Giant Mountain is the twelfth-highest peak in the High Peaks Region of the

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, in

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. The peak is also known as "Giant of the Valley," due to its stature looking over Keene Valley and St. Huberts to the west. The prominent rock slides on the mountain's steep western face and its location away from most other large peaks make it quite an imposing figure, leading to its name.

Ascents

On 2 June 1797, Charles Broadhead and his survey party made the first recorded ascent of Giant Mountain, recorded as Giant-of-the-Valley. They were surveying the boundaries of the Old Military Tract.The Old Military Tract was created on 5 May 1786 to award land to New York veterans of the U.S. Revolutionary War, as a substitute for the original proposal to award lands in central New York. The land was in Clinton, Essex, and Franklin counties. Broadhead's was the first recorded ascent of any of the 46 Adirondack High Peaks.

Trails

There are three main trails up Giant, one from the east, and two from the west. The two most popular routes begin on

trailhead A trailhead is the point at which a trail begins, where the trail is often intended for hiking, biking, horseback riding, or off-road vehicles. Modern trailheads often contain rest rooms, maps, sign posts and distribution centers for information ...

s along

New York State Route 73 New York State Route 73 (NY 73) is a state highway located entirely within Essex County, New York, in the United States. The highway begins at an intersection with NY 86 in the village of Lake Placid and ends at a junction with ...

, one near St. Huberts ("Roaring Brook Trail") and the other near Chapel Pond ("Zander Scott Trail"). The two trails climb the southern ridge of the mountain, meeting up about a mile south of the

summit A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topography, topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous. The term (mountain top) is generally used ...

. The Zander Scott Trail is shorter than the Roaring Brook Trail but steeper. The third trail begins from the east, near the town of New Russia, and is not as commonly climbed due to the longer hike. The route climbs Bald Peak, a smaller mountain with unusual

krummholz ''Krummholz'' (german: krumm, "crooked, bent, twisted" and ''Holz'', "wood") — also called ''knieholz'' ("knee timber") — is a type of stunted, deformed vegetation encountered in the subarctic and subalpine Montane ecosystems are fou ...

that is predominantly Northern White Cedar (

Thuja occidentalis ''Thuja occidentalis'', also known as northern white-cedar, eastern white-cedar, or arborvitae, is an evergreen coniferous tree, in the cypress family Cupressaceae, which is native to eastern Canada and much of the north-central and northeastern ...

), then begins the ascent of Rocky Peak Ridge. After summiting Rocky Peak Ridge, hikers descend a small coll before ascending to the Giant

. This route is more commonly used by those attempting to become

Adirondack Forty-Sixers The Adirondack Forty-Sixers are an organization of hikers who have climbed all forty-six of the traditionally recognized High Peaks of the Adirondack Mountains. They are often referred to just as 46ers. As of 2021, there were nearly 14,000 regi ...

, since Rocky Peak is a required peak. RoaringBrookFallsNY

References

External links

* *
Towns and Trails: Giant Mountain Day Hike

Giant Mountain - LetsGoPlayOutside.com
Mountains of Essex County, New York Adirondack High Peaks Mountains of New York (state) {{EssexCountyNY-geo-stub