Ampersand Mountain Trail is a 4.9 mile moderately trafficked out and back trail located near Saranac Lake, New York that features beautiful wild flowers and is only recommended for very experienced adventurers. The trail offers a number of activity options and is best used from June until March. Dogs are also able to use this trail.
dog friendly
birding
hiking
nature trips
snowshoeing
trail running
walking
forest
views
wild flowers
wildlife
muddy
rocky
scramble
This hike is not one of the 46's but at 3352' Ampersand is a fun, challenging hike with great views from the top. Some steep, tough areas with rockface and some bouldering but it is well worth it.
Completed this trail 2 days ago. Trail is found across the road from the designated parking area. The first mile is pretty easy with a couple small bridges to cross. After about a mile on the trail the incline begins. As you climb, the rocks are placed like a stairway but at times is difficult to follow going up. Coming down is much easier to follow. As you get closer to the top, the trail is not marked well. There was a large boulder I thought I needed to climb over but the trail went left instead of right. The way it looked the trail could have went either way. I thought this was a physically demanding hike and would consider myself fairly in shape. Also, closer to the summit, the mud was in abundance. It took me just over 2 hours to complete going up and an hour to go down. The views as you arrive to the peak are breathtaking! 360 views plus the fall leaves made for some amazing photos!
Realy nice climb up, easy first half, the second half got pretty challenging. Going down is much much easier than going up, and the 360 view on top is amazing. Definitely a significant challenge if you aren't in shape.
Amazing view. Camped on the summit and seen the Milky Way. Tough hike with a 50lb pack
Great changes in terrain. Starts off slow and easy and ends with scrambling. Fantastic views! Absolutely 5 star!
Really fun trail and beautiful 360 views at summit. Girlfriend and I had an awesome time. Not very difficult for two mid 20's in reasonable shape. Made it two top in a little less than two hours, spent an hour there, and made the return in an hour. Will make return trips for sure.
This mountain is a beast. There are several portions where you are scrambling up bare rock at quite an incline. There is one portion where you have to put your foot in a tree root and pull yourself up the tree onto the rock. The views from the top make it worth it.
Not easy, but the 360 view at the top is worth it all! Make it happen!
Definitely a work out but 100 % worth it. Full 360 degree uninterrupted views. Absolutely breathtaking
beautiful trail! the hike there is very pretty with moss and brooks and the peak is really something else. However 'stairmaster 3000 on steroids' or 'vertical deathmarch' would be accurate descriptions of the second half of the trail lol. it was very steep and fairly slippery/muddy in many areas. would not recommend to novice hikers or those who are out of shape. it's defiantly worth it if you can make it though.
This trail got steep but it was awesome! Did it was 3 young girls and they loved it.
Great hike!!! The last stretch was a bit steep and some of the rocks were muddy and wet so you definitely had to watch your footing. Totally worth it for the views at the top.
Ampersand is my favorite of the Saranac Six! A hermit used to live on the mountain and not only can you find artifacts left behind but he moved boulders to form a staircase for a large portion of the trail. The summit is bald with a 360° view of the Saranac lakes. I don't know why this peak is rated hard, I consider it moderate.