Hike to Street and Nye Mountains

Street Mountain is number 31 at 4,166’ and Nye Mountain is number 45 at 3,895’ on the list of 46ers. The trails to both peaks are not maintained making these “trailless peaks”, but there is a pretty defined herd path and cairns, making it fairly easy to follow.

Parking is at the Adirondack High Peaks Information Center (HPIC) at the Adirondack Loj, for a fee. There are a few lots here with room for several cars, however, on weekends and nice days, the lots fill up very quickly. There is free parking along South Meadows Road, a mile back (on the left as you are heading towards the ADK Loj). It’s a mile walk along the road to the Loj from here.

The hike to Street and Nye starts out at the Adirondack Loj near Heart Lake (on the right side of the road) via the Rock Garden trail. This is a nice flat walk with beautiful views of the lake starting out. At 0.1 miles, after signing the register, the trail to Street and Nye goes right from the Indian Pass Trail jct. which marks the old Nye Ski Trail and Mt. Jo. Follow the trail for another 0.1 miles to the the next jct. for Street and Nye (straight) and Mt. Jo (right). From here the trail is not maintained or marked. You will continue straight and hike along the old ski trail for approximately 0.75 miles until you come to the Indian Pass Brook, there are cairns near the crossing. The hike into Indian Pass Brook is a nice hike with minimal ups and downs. Getting across the brook will require some rock hopping. During winter and spring months, the brook may be challenging to cross. After crossing the brook, the hike is pretty moderate for the next mile. At about 1.75 miles, you will come to an old lumber camp site near a small brook where there are still some remains laying around. It’s pretty cool, so take a minute to check it out!

At this point, the trail crosses over a brook (there’s a downed tree laying across the brook) and follows along the bank passing by a beaver pond, for about 0.6 miles before climbing steeply up to the col and then to the jct. of Street and Nye Mountains. Climbing is now steady and steep, and at 3.4 miles you will reach the jct. for Street and Nye Mountains. This is marked with a tree, S (left) and N (right) carved into it, and a rock cairn in front. I choose to climb Street first, since this is the longer of the two.

From here you will turn left towards Street Mountain and follow the herd path down into the col and climb steeply up to the summit of Street Mountain. There is a lot of blow down through here, and the trail is very narrow in spots. At 0.6 miles (4.0 miles from the Loj) you are at the wooded summit of Street Mountain. The summit marker is high up in a tree on your left, with a wooden plaque marked “Street Mountain”. Just past the summit is a small clearing where you will have some views of the MacIntyre and Santanoni Ranges, and neighboring peaks. A nice place to have lunch!

From Street Mountain, you will take the trail descending back down to the jct. of Street and Nye and turn right to head up Nye Mountain. The trail up to Nye is not as steep, or as long as the hike to Street from the jct. After following the herd path through some moderate climbing and blow down for 0.2 miles, you are at the summit of Nye Mountain. This is a pretty quick climb compared to the climb up to Street! The summit marker is another wooden plaque, high up in a tree marked “Nye Mountain”. There are no views or clearings on the summit of Nye, it is completely wooded so your only photo ops here are summit selfies!

Descending back down the trail from Nye, you will have some partial views through the trees and blown down. It’s actually pretty neat. Once you reach the jct. for Street and Nye again, you will follow the trail back down, crossing over the brooks, and back the the Adirondack Loj at Heart Lake. If you're in search for good beer and good food after the climb, I recommend Liquids and Solids in Lake Placid, great food and atmosphere!

Total round trip is 8.4 miles and 2,500 feet elevation gain