There are several established trails to the peak, but only one that can really be done as a day trip (plan 10 hours round trip). The Van Hoevenberg Trail trailhead (
visit link) is at the far end of the Visitor's Center parking lot of Adirondack Loj. Don't forget to sign in (and out) at the trail register (
visit link) so folks can figure out whether you've come down safely. Here's a waymark along the way (
visit link) .
It's a 7.4 mile hike (each way), with a total ascent of 3166 feet, on a fairly well marked trail (although the trail markers do not indicate that it is the Van Hoevenberg Trail... they are simple blue disk trail markers). For map (
visit link)
There is a bivouac site at Marcy Dam, about 2.1 miles from the trailhead for anyone looking for a late start and free overnight camping, however, parking at the Visitor's Center is $10 a (24 hour) day, and you'll have to haul your gear to the top or find a safe place to stow it and pick it up on your way back through. Another option is to camp at Adirondack Loj (tent, camper or lodge) the night before and get an early start. They will take $5 off the Visitor's Center parking if you do, as some of the day's parking is covering in the camping rates.
Update from (
visit link) suggests that the footbridge at Marcy Dam was washed out on 9/27 (Hurrican Lee) Visit this site for alternate crossing.
Once you've committed to the hike, You have one "out". About two miles past Marcy Dam, there is a trail intersection inviting you to visit Phelps Mountain instead, by hiking another mile, rather than continuing on another 3.4 miles to Marcy. Phelps is also one of the high peaks, so there is no disgrace in making the substitution, but it is only 4161 feet vs. Marcy, which is 5344 feet. It is also not as high up on the "view" rating (I'll try to find that website for you as well.)
After crossing Phelps Brook, the trail generally looks like an intermittant stream bed, mostly because the heavy foot traffic from 46er Seekers has caused considerable surface erosion. Progress to this point is pretty swift, but from here on, the average pace is less than 1 mile an hour.
About 1 mile from the summit, you will reach the Alpine Zone. There is a short walk through stunted trees, hardly taller than the average hiker, before reaching largely exposed rock covered in a thin layer of mosses, grasses, and alpine flowers that are unfamiliar because they only grow above the timberline. One insect species we discovered there was the Alpine Bee. According to the Summit Steward, they are not bees at all, but rather, are a large but harmless fly.
In this last mile, there are two places that are virtually hand-over-hand climbing... one just before the timberline, and the second just before the summit. Even so, no professional climbing gear is required. Even so, a general state of fitness and ablebodiedness is highly recommended.
There is a custom among some climbers to carry a rock from the bottom of the mountain to the top. There are several cairns constructed of these rocks. Today the Summit Steward (and the posted signs) ask visitors to leave the rocks in a specific place, that the might be used to mark paths along the summit, and keep people from trampling sensitive vegatation.
In addition to the cairns, there are three other permanent man-made objects at the summit. A large bronze plaque, outlining some of the history of early summits and the Van Hoevenberg Trail. Second, there is a bronze survey disk embedded in the granite, marked "Marcy No 2". See my benchmark waymark WMC0HQ (
visit link) ! Finally, the remains of a drilled hole where the survey disk marked "Marcy No 1" once resided. Presumably, an overzealous climber removed this marker and took it home as a souvenier. Please don't try anything like that yourself!