Shelving Rock to Black Mountain Point - Lake George Wild Forest - 10/6/15

To me this is just a classic fall hike.  I start out on Shelving Rock Road and climb Shelving Rock Mountain, then I come back 0.6 miles to the trail split and take the trail down to Lake George.  From there it's a nice stroll on a nostalgic carriage road to Black Mountain Point with gorgeous views around every turn.  Add fall colors and the lack of boat traffic and it's really tough to beat.

On today's trip, the weather was just perfect.  Fall colors, while nice on Shelving Rock Road, were not near peak yet down by the lake.  Those of you that might be interested in this hike might hit some great color here in the next week or two.

On the way up Shelving Rock Mountain I saw the owners of the Lake George Restaurant - Bistro LeRoux.   Great restaurant and great people.  In 30 minutes I was out on the Shelving Rock ledge enjoying the fabulous view that never gets old.  I took a bunch of pictures there like I always do, then I moved on.

Panorama from the Shelving Rock ledge.

Montcalm Point and First Peak - Tongue Mountain Range from Shelving Rock.

As I hiked the trail from Shelving Rock towards Black Mountain Point, I was surprised that I was leaving the fall color behind and that most of the leaves near the lake have not turned yet.  It didn't matter much, it was still a wonderful place to be.

Typical views along the carriage road.

I always find myself inspecting all the campsites along the way to Black Mountain Point.  There are quite a few I lust after as amazing campsites.  I may be back for a camping hike before fall is done.  It will be hard to pick one!

Great campsites as well.

Looking south.

Sightseeing boats are still out.

Nothing wrong with this campsite!

There is a campsite here as well! 

I spent more time looking at campsites then I realized.  It was 4 PM when I reached Black Mountain Point.

Black Mountain Point.

On the way back, even though it was getting late, I had to shoot up the yellow trail (near Red Rock Bay) the 0.5 miles to the vista (one of the best on Lake George).  The trail is hard to follow though, especially at the bottom.  There are some yellow paint blazes and the yellow plastic soup can lids nailed to trees, but there aren't many official trail markers until you've gone 0.3 miles.  

A new sign near Red Rock Bay.

The vista location!

It was 4:45 when I left the vista location.  I waled quickly, only stopping to talk to 2 lone men hiking along the carriage road.  At 6:15 I got back to the car.  It was already starting to fell like darkness was setting in.

Don't miss trying this hike.  No big mountains but a great walk.  Afternoon is best to get the sun shining on you!

  

Hike Stats:

Hike Distance:  12 miles

Hike Time:  5 hours

Total Vertical Gain:  ~2000'  

My route (click image to enlarge)

  

Shelving Rock Ramble - Lake George Wild Forest - 7/27/14

 

 After we had a rain deluge this morning, skies cleared and it became rather nice outside.  It was about 70 degrees, and was rather muggy, but that was OK.  It took the opportunity to drive over to the east side of Lake George and the Shelving Rock trailhead for an afternoon ramble.  There are lots of trails there; more so than anywhere else in the southern Adirondacks.  I haven't hiked them all so I keep picking away at the ones I haven't done.

 

Trailhead sign

 

This time I took a trail known as the Red Rock Bay Trail which runs mid-mountain and passes over one portion of a un-named ridge that has a viewpoint looking south.  The south side of this trail in the Shelving Rock area is used very little.  It is marked as a horse trail, but it was obvious that no horses have been on this trail in a long time.  The trail is close to being overgrown and looks more like an animal herd path.



Starting out on the Red Rock Bay trail from Shelving Rock

 

The trail hooks around the bottom of a south facing ledge and through some switchbacks before working its way to a viewpoint.  After the viewpoint, the trail continues to hook around the ridge and then it begins to work its way down the slope towards Lake George at Red Rock Bay.  

 

 

 

 

The best view of the day came from a viewpoint about a half mile before I reached Red Rock Bay.  There is a vista at an elevation of about 700' that looks out over the Narrows from a great perspective.  Most of the remaining pictures were taken from this point. 

 

 

Shelving Rock Mtn. (L), Tongue Range (R) and the islands of the Narrows 

  

The ledge that provides the vista 

  

 

 

 

 

Fork Island

  

 

 

Rev waiting for me to continue

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the fantastic vista, I continued down to Red Rock Bay and walked North past Paradise Bay a short distance before turning back to head south.  On the way back I wanted to find an un-named open rock vista point that I had been from the 1st viewpoint of the day.  I had determined on my map where that point was so on the way back  I began a bushwhack to reach that spot. 

 

It turned out to be a decent spot, with a great view, but most of the islands could not be seen from this spot.  Still, it was worth going to.  Bushwhacking in the Shelving Rock area is very easy.  The woods are open and the only difficulties encountered are occasional ledges that need to be worked around.  

  

The destination of my bushwhack

 

The view was great, but not many islands could be seen from this point

From this spot I worked my way over to the Shelving Rock Ridge Trail and back to the Shelving Rock Mountain Trail.  I didn't climb the .6 miles remaining to Shelving Rock Mountain since it was time to get home for dinner.  On the final descent I saw a couple heading up the mountain.  They were the only people I saw on the trail all day.  Not bad for a Sunday in July in Lake George.  People were out on their boats and not on the trail.

 

Hike Stats:

Hike Distance:  8.1 miles

Hike Time:  3 hours, 45 minutes

Total Vertical Gain:  ~ 1500'     

 

 

The route (done counter-clockwise) 

Shelving Rock Mountain to Black Mountain Point - Lake George, NY - 10/10/13

 Wednesday, October 10th, I took the day to take a last look at the leaves in the Lake George, NY area, before they tumble to the ground.  I drove to the trailhead for Shelving Rock Mountain on the east side of the lake.

 I've climbed Shelving Rock Mountain many times, but I've never taken the trail from the shoulder of Shelving Rock Mountain down to Lake George then along the lake north to Black Mountain Point.  That became my agenda for this day.  This post is more of a photo essay due to all the great pictures I got from the day.  The pictures can do the talking.

 It took 20 minutes to get to the shoulder of the mountain and then in another 20 minutes I was at the water's edge.  It turns out that the leaves were beautiful.  I really picked the right day for this trip.  The lake is so quiet this time of year; especially on a weekday.   This hike on a fall day really is the perfect place for a fall walk or a romantic stroll with your partner. 

Picnic pavilion at Commission Point

Docks at Commission Point

They'll need a replacement sign for this one...

Rev is debating...

Once you get to the water's edge, the trail is really the old carriage road from the Knapp estate days.  It is in great shape.  You can easily walk the length from Shelving Rock to Black Mountain Point in about one hour.

  

Tent platform on the tip of Red Rock

  

Some tent platforms are elevated

Just a perfect fall walk on the old carriage road 

Rev was continuously after chipmunks... to no avail

Picnic Pavilion just south of Black Mountain Point

We stopped at the dock below for lunch.  As we were leaving, I saw a sign that said dogs prohibited.  I was surprised.  I thought it only applied to the islands.  I'll have to check in see if dogs are allowed in areas such as Red Rock and Black Mountain Point after the camping season ends on Columbus Day. 

One of the docks at Black Mountain Point

Tie off for boats... Rev wasn't interested.  She headed for the dock

... waiting for me to give her some lunch

Pavilion at Black Mountain Point

a really large beehive!

On our way back, we bushwhacked up to Shelving Rock Mountain since the trail from the shore makes a wide loop before it connects with the mountain trail.  It was beautiful on top, as can be seen from the pictures below... and it was so quiet.  No boats were moving down on the lake below.  

The view south from the summit of Shelving Rock Mountain

Dome Island in the distance

Looking south from the ledge on Shelving Rock 

Montcalm Point and the Tongue Mountain Range

Queen of the hill

It was tough to turn around and head back to the car.  A great walk to soak in the Fall weather

Hike Stats:

Hike Distance:  12.5 miles

Hike Time:  4.75 hours, including stops

Total Vertical Gain:  ~1200'

My route (click image to enlarge)

The route as shown on (National Geographic map)