FRENCH MOUNTAIN hike

 

July 22, 2024 - The trailhead is now gated!

July 5, 2024 - FRENCH MOUNTAIN hike. LGLC Hike-a-Thon at the McPhillips Preserve. The trail goes along old logging roads, sometimes overgrown. Reaching 1360' el, we took a L & dropped down to the rocky lookout where there is a view to the southern end of the lake & LG village. Also in view are West, Darling, Potash, Hadley, Black Spruce, & Prospect Mountains. Temp 75-80F, mostly cloudy, humid. Fun tho. No issues with bad bugs. A few ripe blueberries at the lookout, black raspberries at the trailhead. Wild turkeys near the parking area. 2.4 miles, 928' el gain, 2.8 hours (1.6 hours moving time). Still no sign of any work being done about marking trails. Lower slopes are in the town of Lake George, higher elevations in Queensbury.

Note from June/July 2024: the driveway for the below FRENCH MTN hike is chained off with a no trespassing sign:

Nov 15, 2023 - FRENCH MOUNTAIN RANGE hike, from Bloody Pond Rd. I call it a range because there are many small summits in here, not just 1 peak (the actual summit is at 1513'). 12:20 pm start, 2:15 pm turnaround time. Wanted to see if the towns had done anything new yet, like mark & clear trails - no; & see what I could find whacking to the N. From the parking area, go uphill to the E to an old woods road & take a L. At 0.2 miles bear R, & R again at 0.3 miles. Go straight after that. At 1.1 miles take a L to drop down to the lookout at 1.2 miles. Got to the main lookout in 50 mins, then bushwhacked N & E to see if I could find any other views, with some success. Lots more old logging roads in here to explore & no posted signs. Temp in the low 40s. 4.4 miles, 1234' el gain, 3.3 hours. Basic Map.

June 5, 2023 - FRENCH MOUNTAIN from Bloody Pond Rd. A short dirt/gravel road leads to the parking area. A narrow path soon leads to an old woods road & I headed NE. At junctions, the best advice for the time being is to stay on the woods road that is less overgrown. The route turns S of  E before slowly bending to the N, alternating between moderate & steep sections. After about 1.1 miles look for red flagging to your L which leads to the lookout (you can also stay on the road a bit further & find a good route). Arrived at the lookout (1300' el) after gaining 830' in 1.2 miles, it took me 50 minutes - no bad bugs so far. LG village is down below. L to R, there are views to West, Darling, Potash, Hadley, Black Spruce, & Prospect Mtns. I wanted to continue on the woods road to see where it goes - I would take it until I saw posted signs. It started to curve to the E & there were a couple of puddles & dried mud - mosquitoes started to attack - I sprayed some bug dope on my bare arms & neck. Took a spur to the L & found a tree stand. On another spur L there was a cabin (still no posted signs). Turned around after going 1.2 miles (still no posted signs) past the lookout. Back near the lookout, I whacked up to the actual summit (1513' el) which is wooded. There are some limited views SW of the summit. Back down on the woods road. Saw some violets & bluets. Found tiny wild strawberries at the trailhead - ripe but so small that it was hard to be able to gorge on them. Temp rising thru the 60s. 5.1 miles, 1329' gross el, 4 hours. The route to the lookout is shown on OpenStreetMap.  

FRENCH MOUNTAIN NEWS - hiking & mountain biking. 

May 11, 2022 - FRENCH MOUNTAIN from Bloody Pond Rd (480' el).  Could not find any trail descriptions on this one so had to go check it out for myself.  The route is shown on OpenStreetMap.  There is a maze of logging roads in here.  0.1 miles on gravel/dirt road to a clearing.  R turn following red flagging & soon hit old logging roads.  Went L at a junction because I saw flagging (later find out that I should have gone R).  R at another junction, L at another but that skid road faded out & I started to bushwhack.  Eventually hit a steep rocky section (looked like good rattler territory but saw none) & found flagging & the lookout at the top of this area (~1,300' el) - could see Potash & Hadley, the snowy top of Gore, the lake & village but I was disappointed that I could not see more of the lake.  Checked a nearby nubble (1,440' el) with limited view W.  Went down the correct logging road with occasional flagging which actually ended up 0.3 miles longer than my route up but was easier walking.  Saw a wild turkey, a few black flies (not hungry); lots of bluets & violets en route, blueberry around the lookout.  3.2 miles, 1,040' gain, 2.6 hours.  Temp 60-70°F, rising to 80 after the hike.  Some background info.  A bit more info on McPhillips Preserve.

Sept 13, 2020 - FRENCH MOUNTAIN CLIFFS, from the Warren County Bikeway.  A yellow arrow on the bike path points to the start of the trail, then blue markers.  A few semi-muddy spots near the start, dry the rest of the way, sneakers were sufficient.  Gentle grades early then gets steeper.  View of a small part of Lake George, Potash Mtn in distant W, Rt.9 & the I-87, the Outlet stores, $ General - above-average road noise the whole way - not very peaceful.  NE of the cliffs is a gravel road leading past a commercial zipline.  1.4 hours, 800' gain.   

 

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