Porter Mountain
More photographs at the Wikimedia Commons category.
Porter Mountain rises to 1,240 m in New York. Basin Mountain stands 1,468 m to the south-southwest, 6.5 miles off. The nearest named place is Cascade Mountain, a peak 0.5 miles away. High Peaks Scenic Byway (NYS Route 73) passes 1.4 miles off.
The story
Porter Mountain is a mountain in the Adirondacks in the U.S. state of New York. It is the thirty-eight highest of the Adirondack High Peaks, with an elevation of 4,059 feet (1,237 m). The mountain is located in the town of Keene in Essex County. It is named after Noah Porter, a president of Yale University, who made the first recorded ascent with trail guide Ed Phelps in 1875. It was previously called West Mountain. A trail to the summit of Porter Mountain begins on New York State Route 73, 6.8 miles (10.9 km) from the center of Keene and 4.5 miles (7.2 km) from the Adirondak Loj road. The trail continues 2.1 miles (3.4 km) to an intersection with a trail to the nearby peak of Cascade Mountain. The trail to Porter Mountain continues to the right and descends to a col before ascending to the summit, for a total one-way distance of 2.8 miles (4.5 km) and ascent of 1,960 feet (600 m). This route is currently being replaced with a longer, 4.3 miles (6.9 km) trail, beginning at the Mount Van Hoevenberg trailhead. As of 2025, the new trail remains under construction. A second route to Porter Mountain from Marcy Airfield follows the yellow-blazed Ridge Trail. Beginning at the overflow parking lot for the Garden Parking Lot on New York State Route 73, this trail passes Marcy Airfield and goes over the summit of Blueberry Mountain before arriving at the summit of Porter Mountain. This route has a one-way distance of 4.4 miles (7.1 km) and ascent of 3,275 feet (998 m). A third trail to Porter Mountain from the Garden Parking Lot has been closed since 2019.
From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Wikidata Q7231640, referenced by the OpenStreetMap record.
What the record says
- Elevation
- 1240 m
How to reach it
- 1.4 mi off the High Peaks Scenic Byway (NYS Route 73)
- 7.1 mi off the Olympic Trail
- 19.4 mi off the Lakes to Locks Passage, National
- 21.0 mi off the Roosevelt-Marcy Trail
Overlooks nearby
- Cascade Mountain · 1 mi
- Snow Mountain Lookout · 4 mi
- Roaring Brook Falls Lower Lookout · 6 mi
- Roaring Brook Falls Upper Lookout · 6 mi
Named places within 25 miles
- Cascade Mountain: 0.5 mi
- Laramore Mountain: 0.9 mi
- Porter Mountain - East Peak: 1.1 mi
- Burtons Peak: 1.4 mi
- Little Porter Mountain: 1.5 mi
- Weeping Winds: 2.4 mi
- The Courthouse: 2.5 mi
- Lost Lookout: 6.1 mi
- Case Wall: 6.2 mi
- Case Wall: 6.3 mi
- Indian Head Trailhead: 6.1 mi
- East Branch Community Trails: 7.3 mi
- Mid's Park: 8.4 mi
- Brewster Park: 8.5 mi
- Kiwanis Teddy Bear Park: 8.5 mi
- Cascade Falls: 1.1 mi
- Hulls Falls: 3.3 mi
- Bushnell Falls: 4.8 mi
- Russell Falls: 5.5 mi
- Wedge Brook Cascades: 5.7 mi
- Canyon Bridge Memorial: 5.6 mi
- 10th Mountain Division Memorial: 6.4 mi
- John Brown Memorial Statue: 6.4 mi
- 1980 Winter Olympic cauldron: 6.5 mi
- Lower Ausable Lake Dam: 6.7 mi
- Johns Brook Primitive Area: 2.8 mi
- Bartlett Primitive Area: 6.9 mi
- Heaven Hill Trails: 7.3 mi
- Henry's Woods: 7.4 mi
- Four Peaks Tract: 11.2 mi
- Mountain Pass Lodge: 3.4 mi
- Lake Placid Bobsled Experience at Mt. Van Hoevenberg: 3.4 mi
- Cliffside Coaster: 3.5 mi
- Lake Placid Olympic Ski Jumping Complex: 6.2 mi
- Skyride: 6.2 mi
- Lake Placid Hall of Fame: 8.2 mi
- Lake Placid Olympic Museum: 8.2 mi
- Adirondack History Museum: 13.0 mi
- Adirondack history center museum: 13.0 mi
- Robert Louis Stevenson Cottage: 15.7 mi
- Lake Placid Public Beach: 8.1 mi
- Westport Beach: 20.9 mi
- Port Henry Village Beach: 22.8 mi
- Bulwagga Bay Beach: 23.2 mi
- Footbridge Park: 12.7 mi
- Powerhouse Park: 22.8 mi
- Witherbee Park and Bandstand: 22.8 mi
- Bulwagga Bay Pavillion: 23.2 mi
- Common Ground Garden: 16.9 mi
- Goolds Garden: 24.9 mi
- Big Wooden Bear (8'): 10.7 mi
- Tahawus: 14.9 mi
- High Peaks Welcome Center: 15.6 mi
Other summits around it
The highest named summits within 6.8 miles of Porter Mountain. Elevation from each summit’s own record; bearing measured between the two coordinates.
| Summit | Bearing | Elevation | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basin Mountain | SSW 194° | 1,468 m | 6.5 mi |
| Gothics | S 182° | 1,425 m | 5.8 mi |
| Pyramid Peak | S 181° | 1,401 m | 6.1 mi |
| Saddleback Mountain | S 190° | 1,375 m | 6.0 mi |
| Armstrong Mountain | S 178° | 1,320 m | 5.4 mi |
| Table Top Mountain | SSW 212° | 1,312 m | 5.9 mi |
| Upper Wolfjaw Mountain | S 175° | 1,281 m | 5.0 mi |
| Big Slide Mountain | SSW 202° | 1,280 m | 2.2 mi |
When to go
Light through the year
| Date | Sunrise | Golden hour | Sunset |
|---|---|---|---|
| March equinox | 07:00 | 18:30 | 19:08 |
| June solstice | 05:13 | 19:59 | 20:43 |
| September equinox | 06:43 | 18:17 | 18:55 |
| December solstice | 07:28 | 15:32 | 16:20 |
Local time (America/New_York).
Climate normals
Months averaging 50–80 °F: May–Sep.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avg °F | 15 | 18 | 26 | 39 | 51 | 60 | 64 | 63 | 56 | 44 | 32 | 21 |
| Precip in | 3.1 | 2.3 | 2.9 | 3.4 | 3.9 | 4.8 | 4.4 | 4.0 | 3.9 | 4.2 | 3.4 | 3.5 |
1991–2020 U.S. Climate Normals, NOAA NCEI — Lake Placid 2 S, 9 mi away.
Where this comes from
Location and category confirmed against OpenStreetMap.
OpenStreetMapWikipediaWikidataOpenStreetMap element node/357577812
Day trips start here
- Elizabethtown · 13 mi
- Westport · 21 mi
- Essex · 26 mi
- Crown Point · 28 mi
Take the scenic way to Porter Mountain.
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