyone has any suggestions for mountains or other hikes, feel free to let me know! I will be bagging another few Adirondack High Peaks very soon. I enjoy these shorter trips in between my longer hikes. Anyways, keep on adventuring my Road Trip Warriors! I have much more to come soon!

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