Peak bagging is a style of hiking that usually involves a
list of peaks. A peak bagger’s goal is
to climb all the peaks on the list. The
saying goes, as you knock off a peak on the list, it’s another peak in the
bag.
Many mountainous regions have these lists. Some of the more popular lists in the places
I have lived are the New Hampshire 48, New England 100 Highest, Adirondack
46ers, and the Colorado 14ers. While the
above lists can be quite difficult and sometimes take the average hiker years
to finish, there are also easier lists out there that the less serious hiker
can achieve.
One such hiking
challenge is the Tupper Lake Triad. The
challenge consists of climbing three peaks in the immediate vicinity of the
Adirondack town of Tupper Lake. The
Tupper Lake Triad seems to be geared toward families. The roundtrip distances of the three peaks
range from only 2-3.4 miles, making them obtainable by almost anyone. Anyone that climbs all three peaks can submit
their accomplishment and receive a patch. Normally, I wouldn’t have thought too
much about such a challenge. I now make
Tupper Lake my home, however, and thought it would be nice to visit these local
hikes.
While the J Man was visiting, we hiked two days in a row,
including a pretty tough hike the first day.
Our second hike, while short, involved a fairly rugged mountain. With another nice day forecasted, we decided
to hit the trails for a third day. We
weren’t looking for anything too strenuous, just some time in the forest
without too much travel. The Tupper Lake
Triad fit the bill. While it isn’t
necessary to climb all three peaks in one day, climbing all three requires less
than 8 miles of hiking, so we just hit them all in one day. My dog, Choya, went along with us.
Coney Mountain
We decided to hit Coney Mountain first. This is the southern most of the three Triad
peaks, about ten miles south of town.
The trailhead is reached immediately before the county line when heading
south from Tupper Lake. The hike never
gets too difficult and the grade stays fairly gentle as it travels through a
pleasant forest.
Trailhead |
South end of Tupper Lake and the other Triad Peaks to the north |
Gentler terrain to the west and south |
Looking toward the High Peak |
After 1.1 miles of gradual climbing, you reach the
2,265-foot summit. The summit offers
360-degree views from its bare top. The
southern end of Tupper Lake pokes out just to the north and Little Tupper Lake
to the southwest. The High Peaks
dominate the eastern views. Mt Morris
stands prominently a few miles to the north.
After enjoying the summit views, return another 1.1 easy downhill miles
to the trailhead.
Forest just below the open summit |
Mount Morris |
Choya always enjoys a summit |
Pink Lady Slipper around the summit |
Goodman Mountain
Goodman Mountain’s trailhead is just past the southern point
of Tupper Lake and just north of Coney’s trailhead. The turnoff has a sign for the Horseshoe Lake
Wild Forest that is more obvious then the sign for the peak. The trailhead features a kiosk telling the
story of Andrew Goodman, the peak’s namesake.
At 3.4 miles roundtrip, Goodman is the longest of the Triad
summits. It is also the lowest in
elevation at 2,178 feet. The trail
starts on an old road before turning onto an actual trail. The climbing never gets too steep. The trail stayed relatively dry for majority
of its length. Unlike Coney’s 360-degree views, Goodman’s views are somewhat
limited to mostly the south and west.
Despite its slightly longer length, Goodman isn’t any more
difficult than Coney. My biggest problem
with Goodman was the constant barrage of mosquitoes. The mosquitoes were pesky the entire time in
the woods. At the summit, the mosquitoes
let up and the black flies took over.
Bug spray and a head net are recommended during the season.
Mt Arab
Unlike the other two mountains of the Triad to the south of
town, Mt Arab stands to the west of Tupper Lake. At 2,545 feet, Mt Arab is the highest of the
three peaks. Despite the higher
elevation, the hike travels only two miles round trip, making it the shortest
of the three hikes. Heading west on
Route 3 from Tupper Lake, the route to the trailhead is well marked.
From the large parking lot, the trail begins on the opposite
side of the road. The trail climbs
consistently from the onset, but the grade stays mellow throughout. Since the summit is reached in a mile, the
climb goes by quickly. As you approach
the summit, several trails branch out.
The main trail is marked, however, they all lead to the summit.
Unlike the other two peaks of the Triad, Mt Arab’s summit is
completely wooded. A lookout tower
stands on the summit however. The tower
has remained open and hikers are allowed access to the viewing platform. The old observer’s cabin sits on the summit
next to the tower. A group called the
Friends of Mt Arab maintains the area. A
few volunteers from the group man the summit in the busy hiking season. Hikers can enter the cabin as well which
appeared to have some displays and possibly some items for sale to support the
group. (I didn’t go inside since I had
my dog with me)
From the top of the tower, the 360-degree views are quite
impressive. Lower elevation forests are
broken by the occasional small hill in the western half of the view. Several lakes dot the landscape, most notably
Tupper Lake and its northern extension Raquette Pond to the east. The Village of Tupper Lake can easily be seen
with its numerous smoke stacks plainly visible.
Beyond Tupper Lake, the High Peaks rise in the background. Small children or anyone not keen about
heights may not enjoy climbing the tower
After enjoying the summit, the route returns on the same
trail. If you follow the markings from
the cabin, there is a short spur that rejoins the main trail in a few
feet. This spur takes you to an open
rock outcropping with a bench. The spur
doesn’t add any distance.
While it’s not likely that the Tupper Lake Triad will be a
hiking destination on its own, these three small peaks are worth visiting if
you are in the area. The Triad would be
a great place to introduce someone to hiking as well. The peaks shouldn’t be a problem for most
people. The distance to reach any of the
summits stays manageable. A new hiker,
especially a kid, might like the added motivation of receiving a patch for
achieving the goal of hiking all three summits.
For a little variation, climb the Triad peaks in winter and receive a
second winter patch.
Even as a seasoned hiker, I enjoyed the time in the woods on
these short hikes. These hikes would be
a great early or late season outing. The
lower elevations will have a slightly longer hiking season than the higher
mountains of the Adirondacks. All three
trails were generally mud free compared the higher mountains we climbed
previous days. Since the trails travel through predominantly hardwood forests,
they would make nice foliage hikes in the fall.
I will add that our late May hiking coincided with black fly
season. The summits off all three
mountains had a resident colony of black flies that kept you swatting. As I mentioned, Goodman’s trail had a
persistent buzz of mosquitoes that found more than one meal on my behalf. Prepare as necessary for a bug season outing.
Of the three Triad peaks, if you could only visit one, I
recommend Mt Arab. The views from the
tower were the best of the three hikes.
I also enjoyed the view into the Village of Tupper Lake since I now live
there and could see my neighborhood. I
would place Coney as a close second, since the summit still offered 360-degree
views. Goodman, while still offering a
partial view, didn’t have as extensive views of the other two peaks.
For more information about the Tupper Lake Triad, click on the below link.
Tupper Lake Triad
If you enjoyed reading this post, check out and "LIKE" Tomcat's Outdoor Adventures on Facebook. You will be notified when I have a new blog and I post there more often and revisit past adventures.
ReplyDeleteSuch a nice & useful post. Really happy to see such post. I have come to know about many new ideas. I will try my best to implement some of them. Thanks.
gardening
Wow i can say that this is another great article as expected of this blog.Bookmarked this site.. https://refityourhome.com/skateboard-swing/
ReplyDelete