Cascade Mountain - Adirondack State Park, NY
Posted by: 
sagefemme
N 44° 13.114 W 073° 51.607
18T E 591053 N 4896780
This the 36th (out of 46) highest peak of the Adirondack Mountain has, 360° views. A pretty straightforward climb form the trailhead off Rt 73 outside the town of Lake Placid, with an opportunity to summit adjacent Porter Mountain in the same hike.
Waymark Code: WMHP35
Location: New York, United States
Date Posted: 07/29/2013
Views: 7
The coordinates above are my reading from the bronze benchmark (
visit link) at the highest point of his bald topped peak; it may vary slightly from the coordinates given on any of the High Peaks websites. (N 44° 13.07 W 073° 51.38) there is another bronze azimuth/reference disk near the summit you can waymark as well (
visit link) .
The trailhead ( N 44° 13.130 W 073° 53.257) (
visit link) easy to access, and the trail register is a very short distance down the trail (
visit link) (N 44° 13.114 W 073° 53.234 - it looks like an accident, but it's not: the summit is due east of the trailhead) with roadside parking alonlg Rt 73, and clear signage indicating the trailhead! A straightforward hike to the top is only 4.8 miles round trip, but if you choose to climb Porter Mountain in the same trip, the total is 6.2 miles (2.8 mi. to Porter, 1 trail mile between peaks, 2.4 down from Cascade) on clearly marked, significantly eroded (boulder strewn like an intermittent stream bed, because foot traffic has stripped supporting plant roots from trail) trail.
Cascade measures 4098 ft above sea level with a total ascent of 1940 ft along this trail. It is hands-down the easiest of the 46 High Peaks (listed as a Level 2 on a scale of 1-7 on adirondack.net website (
visit link) ) and can be accomplished in 5 hours by the average hiker, including children.
The Cascade Range (including Cascade and Porter peaks) are not high enough above sea level to have an alpine zone, however there are other factors that can cause a peak to be bare and therefore provide abundant views. "Forest fires near the turn of the century were intense enough in some locations, such as the Cascade Range, to destroy both vegetation and topsoil, leaving bare rock which will require many more years for enough soil to develop to support a forest cover." ( (
visit link) )
Looking south, you can see Lake Champlain, and Vermont mountains beyond that, and Porter Mountain in the foreground. Looking north, you can see Whiteface Mountain, the highway, and several small lakes. Looking west, the Summit Steward can point out (from left to right) Big Slide (wave shaped summit), Colvin, Haystack, Marcy, Upper and Lower Wolfjaw, Wright and Algonquin peaks for you.