Lyon Mountain is a challenging 7-mile hike (round trip) on a newly constructed trail to a spruce-covered mountaintop plateau with a firetower that provides a stunning 360-degree view that includes the High Peaks and Montreal.
Lyon Mountain
3.5 mile (7 miles round-trip)
Saranac, Clinton County
Northern Adirondacks
Hiking, Snowshoeing, Cross-Country Skiing
Level of Difficulty: Challenging
Hike Lyon Mountain
Lyon Mountain is a 3.5-mile hike up the tallest peak in New York north of the Saranac River. The trail is located in the Town of Saranac in Clinton County in the northern Adirondacks. The trail runs through Forest Preserve lands in the Chazy Highlands Wild Forest Area. On the summit of Lyon Mountain stands a firetower that provides stunning views of the High Peaks to the south and Montreal to the north.
The Lyon Mountain Trail
The trailhead is accessed from a parking area on Lowenberg Road, a dirt road off of County Route 29 on the west side of Chazy Lake. A large Chazy Highlands Wild Forest and Lyon Mountain Trailhead sign marks the entrance. The hiking trail was rebuilt recently, and the new trail includes a number of environmentally beneficial switchbacks, and crosses the damaging old trail that ran straight up the mountainside in several places.
The trail up Lyon Mountain is surrounded by a young northern hardwood forest. There are beech, ash, and maple in abundance. The trail crosses a few streams on the lower hillside before repeated switchbacks up through steep sections for the final climb.
The Spruce-Covered Lyon Mountain Summit
Near the end of the trail, the forest transitions to beautiful mossy spruce and balsam forest, familiar to hikers of the Adirondacks. The summit is a large spruce plateau, with exposed rock around the high-trafficked areas surrounding the firetower.
The firetower offers stunning views of Chazy Lake to the northeast and the Green Mountains in Vermont to the east, the High Peaks to the south, wind farms to the north, and Montreal in the distance to the northeast. All else is obscured by the width of the summit plateau, but the view is still spectacular. Much of this view is visible from the ground from a north-facing overlook point. This is a moderate hike with an excellent view that’s never overly steep, though there is a substantial elevation gain.
The hike down follows the same route as the hike up.
Click here to download a map and trail directions for Lyon Mountain.
When You Hike Make Sure to Practice “Leave No Trace” to be Prepared and to Protect the Forest Preserve
Please follow “carry in, carry out” rules for all trash and follow other Leave No Trace principles when hiking in the public Forest Preserve and other wild areas. The seven Leave No Trace principles are: 1) Plan ahead and prepare; 2) Stay on hiking trails and camp at designated areas; 3) Dispose of human waste and trash properly; 4) Leave what you find; 5) Minimize campfires; 6) Respect wildlife; 7) Respect other hikers.
Educated hikers do not damage the environment.
Prepared hikers do not need search and rescue unless injured.
Winter Use: Lyon Mountain is a popular mountain for snowshoeing in the winter as well as cross-country and backcountry skiing.
