Black Mountain and Lake George Trail is a 7.7 mile heavily trafficked loop trail located near Clemons, New York that features a lake and is rated as moderate. The trail is primarily used for hiking, walking, nature trips, and bird watching and is best used from May until October. Dogs are also able to use this trail but must be kept on leash.
Relatively easy hike with only a few challenging spots - rewarded with great views and a fire tower. Follow the trail to a road through the woods. Follow this road half a mile to a trail junction just before a private residence. Follow the small red DEC trail markers as the trail skirts right around the home and heads off into the woods. Make sure to follow the small red markers as snowmobile trails are also in the area. You will see a trail heading off to the left towards Lapland Pond. Ignore this and continue on towards the summit. At 2,646 feet you are at the summit of Black Mountain where you will find a fire observers cabin and a firetower. If you wander around the summit a bit you will find excellent views up through the Narrows of northern Lake George. Continue on and take the trail that leads down off the southern edge of the summit towards Black Mountain Point. This will then intersect with another base trail where you will head west (left) towards Lapland Pond Junction. At the Lapland Ponds junction head north (left), follow the blue markers and this will bring you back to the original trail you came in on and after about 2.2 miles you should reach your car.
Trailhead Directions: From Whitehall, NY take Route 22 north. 4.5 miles north of where 22 crosses over the south bay of Lake Champlain take a left on the Hulett's Landing Road. Follow this road 2.7 miles to PIke Brook Road. You'll soon see a DEC sign and parking area on the right 3.5 miles from Rte. 22. There is no fee to park here.
East route: Head south on Route 9 to the junction of Route 149. Turn left on Route 149, and follow it until it joins Routes 4/22. Turn left on Routes 4/22, and follow it until you reach Whitehall. Bear left on Route 22, and follow it through the lower end of Lake Champlain. Make a left turn on (Washington County) Route 6. Follow Route 6 toward Hulletts Landing. Be prepared to take a left on Pike Brook Road. The trailhead is approximately one mile on the right side of that road. To reach the beach, turn left on Route 6. West route: At the northern end of Lake George Village, head north on Route 9N toward Ticonderoga. (Part of this road is the steep, hilly section near Tongue Mountain.) When you reach the Village of Ticonderoga, Route 9N will make a sharp left turn. Follow 9N to a four-way intersection with Route 74. Go right on Routes 22/74, for a short distance. Route 74 will bear left, toward Fort Ticonderoga. Continue to go straight on Route 22. Continue south on Route 22 (You will see Lake Champlain on your left) until you reach (Washington County) Route 6. Turn right on Route 6, and follow it toward Hulletts Landing. Be prepared to take a right on Pike Brook Road. The trailhead is approximately one mile on the right side of that road. To reach the beach, turn left on Route 6.
April 10, 2021Barely moderate, very easy hike. Beautiful views, especially coming down the mountain. My watch logged as 7.1 miles, completed in 3 hours 14 min. If anyone finds AirPods with the right one missing let me know lol
April 8, 2021Beautiful day and great hike. Trail a bit wet still and only a little bit of ice left near summit. Never needed microspikes.
April 8, 2021Hiked the clockwise loop. Very dry all the way to the peak. The ponds actually look low to me. The hike down had some icy spots till we finished the steep parts. Dry after that. Great day to be on the trail.
April 6, 2021Little muddy still on the way back but beautiful views and a nice pond to stop by before the end of the hike.
April 3, 2021Muddy on the way up, definitely need micro spikes for the last bit because it was mostly ice. Beautiful view!!
March 27, 2021Very very wet. Lots of ice left towards the top if you’re just doing and up and back, not much ice on the loop clockwise portion until heading down from the tower. There is no avoiding the mud and water, please remember to walk through it and not around to avoid eroding the trail! Spikes recommended for the top portion, for now.
March 27, 2021Trail was extremely muddy! Most parts were either mud or ice. Luckily my waterproof boots... meant waterproof lol
March 20, 2021Lots of cars first thing this am. Logging road was packed and very icy most of the way up...can get around it if u csnt go over it. .wore micro spikes the whole time...snow is melting fast. By afternoon trail was soft and slushy. Great views from top. Beautiful day overall!
March 16, 2021Few very icy spots... crampons a must! Fantastic views that never get old!
March 16, 2021Almost 360° view few people at top. Wind picks up while going down I saw no one on the 7 miles. The ponds are beautiful but feet got wet from crossing running water
March 12, 2021Still hard packed only used micro spikes
March 10, 2021Excellent hike with great views
March 9, 2021Beautiful loop! Spikes really only needed for the trail up it’s a well packed snow mobile trail we used snow shoes coming down the Southside of the mountain and past the ponds. The snow is starting to break down after this week not sure how it will be with all the warm weather. Views on top are great and coming down the Southside now without foliage on the trees the views are wonderful also.
March 8, 2021I hiked the loop clockwise (recommended). At the 1st intersection bore left. Followed another snowmobile trail for ~1 mile. Then foot trail to the base of Black. Much steeper to summit than the other side—also a couple nice views. Trail was hard packed. Microspikes all the way. If it warms up will need snow shoes when off snowmobile trail. Snow is still 1-2ft deep (When got off trail to avoid ice, post-holed). Butt slide on the snowmobile path on the way down was fun!
March 7, 2021Parking lot is very ice Spikes needed View is spectacular
March 4, 2021Hiked this on 2/28. I felt so spoiled hiking up a snowmobile path the entire way to the summit! Beautiful views, brought my snowshoes but didn’t end up using them - I was fine in micro spikes. Highly recommend!
February 28, 2021Hiked with Dan and Samson for winter credit. Trail is grinned by snowmobiles to the summit. Saw 2 snowmobiles going down as we were going up...we got off to the side and they rode by slowly. No need for snowshoes cuz you’re not gonna post hole. Nice views from the top.
February 23, 2021love this hike, great for snowshoeing, not too hard, one of my favorite views of LG at the top
February 13, 2021beautiful winter day for a hike. trails were covered with snow and packed down nicely by the snow mobiles. gorgeous view from the top
February 12, 2021Such a nice treat to walk on a groomed path. Don’t let the mileage deter you, you can do the fire tower and back in about 6 miles, and the elevation gain is very manageable. Wonderful views
February 6, 2021Beautiful day, clear view. Did this hike on January 8th and had no view so it was great to come back. Also got a great look at the tongue range which we completed last week to finish the 12ster. Sun shining down on the spinning windmill- what a sound!
