Cascade Mountain is a 4.4 mile moderately trafficked out and back trail located near North Elba, New York that features a great forest setting and is rated as moderate. The trail offers a number of activity options and is accessible year-round. Dogs are also able to use this trail but must be kept on leash.
dogs on leash
birding
hiking
nature trips
rock climbing
snowshoeing
walking
forest
views
snow
Hiked after a rain storm and saw some snow on my way up. Brought my dog and she did well!
A great trail. It is moderate in terms of difficult.however, it is definitely doable.The view at the top is spectacular!
Hiked it on 8/12 and really enjoyed it. It had some strenuous uphill climbs. The trail is a ravine with mud and boulders. We went over to Porter and then finished Cascade. We're 50-ish - in decent shape - and got a great workout. Took us about 5 hours with some chilling on a ledge on Porter and the summit of Cascade.
Cascade is generally considered amongst the easiest of the high peaks, but I think it's important to state that it's still a high peak and there are definitely some areas along the trail, especially near the summit, that will be nerve wracking to people with little experience or those with little kids. Still, the trail is clearly marked and doesn't have any real dangerous spots. As usual, coming back down may be more difficult than going up.
We did this trail with five children, aged 4.5 to 10.5, and five adults, aged 39 to 66. The kids are all active, but the most difficult climb they'd done up to this point would probably be Gorham mountain in Acadia. This was considerably longer, but I'd say it was similarly complicated until the summit approach. Still, they handled it really well with a few stops up, 20 minutes or so at the top, and then a few stops down. All in all it took us just over five hours to complete the trail. The littlest kids were definitely hitting a physical wall with about an hour left, but they trudged through it.
In the end, everyone loved the hike, and the views at the top are absolutely spectacular. If your come prepared with hiking shoes, lots of water and snacks, and test your kids out on something a bit easier first, it's definitely ok for an active family.
Nice trail