Cascade Mountain (New York)
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| Cascade Mountain | |
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| Elevation: | 4,098 ft (1,249 m) |
| Coordinates: | Template:Coor dms |
| Location: | New York, USA |
| Topo map: | USGS Keene Valley |
| Range: | Adirondacks |
| First ascent: | Lon Pierce, 1872 (first recorded) |
| Easiest route: | hike |
Cascade Mountain is in Essex County of New York. It is one of the 46 Adirondack High Peaks and is located in the Adirondack State Park. Its name comes from a series of waterfalls on a brook near the mountain's base. The lake it flows into and pass are also named Cascade.
It towers over the Van Hoevenberg ski center, the venue for cross-country skiing at the 1980 Winter Olympics.
Of the 46 Adirondack High Peaks, Cascade is the most accessible and the most frequently climbed, often by infrequent hikers who climb no other High Peak. The main trailhead is on state route 73 6 miles (10 km) east of Lake Placid, at Cascade Pass, overlooking Cascade Lake, and plenty of parking is available alongside the road. The summit is visible from the trailhead, a rare occurrence in the High Peaks.
The well-used trail follows red plastic markers and takes the hiker up 2.2 miles (4.6 km) and almost 2,000 vertical feet (600 vertical m) to the mountain's bare-rock summit, which although it may resemble the alpine summits found on many higher peaks is instead the result of a 1903 fire in the region.
Views are possible in all directions, and on a clear day with good weather in the summer months one can easily find many hikers up there taking it all in along with lunch.
Experienced and fit hikers, as well as those aspiring to become Adirondack Forty-Sixers, frequently add to the easy day trip a side trip to neighboring Porter Mountain, another High Peak.