>>2688692>>2688694>>2688697>>2688807>>2688870>>2688907>>2688908as a local I can agree with the relative difficulty of Adirondack trails, its right to say its by no means the hardest in the states, theres plenty harder, but it is a lot rougher than it looks. The trails are in generally poor condition with frequent stretches of swamp broken by relatively rugged ridges of exposed broken rock and small but often near vertical rockface that has to be scaled or scrambled, which like the other anon says becomes highly questionable when wet, and it is often at least a bit wet because this part of the state gets a lot of rain/snow/in between nasty slush year round.
The overheads don't capture just how much up and down the terrain in the park does nor do they show how rough many of the trails are most of them being nothing more than glorified game trails with some sections of swamp bridged by simple rail and beam walk ways which inevitably fall apart and sit basically unusable for a decade before getting fixed, leaving you better off crossing the swamp as a dryish spot, since the bridge are as likely to injure you as provide passage. The rocky sections plow straight through with basically no attempts made to avoid steep climbs, trails often go right up the side of a large boulder since up and over is the most direct route to the flatter ground beyond. many trails either were seasonal meltwater streams to begin with or have become that by being lowered due to human traffic.
Virtually all trails lead to either a lean-to campsite or a fire tower/scenic lookout points, many of which are quite grand, but virtually all the towers themselves are closed or even removed. If you do head out this way bring extra boots and bring at least one set or something fully water-proof for swamping If you come here in winter or spring bring dry clothes and the ability to make fire, since you WILL get wet, with the flakey weather here you could find yourself soaked in 30f air in may.
