Big Slide / Yard Mountain Hike 11 miles

The Hike In A Nutshell One popular guide book says the view from the summit of Big Slide is the single best view in the Adirondacks. We see their point! Big Slide provides the most splendid broadside view to be had of the entire Great Range, which is probably the most famous view in the Adirondacks. You have two options for routes up Big Slide and one is decidedly better than the other. The route that starts in the very next paragraph is the most used route. It provides a terrific view of the Great Range pretty much unremarkable, but there is a much better choice from Johns Brook Lodge that passes over Yard Mt. on its way to Big Slide. Now you might be thinking that two peaks are more than you want to handle. That would be true except that it is easier and more fun overall to go up Yard Mt. first and then follow the summit trail over to Big Slide, then go back down via the Big Slide Trail, thus completing a loop back to Johns Brook Lodge. Big Slide by the Usual Route The Big Slide Trail Red (ADK #13, McM #114), begins at its junction with the Johns Brook Trail about 0.3 miles below John Brooks Lodge where it intersects the trail from the Garden to JBL. If you are coming from the other direction; i.e., up the Johns Brook Trail from The Garden trailhead, at 3.1 miles you will come to a tee in the trail. Left goes to the NYSDEC Outpost, right to Johns Brook Lodge. Turn right, walk 0.1 mile and you will come to the sign that marks the start of the Big Slide trail. Difficulty While the round trip from the Garden is 11.2 miles and the vertical ascent from the start of the Slide Brook Trail is about 1800 feet, this hike is on good trail seldom as steep as High Peaks trails like to get, except near the last several hundred feet to the summit where it is very steep, but has been made easy by the use of ladders. The route is straightforward over well-traveled, well-maintained trails. We rate the round trip from the Garden to the summit of Big Slide, via The Brothers, as strenuous.