Saranac 6er Number Three!
My buddy and I tagged St. Regis Mountain, another Saranac 6er, the first weekend of May. It is an absolutely beautiful fire-tower hike with the trailhead being near Paul Smith’s College. It is also another great hike to do while waiting for the end of mud season in the High Peaks region. You can find a bunch of information about this hike below.
Summary of St. Regis Mountain
- Difficulty: Moderate
- Length: 6.6 miles round trip
- Elevation: 2,874′ above sea level
- Hiking Time: It took us just under two hours to hit the summit. You could get to the summit faster if you’d like. We didn’t rush.
- Photo Opportunities: The summit has amazing views from its open ledges. You’ll be able to see many bodies of water of the Northern Adirondacks as well as the distant High Peaks. You can also get some great shots of the fire-tower and shots from the top of the fire-tower as well.
Trailhead
The trailhead for St. Regis Mountain is by Paul Smith’s College. It is three miles down Keese Mill Road and the trailhead is on the lefthand side. There is sufficient room to park in the lot and the sign is hard to miss.
Once you are parked, there is a small arrow that will point you in the direction of a dirt access road. Follow this road for a short trek to find the trailhead sign on your right. As you can see, the trail markers are yellow for this hike.
Be sure to sign in at the trail register. No matter how long or short a hike might be, it is always important to sign in and out.
First Section of the Trail..
The first section of the trail is gentle. It almost feels like your casual nature walk with towering trees and it is relatively quiet. You will pass by a pond and eventually find yourself surrounding by towering trees. I thought it was a great place to take some pictures.
The elevation does steadily increase as you continue your hike, but there is nothing daunting. The trail never gets that steep until you are closer to the summit.
Stone Staircase and Closer to the Summit
As the trail continues to steepen, you will know that you’re close to the summit when you hit the stone staircases. It is a really cool spot and if you take a second to glance behind you, you’ll notice some bodies of water in the distance.
Summit of St. Regis Mountain
After hiking another fifteen to twenty minutes, you will reach the summit of St. Regis Mountain. There are spectacular views of the Adirondack High Peaks from the cliffs and the fire-tower was recently renovated. I suggest climbing it to get another perspective of the landscape. My buddy and I actually fell asleep in the sun on the summit of St. Regis for a good twenty minutes. Safe to say that our faces got a little sunburnt. There is more than enough room on this summit to find your own space and chill. We stayed up there for a good hour taking pictures and hanging in the sun.
As you can see in the photo directly above, St. Regis rewards you with a beautiful skyline of the Adirondack High Peaks in the distance.
Getting Back to the Trailhead/Parking
This trail is an out-and-back trail so you are just going to hike out the same way you hiked in. It didn’t take us more than an hour-and-a-half to get back to my car. Just pay attention and watch your footing, Once you get down the stone staircases, its a straight-forward nature walk from there.
Dog-Friendly
This hike is dog-friendly. We saw a few hanging out on the summit with us trying to get everyone to give them snacks. They seemed to be enjoying the day. A dog would have no issue with this hike. Just remember to bring the pup extra water and food since the round-trip trek is 6.6. miles.
Fam-Friendly
Besides the length of 6.6 miles, this hike is family friendly. We saw some young children on the summit and they seemed to be enjoying the food that their parents gave them. I’d say that you’d want to be in decent shape to do this hike though whether you are an adult or a child.
Clothes Worn
- Timberland Boots
- Nike Compression Leggings
- Athletic shorts
- Adidas joggers
- Athletic T-shirt
- Athletic long sleeve top
- Beanie
Gear Brought
- 3L of water
- Almonds and peanut butter sandwiches
- Wind/Rain pants
- LL Bean Winter Jacket
- Extra layers (UnderArmour)
- Extra hiking socks
- Knife
- Paracord and two carabiners
- Water-proof matches
- LifeStraw (water filtration, costs about $20)
- Hand Warmers
- Trekking poles
- First-Aid Kit
- Garmin inReach (satellite device that has a GPS, can send texts, send SOS, and has many other helpful features)
RTW Note
Thanks for checking out this post! Please share it if you know someone else trying to find a nice hike in the Adirondacks that isn’t overly strenuous and offers a great reward. If you found this post to be helpful, hit the like button, gimme a follow, and comment if you have anything that you would like to share! Half-way done with the Saranac 6ers!
On another note, I leave this Saturday morning for a big two week trip out west! I am driving and I am going to visit Glacier, Grand Teton, Yellowstone, and Badlands National Parks! I will be blogging everyday sharing updates of where I am at and the photos I have taken. I am hoping I can get some quality shots as well as sharing as much information as I can. I look forward to keeping you all updated!
-Ant
