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Hike the Great Range Traverse in the Adirondack Mountains

United States
2 nights
Tough

An epic weekend summiting 8 peaks of the Great Range Traverse, New York State; one of the most challenging short hikes in the world

What's Included?

Small Like-minded Groups

Solo-friendly by design, join our small n’ sociable groups of up to 9 like-minded, active and outdoorsy people
From

…

excluding flights
From

…

excluding flights

What's it like?

Reach the highest point in New York State - Mount Marcy - and soak up the spectacular sweeping views over the Adirondack Mountains beneath you

Tackle one of the world's most challenging day hikes, with rugged ascents, technical scrambles and heart pounding descents along the trails.

Hike to the summit of eight peaks above 4000ft which make up the Great Range of the Adirondack Mountains, in the heart of upstate New York.

Key Information

Day 1

Depart for the Adirondacks and warm up with a hike on Mount Jo

Hiking

2.5hrs · 2.5 miles · 700ft up · 700ft down

You'll depart early in the morning from New York, heading upstate towards your mountain home for the next 2 nights. After arriving in the Adirondack High peaks area, you'll head out on a short hike up Mount Jo. You'll get the legs moving, get ready for the big day tomorrow, and enjoy views across much of the range that you'll be hiking across.

You'll enjoy a hearty dinner before bunking down at the Loj to prepare for the big day tomorrow.

Day 2

Take on the Great Range Traverse

Hiking

10-14 hrs · 21 miles · 9000 ft up · 9000ft down

Alarm clocks will be ringing before dawn today as you get a early start to take the short drive to the trailhead. You'll start hiking just as the sun is rising and you'll soon be taking in some of the finest views New York State has to offer as you make your way along the mountain ridge. You'll pass over eight 4000ft+ peaks and be well on your way to becoming an' Adirondack '46-er' by the end of the day. Be prepared for some heart pounding scrambling and climbing on the Adirondack's notoriously rugged terrain.

The final peak of your hike, Mount Marcy, is the crescendo of our day and at 5344ft; the highest peak in the state of New York. As you descend, you'll make your way back below the tree line and will finish your traverse just steps from the Loj. Here, you'll rest your legs, enjoy a delicious and well-earned dinner and relax by the fireplace.

Day 3

Head back to New York City

You will be able to hit your snooze button this morning before grabbing some breakfast at the lodge. You have a leisurely drive back to New York City, stopping for lunch along the way.

The Area

map

Logistics

Starts

Central Manhattan

06:45 on Day 1

Ends

Central Manhattan

Around 18:00 on Day 3 (depending on traffic)

Transfers

On Day 1 you'll meet your host at the corner of Broadway and W 73rd street, northwest corner in front of The North Face store. The drive to the mountains takes around 5-6 hours, with a relaxing stop for lunch. Alternatively - you are welcome to make your own way directly to the first night of accommodation if you wish.

On Day 3 you'll typically arrive back roughly between 1600-1800, however, it is entirely dependent on traffic coming into New York City, which is very unpredictable. We strongly recommend you don't make any plans for the evening or book flights departing until after 2200 - in case of delays.

Travel options

If you are flying in - there are direct flights to New York via JFK, LaGuardia and Newark airports from across the US and Europe. From there you can easily make your way into central Manhatten.

Day 1

Lodge · Mixed dorm

Breakfast

Lunch

Dinner

Day 2

Lodge · Mixed dorm

Breakfast

Lunch

Dinner

Day 3

Departure day

Breakfast

Lunch

Dinner

What is the food like?

Evening meals will be based around rice and pasta dishes with fresh vegetables. For breakfast there will be eggs, pancakes and fruit. Lunches will be meat-based sandwiches unless you request a vegan/vegetarian option. During the adventure you'll be kept full of delicious, local snacks! Water, tea and coffee are provided and wine and beer can be purchased in the evenings.

Vegetarian, vegan and most dietary requirements can be accommodated on this trip.

What is the accommodation like?

Adirondack Loj

You'll be staying at this historic lodge near Lake Placid in the Adirondack High Peaks region. Located on the shore of Heart Lake, the Loj was built in 1927 and is owned and operated by the Adirondack Mountain Club. You'll be staying in mixed 4 or 6-person rooms with bunk beds. Much welcome hot showers and tasty meals are served at the lodge.

This trip is brand new

We’re still waiting to collect any reviews from other travellers on this trip. However, all our hosts go through an extensive vetting process to ensure that your adventure is awesome.

Guides

Expert, certified guides with wilderness first responder training

Accommodation

2 nights in the historic Adirondack Loj

Meals

All meals except lunch on the drive to/from the New York

Transfers

All transfers to/from Central Manhattan

Permits

All entry fees and permits

What do I need to bring?

Bags

  • Rain cover or plastic bags to waterproof backpack
  • 30+L backpack

Clothes

  • Hiking boots
  • Moisture-wicking, non-cotton base layers (top and bottom).
  • Fleece
  • Insulating top layer
  • Insulating bottom layer
  • Fully waterproof top and bottom layers that can be worn over all other layers
  • Long underwear for sleeping
  • Fleece hat
  • Neck buff
  • Sun hat
  • Light and comfortable camp/lodge/car shoes

Other

  • Personal toiletries
  • Sunscreen
  • Sunglasses
  • Bug spray
  • Head torch
  • Trekking poles
  • Water bottles or bladder (must have 3L capacity in total)

No optional extras are available for this trip.

We partner with the World Land Trust to ensure this trip achieves Net-Zero emissions. We also support their Buy an Acre programme, helping local communities to buy and protect natural habitats in perpetuity.

What's the number?
It works out on average at 110kg of CO2 emissions per person, including all local transport, accommodation, food, activities, guides, staff and office operations.

The only thing it doesn’t include right now is flights and travel to the destination. We do make an overall estimate across all our customers separately, but as we don’t book flights, have customers from all corners of the world, and no way of reliably knowing their travel plans, we simply can’t include an individual number in the figure on display here. We’ve got a goal to fix that, so that when you book, there is a way to measure and mitigate the carbon emitted by your flight too.

But what does the number mean?
Yep, hard to picture eh? To give you an idea:

  • Driving 1000miles/1609km would be approx. 281kg of CO2 in an average car (or 140.5kg per person if there was 2 of you in it).
  • A return economy class flight London - New York would be approx. 1,619kg (1.66 tonnes) per person.
  • 10 trees in a temperate forest are estimated to remove approx. 250kg of CO2 from the air in a period of 5-10 years.

What are we doing about it?
Our trips are relatively low-carbon by design, and we're working with all our hosts to develop long term carbon reduction plans. We partner with the World Land Trust to ensure this trip achieves Net-Zero emissions. We also support their Buy an Acre programme, helping local communities to buy and protect natural habitats in perpetuity, ensuring the protection of the reserve and its wildlife.

Want to know more?
Amazingly, no international travel company has ever publicly published their carbon measurements before, as far as we know. We believe that must change, quickly. So we’re openly sharing the method we used in the hope that other companies will be able to more easily follow suit and build on what we've done so far. You'll find it all here.

Tips are not included in the trip cost. The amount to tip is entirely at your discretion but there is an expectation to tip in the USA; your guides will rely on tips for a considerable portion of their income.

We suggest to budget for 10%-20% of the trip cost as a guideline.

Of course, you are free to tip more or less, and the amount should be reflective of your perception of service and quality - a tip is not compulsory and should only be given when you receive excellent service.

The hiking route has several water re-supply points, so you just need to bring reusable water bottles to fill up throughout the hike

Room is limited in the van, so participants should only bring their backpack and one small extra item, such as a duffel bag, for any extras.

Sure can! Over 70% of our travellers travel solo, it’s a great way to meet like-minded people.

Our team of Adventure Hunters co-create exclusive adventures which are run by highly vetted, specialist hosts. The trip is run by our trusted host partner in the destination. We only work with independent, local, in-destination experts who know the very best places to explore and how to stay safe. Read more information about the local teams we partner with. You’ll be introduced to the host straight after making a booking via the Much Better Adventures platform.

Much Better Adventures refer to the UK Government’s official travel advice when designing trips and monitoring trip operations. We recommend that all customers are familiar with the practical information provided on the Government’s FCDO website, where current travel advice can be found by searching for the applicable destination(s).

For customers joining this trip from other international destinations – please also read the official travel advice applicable to your country of residence/origin, as this may differ.

We recommend checking out the country-specific information and also talking to a travel nurse.

We automatically convert prices from the local currency that a host receives to your chosen currency. We update our exchange rates on a daily basis so this does mean that prices displayed on the site are subject to currency fluctuations, which is why you may see them change over time.

If you wish to change the currency you pay in, head to the bottom of the page.

All of our group adventures are specially designed for adults to enjoy as we want these adventures to bring together outdoorsy people who are truly like-minded. You must be over 18 to join one of our trips.

You're always in good company on one of our adventures.

Our trips are typically made up of a mixture of solo travellers and small groups of 2 or 3 friends, with most in their 30s-50s.

Our sociable adventures are solo-friendly by design and naturally attract outdoorsy people with a shared mindset; a love for adventure, a desire to push themselves and meet awesome, like-minded people along the way.

It’s this camaraderie that has so often turned a great adventure into a life-changing one.

Don't just take our word for it:

  • 95% of people rate the group dynamics on our trips 5/5
  • 90% of people recommend joining a trip to make new friends
  • 75% of people have met people on our trips that they would now consider friends

See here for more info about the Much Better Adventures tribe.

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