Sleeping Beauty Mountain and Lake George Trail is a 7 mile heavily trafficked loop trail located near Fort Ann, New York that features a lake and is rated as moderate. The trail offers a number of activity options and is best used from March until November. Dogs are also able to use this trail.
This trail has many switchbacks to keep the steepness moderate. Good views of Lake George and the southeastern Adirondacks. 6.4 mile loop hike from Hogs Town parking lot. 4.8 mile loop hike from the Dacy Clearing parking lot. The length of the hike to Sleeping Beauty depends on if the woods road from the trailhead parking lot to Dacy Clearing is open ( and you are willing to drive it) or not. If you can drive to Dacy Clearing the hike is a moderate 1.8 miles, each way, to the favored lookout and another 0.4 or so miles to the actual summit. If the woods road is closed, or you don't want to drive it, add 1.6 miles each way of easy road walk to your trip. The trail from Dacy Clearing to the cutoff to Sleeping Beauty is a broad tote road. The trail beyond that point is a delight with actual switch backs, walking below and around cliffs that you will be looking out from near the summit. The views are expansive and include Crane Mountain to the west and Pico and Killington to the east, as well as Lake George. The cliffs face east, south, and west, so you can enjoy your day in the sun. From here, you can choose to backtrack and make it an out-and-back hike for 4.4 total miles from Dacy Clearing (7.6 miles if from Hog Town parking area). Alternately, you can head back to a marker in an earlier section of the trail and bear left to descend another series of switchbacks before reach Bumps Pond. Continue following the trail around the pond. The trail descends again, passing several lookouts before you complete the loop. Return the same route to Dacy Clearing and finally the parking area.
Parking is available at the Hog Town trailhead, or if you are able to drive in you can park at Dacy Clearing.
Directions to Trailhead: Follow Route 149 East towards Fort Anne from Lake George. 1.6 miles east of the intersection of Rte 149 and 9 take a left onto Buttermilk Falls Road. 3 miles down this road Buttermilk Falls becomes Sly Pond Raod and becomes unpaved. At 8.7 the name changes to Shelving Rock Road. Look for a large parking lot shortly on the right. This is the Hogtown trailhead where you will park. There is no fee to park here.
Follow Route 149 East towards Fort Anne from Lake George. 1.6 miles east of the intersection of Rte 149 and 9 take a left onto Buttermilk Falls Road. 3 miles down this road Buttermilk Falls becomes Sly Pond Road and is unpaved. At 8.7 the name changes to Shelving Rock Road. Look for a large parking lot shortly on the right. This is the Hog Town trailhead where you will park.
Easily my favorite hike along Lake George so far! The road to Dacy clearing was closed. Highly recommend!
Sleeping Beauty had phenomenal views. Hike up was great. Bumps pond is a hidden gem. Erebus has no views but is part of the Lake George 12ster. Buahwhacked to the top.
Great Hike, we hiked the loop. The ground was frozen with a lot of ice, microspikes were a must! Great views at the summit. The hike was very manageable even with the ice. We arrived at the trailhead at 10 AM. We were the only car in the lot when we arrived. Not many people on the trail today, to our liking. Happy New Year!!
Sleeping Beauty is a classic easy Adirondack hike with a fabulous view. However the trail is very eroded and super muddy. Being loved to death. Worth adding the extra hike to Bumps Pond and the lean tos at Fish Pond, which would be an awesome camping spot. Bridges are very slippery.
As others mentioned, the trail was wet. You were hiking through a very small stream at the beginning. The parking lot off shelving road has a road at the back of the lot, you can continue driving down this road for over a mile to get to the second parking lot. That is where the actual trailhead starts. I recommend doing that in order to shave close to 3 miles off your hike. Be warned the road is VERY rough. If made the drive in my little sedan but it was rough, I had to really take my time.