How Tall Is Mount Marcy in New York?

If you live in America, you don’t need to travel abroad for stunning summit hiking. Instead, head over to the Empire State for an incredible view, a massive mountain, and a challenging climb up New York State’s tallest mountain.

How Tall is Mount Marcy in New York?

Located in Keene, New York, Mount Marcy is the tallest mountain in the entire state and the highest peak in the Adirondacks. It measures a dizzying 5,344 feet above sea level. Most people who choose to hike Mount Marcy enjoy doing so in better weather, as winter brings a snowy, icy chill to the experience. The mountain’s trails can get quite muddy between October and February. 

Mount Marcy History

The first climb of Mount Marcy took place in 1837 by Ebenezer Emmons and a team of geologists. The trip’s guide, John Cheney, is quoted in history as having said at the top of Mount Marcy’s peak, “It makes a man feel what it is to have all creation placed beneath his feet.”

Despite this early climb, it took another twenty-odd years to cut a trail to the top. Today, Mount Marcy’s most popular trail is the Van Hoevenberg Trail which climbs the neighboring Mount Phelps before crossing over onto Marcy.

The name of the summit comes from Governor William L. Marcy. Marcy was governor of New York in the nineteenth century Governor of New York. At the team, he’d authorized the environmental survey that explored the area and surveyors chose to name the massive peak after him.

American settlers weren’t the first to discover the beautiful heights of Mount Marcy. Long before they came to America, Native American tribes had settled around the mountain, naming it tahawus, or cloudsplitter.

Recreation on Mount Marcy

More often than not, Mount Marcy is a hiking destination. Because of its status as the highest peak in the Adirondacks and New York State, many adventure-seeking tourists come for the simple joy of saying they climbed to the summit.

While the challenging summit (which rates a 5 out of 7 on difficulty levels) can be conquered in a day, novice and intermediate climbers sometimes choose to make a camp somewhere on the side of the mountain and finish the ascent over two days. At mile 3 up the mountain, designated campsite spaces exist. However, you can pitch a tent wherever you feel like stopping for the day. Be warned, though — Mount Marcy does get difficult to navigate in winter temperatures, and mudslides can decimate your campsite.

Tourists looking for a different recreation option can indulge in some wonderful skiing. The mountain has several alpine skiing trails that zoom through beautiful scenery. Crossing Phelps Brook and Marcy Dam will get you where you need to go for many skiing trails.

Mount Marcy Compared to Other New York Peaks

Did you know that you can see an astonishing 43 different peaks when you climb Mount Marcy’s summit? As the highest point in the Adirondacks, climbs and hikers get a bird’s-eye view of the surrounding area. Some have even claimed to spy Montreal’s Mount Royal on a clear day, which is a whopping 65 miles away!

Compared to the Adirondacks and some other New York peaks, here’s a handy guide to the heights of New York summits:

Mount Marcy Compared to Other U.S. Summits

Despite the height of Mount Marcy in New York, it’s still dwarfed by other mountain peaks in the United States. For example, the tallest 10 peaks in the United States are nearly quadruple the height of Mount Marcy.

Mount Marcy and Wildfires

Thanks to its climate and the general wetness of the area around it, Mount Marcy doesn’t often experience wildfires in the same way that the Pacific Northwest summits and forests do, even in the driest seasons. Most of the time, rangers deal with brush fires before they escalate into full-blown, dangerous wildfires. 

Keene, the town in which Mount Marcy is located, and the surrounding Essex County, suffer the same amount (or less) of instances of wildfire than the rest of the surrounding areas.

Climbing Mount Marcy?

When you’re ready to ascend the peak of the tallest mountain in New York State, head over to the Adirondacks for an awe-inspiring view. The heart-pounding 7.4-mile hike will challenge and excite you as you slowly but surely ascend a beautiful peak that one of the first discoverers even said made him feel on top of the world.