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. 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.
April 11, 2021Muddy, as to be expected, but great hike! My dog and I had a great day!
April 10, 2021April 10, 2021Beautiful the whole way, shouldn’t be your first mountain to climb though
April 10, 2021The trails are mostly through a (mostly) dried up creek bed, with plenty of rocks and some mud. Well marked everywhere with stunning views from the summit. A few nice slopes to climb with rocks and because of the rocky trails is appropriately rated as moderate.
April 9, 2021Gate is still closed.
March 20, 2021The trail was great very icy tho. 3/19/2020 although on our way out DEC officer said that the roads are closed and someone left the gate open. Only reason we got In today. Once mud season is over it will be opened back up. But buck MT. Is still open so if you are looking for a good hike give it a shot.
March 13, 20213/13: according to Ft. Ann Highway Department, Shelving Rock Road was closed on 3/2 until further notice due to serious issues with mud
March 12, 20213/12: The road to Sleeping Beauty is closed. You could park at Inman and walk about 2 mi. to Sleeping Beauty trailhead, but you'd probably be better off just going up Inman to Buck Summit, which is what we did today.
March 7, 2021Shelving Rock Road still closed on March 7, 2021.
March 6, 2021Just a note- Tried to hike this Saturday, 3/6, but shelving rock road was closed before the first parking lot. Not sure why.
February 26, 2021Honest review. I feel like this was more of a walk than a hike. Parked in the parking lot. Walked in on the snow mobile trail which didn’t know that was there. Once we got to the foot trail, no challenge other than ice so we wore micro spikes and faired just fine. Way shorter and quicker than we anticipated. However, beautiful and clear views at the top where we sat and glassed for a little bit. Overall, very easy (I feel like I was actually over prepared) but worth the nice views
February 24, 2021February 22, 2021Went pretty quick over Sleeping beauty so decided to do Erebus. The bushwhacked to top kicked my butt but worth it.
February 16, 2021A nice trip to Beauty's summit, out to Fishbrook Pond and back out. Better than expected views and ledges/rocks to summit were beautiful in ice/snow. Trail mostly packed snow/snowmobile trail with a few icy spots near summit. Microspikes were perfect. Carried snowshoes but never needed. Road in to Darcy Clearing was open and we made it in with good aggressive tires and 4WD. On way in had to pull over for someone being towed out, so only attempt the drive in from Shelving Rock Rd to Darcy Clearing if confident in your tires, ground clearance, and driving ability.
February 15, 2021Beautiful views, gentle incline. Nice for my first snowshoeing endeavor.
February 14, 2021Very pretty trail and with a great payoff for a moderate amount of work! Especially compared to Buck Mountain in the same area that is harder and with less of a view at the top. The only thing that took away from it for me was the first 2ish miles of the trail is mainly a snowmobile track, which they are respectful and wat h out for people, but essentially feels like walking along a road instead of a trail. Everything else is great!!
January 30, 2021January 23, 2021Always so beautiful! Lots of snow. Trail was hard packed, so not too difficult to maneuver. Spikes were helpful.
January 17, 2021January 11, 2021Always fun and always great views. I used cleats and had no issues. Ice towards the summit. Presumed bear track found on the main trail (not Bump’s Pond side) about a half mile from the summit. Thank NYS DEC Off Caswell for the quick communication!
January 10, 2021Fun
January 2, 2021January 1, 2021Easily my favorite hike along Lake George so far! The road to Dacy clearing was closed. Highly recommend!
