Marcy Dam Trail is a 4.2 mile heavily trafficked out and back trail located near Lake Placid, New York that features a lake and is rated as moderate. The trail offers a number of activity options and is best used from February until November. Dogs are also able to use this trail but must be kept on leash.
dogs on leash
camping
cross country skiing
hiking
nature trips
snowshoeing
bird watching
forest
lake
river
views
wild flowers
wildlife
muddy
rocky
snow
This trail is rocky and full of up and down. Great views at the end and opportunities to link up to other trails to utilize different routs on the way in or out. This trail is mostly made up of an access road to Marcy Dam. It can be a nice summer hike but is best suited for cross-country skiing and snow shoeing. The trail is full of up and down so it can be a lot of fun for intermediate and expert skiers, but it can be a real handful for beginners because there will be many falls coming down the curvy slopes.
icy and compacted. need crampons not snowshoes.
Excellent day, excellent weather. Partly cloudy and temps in the teens. Great views all around! Excellent trail condx with a minimum of ice and no bare ground. Ski, snowshoe, micro spikes. Take your pick. All good! 20/46W
Phelps and tabletop, 14feb20. around -7 degrees pretty chill walk
Amazing day!!! Long hike, great weather. Tons of snow, used snow shoes all day! Highly recommend!
I would recommend bringing both crampons and snow shoes as the trail changes about 3/4 of the way through to a beautiful winter wonderland with deep snow. My dog Charlie and I completed the hike in 9 hours. Unfortunately we had to make many stops to fix her boots. Depending on weather I would account for anywhere from 9-11 hours to complete this hike. The trail is well marked although there are a few spots that you could get slightly off track. Using the offline maps I was able to check my navigation and get back on track no problem. Great hike would recommend.
As of 11/18, snowshoes are necessary. There’s upwards of 2’ at treeline and drifts up to 4’
je recommande cette randonnée facile pour une journée paisible et reposante.
Karen H.
Nice trail. Especially if you’re looking for an easier hike to end your day (i.e., a break from the rock scrambling!! ).
Great little hike to get your warmed up if you decide to tackle the peaks beyond!
Sally Klingel recorded Marcy Dam Trail
Awesome easy woodsy trail
hard but rewarding
Larry Bird recorded Recording - Aug 31, 05:27 PM
Great day on NY's highest peak. Well maintained trail, great variety of atmosphere and terrain. Enjoy!
Andirondacks
A very rewarding and strenuous trail to the top of New York’s highest peak. I have done this trail to the summit of Mt Marcy twice now and it was equally as fun the second time. I do think that It would be generally better if one were to make a loop trail by descending to Skylight and Gray peak as the return trek to Marcy Dam and the Loj is tedious and mentally exhausting due to the continuous and unending rock fields. Overall a magnificent trail that is essential to all hikers
Not good conditions if weather is crap like it was (rained), ran into a lot of rain, snow still on top! Very slippery and dangerous. Snow alone even on a nice day would be dangerous, make sure to have crampons or shoe spikes for snow. Trekking polls and gaiters a must! Other than that couldn’t make it to the very top, rain and wind was intense, made it in one FULL day before sundown roughly 12 hours (started at 7 ended at 7:40, two medium size man and woman, 20yrs,2nd hike so probably wasnt bestly ready physically overall solid hike though)z
Spiked needed. Stay to middle of trail to avoid postholes or bring snow shoes muddy to Marcy dam and slightly beyond. Great hike!
Chris R. recorded Marcy Dam Trail
This is always a nice snowshoe hike. The weather was mild and the trail was very well packed. The gray jays and red squirrels were out and about at the dam. Overall it was a nice day to be out and we saw people out xc skiing.
Easy hike in the winter out of the ADK Loj. $10 parking fee FYI. Snowy trail to the old dam (interesting build if you want to break it down - logs and rocks ?). Great stretch of the legs to start the day. About 4.5 miles - rolling. Helps to have something to combat the ice and snow. Very well maintained and marked trail.
Different without the damn. Lot’s of bears that aren’t afraid!
Sweet little trail, when I arrived the top parking lot was completely full so I needed to park in the overflow and walk the mile back in to the trailhead. The rangers were very present and warning about the high bear activity and providing safety tips. While on the trail a ranger came by and warned me to be on alert as there was currently a bear on the trail just ahead of me, because they are not super aggressive bears and it was daylight, I was not really worried, I just made the determination to not break out my lunch, so the bear would not be tempted. One thing I noticed was that others were not as conscious about their eating habits-there were apple cores and banana peels all along the trail, which of course was drawing in the bears.
