Years ago, my husband and I started the Adirondacks based “Saranac Lake 6er.” We brought our infant daughter to the tops of some of the coolest little mountains in Saranac Lake, and had a blast! Then the borders shut down, and… Now it’s 2023!
Early this year I asked my husband if he would complete a “Winter 6er” with me, and he enthusiastically agreed. Which I thought was a little suspicious, since normally this type of thing takes a little more convincing. 😊
To complete the Saranac Lake 6er, you have to hike the six mountains surrounding Saranac Lake. To complete a “Winter 6er” you have to hike them all in the winter! Turns out my husband thought he was agreeing to hike ONE of them, but fortunately now he’s on board for six.
To begin our challenge we re-hiked St. Regis Mountain. We have a full trail report here. We also had to hike Ampersand Mountain again. And you guessed it, we already have a trail report for that one too!
Scarface Mountain was one we hadn’t tackled before, and we set out on a cloudy day in January to get to the top. Scarface has a wooded summit, but some pretty great views from the ridgeline just before you approach the summit. And anyone who’s ever hiked in the Adirondacks knows that the views are typically pretty exceptional. So when I say great I mean it!
The view from Scarface on a day that’s less cloudy! Photo by @corinnetorpey.
Quick Facts
Length: 10.88 km roundtrip.
Difficulty: Moderate to hard, depending on conditions.
Trailhead Coordinates: 44.298304, -74.082919
Washroom at Trailhead: No
Dogs Allowed: Yes
Cell Reception: Spotty
Wheelchair Accessible: No
Parking: Right at the trailhead.
Cost: Free
Open in Winter: Yes
On a less cloudy day there would be a great view here!
Getting There
The trailhead for Scarface mountain is just southeast of Saranac Lake. You can use these coordinates to get there: 44.298304, -74.082919. The parking lot is right at the trailhead, with space for about six cars. Since we were there in the winter we had absolutely no trouble finding parking.
The trail enters the forest at the back of the parking lot (to the left when you’re facing the forest) and we came upon the trail register almost right away. Whenever we see a register at the trailhead we ALWAYS fill it out. Providing this info is another way to help out Search and Rescue if they ever need to come find you, because they’ll have some contact info, the number of people in your party, etc.
Signing in at the trailhead register.
Safety First!
After signing the register we carried on, crossing over an old ATV trail around the 300 metre mark. The trail continued immediately in front of us and was super easy to find again.
Our hike continued on in a fairly easy manner, with the terrain not being too technical and with very little incline. The trail was DEFINITELY single file, with sections so close to us that we brushed the tree branches as we walked. It would have been nearly impossible to lose the trail here since the trees were so close that there was virtually nowhere else to go but ahead.
The trail gets MUCH skinnier than this at certain points!
Things opened up a bit and after hiking .85 km we reached Ray Brook and crossed the bridge over it before continuing. We followed the red trail markers through the forest for quite some time before reaching an actual trail split. At the 2.5 km mark a trail branched off to our right, but the trail markers kept us heading straight. We were hiking a wide section of trail that actually allowed us to walk side by side for a bit, and at 2.8 km this trail continued on ahead of us.
Crossing over Ray Brook.
Fortunately it was very clearly marked, with a trail marker and an arrow, that we needed to head off to our left. And so we did. Up until this point the hiking had really been very easy, but a few hundred metres later we crossed over a tiny stream and began to head uphill beside it.
We did a bit of huffing and puffing but for the most part the hill here was pretty gentle, following the stream and then bringing us back across it.
Very good trail marking!
Beginning the Ascent
Once we had hiked 4 km (and headed uphill for the last km of it) the conditions began to change a bit and we stopped to put on our micro spikes. These were major game changers and we probably should have put them on earlier! Immediately we felt a lot more confident in our footing, and since we were now hiking on more ice and snow than open ground and rock, that was helpful.
The trail heading upwards was fairly rocky and since it had been so warm recently, tons of water had been running downhill, making things slippery.
Getting Technical
Things got a bit steeper at the 4.5 km mark, and then steeper still at 4.8 km. Then, we started having to get up and over some big rocks. I don’t know that we would have been able to get over them without our micro spikes as they were largely iced over. Our pace really slowed through this section, since it was so much more technical.
Heading up some slippery rocks.
Around the 5 km mark there was a tiny footpath through the trees on our right-hand side. It’s totally worth heading in this direction- just a few steps got us out to a rocky ledge with an amazing view! Or what would have been an amazing view on a day that wasn’t so cloudy. This is probably the best spot to stop and take a break or have lunch along the trail, as it’s off the actual trail and provides the best view anyways.
Even on a really cloudy day we got a pretty good view!
Just after this we had to go up and over a HUGE rock on the trail. It might not have seemed so huge in the summer, but it was definitely a scramble and even with my micro spikes on I asked my husband to help pull me up it! I was worried about getting back down it as well, but it ended up being fine because I just sat down and used the rock like a slide.
As we carried on past this point we weren’t spotting any trail markers in what felt like a long time. But we were still going uphill, and every once in a while we spotted a downed tree that he been cut with a chainsaw. So we figured if someone had been out doing trail maintenance, odds were fairly good we were still on the trail!
The Summit
We hiked 5.5 km before spotting another marker. The incline had stopped, and we were having an easy wander through the woods. The hiking remained easy for another 500 metres- long enough that we were really beginning to wonder where the summit was because we knew our round trip was supposed to be just under 11 km.
Then, after hiking 6.2 km (according to our GPS) we reached the summit. There was about 1 km of very easy hiking before we got there. At the summit, the trail ended very definitively. So despite a lack of serious marking, you wouldn’t be able to carry on because there’s simply no more trail.
At the summit!
The summit of Scarface is wooded, with no views at all. So it’s a really good hike to complete on a cloudy day if you’re working on the 6er challenge because you’re not going to miss much, and you need this summit for your challenge anyways!
There was a small white trail marker that let us know that we had, indeed reached the top.
The official summit marker on Scarface!
Heading Back
Heading down, we enjoyed the flat, easy terrain before getting back to the more technical section that we knew would slow our descent. On the way back we realized that the really tricky part with big rocks was only about 400 metres worth of trail. So all things considered that’s not too bad! We found it easier coming down than going up, and so it didn’t really take us too long to get through the technical section. And then it was all (fairly) easy downhill from there!
It was a bit easier going down but we were still cautious!
Trail Thoughts
By the time we got back to the parking lot, our GPS’ had recorded us as having hiked 12.5 km. It took us 4 hours and 53 minutes. According to official sources, the trail is only supposed to be 10.9 km roundtrip, so I’m not sure where the extra mileage came from.
Regardless, we were excited to have another Saranac Lake 6er mountain climbed in the winter! We had never hiked in the Adirondacks in winter before so Scarface was a perfect mountain for us to test out a tiny bit of technical terrain and get our first taste of winter hiking (Ampersand the next day would prove to be WAY more technical for a much longer stretch).
The Ray Brook Brewhouse is just a few minutes drive from the trailhead and we headed there immediately. Unbeknownst to us, this actually started us on another Adirondack challenge- the ADK 6 Pack Challenge, where you hike a mountain and then visit a brewery close by.
I don’t think I’ll ever be able to say enough wonderful things about the Adirondacks. I simply love it there, and now Scarface has me loving winter hiking in the Adirondacks as well!
Map and Elevation Gain
Our GPS tracked route of the trail up Scarface Mountain.
Whenever I’m hiking somewhere new, I tend to wonder about who was on, and who took care of that land before me. I’ve enjoyed using this website as a place to start learning more about the Indigenous people whose land I’m on: Native-land.ca.
Elevation gain and our speed.
Gear We Brought
Links in this section are affiliate links, which means that if you buy anything after clicking them we may receive a small commission.
- Keen Hiking Boots
- Kahtoola Micro Spikes (to help in icy conditions!)
- MSR Snowshoes
- MEC Hiking Poles
- Polyester Leggings
- Mountain Warehouse Snowpants
- Polyester/Merino Wool Base Layer
- Fjällräven Puffy
- Swany Gloves (you can find them at Costco!)
- Buff Headband
- 35L Daypack
- Hydro Flask Water Bottle (these are insulated so it stops your water from freezing during your hike!)
- Headlamp
- Compass
- Rab 4-Person Superlite Emergency Shelter (this link is for the 8 person, just to give you an idea of the shelter- they sell out of the smaller ones all the time!)
- Garmin inReach Mini (since buying mine Garmin has also come out with the inReach Messenger, which also has the function of sending an SOS signal even when there’s no cell coverage, which is really the only reason I bring mine everywhere. Plus it’s less expensive!)
- Grabber Hand Warmers
*I was really chilled after this hike and took a while to warm up, so I’ll be adding either a bivvy or an emergency blanket to my daypack for future hikes.
