Algonquin Peak

{{short description|Mountain in New York state, United States}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}

{{Infobox mountain

| name = Algonquin Peak

| photo = AlgonquinAdkLoj.jpg

| photo_caption = Algonquin Peak seen from road to Adirondak Loj

| elevation_ft = 5114

| elevation_ref = {{NGVD29}}{{cite book |editor1-last=Goodwin |editor1-first=Tony |title=Adirondack trails. High peaks region |date=2021 |publisher=Adirondack Mountain Club |isbn=9780998637181 |edition=15th |page=286}}

| listing = Adirondack High Peaks 2nd{{cite web |title=The Peaks – Adirondack 46ers |url=https://adk46er.org/peaks/ |website=adk46er.org |access-date=8 May 2024}}

| location = North Elba, New York, U.S.

| range = MacIntyre Mountains

| parent_peak =

| map = USA New York

| range_coordinates =

| map_caption = Location of Algonquin Peak in New York

| coordinates = {{coord|44|08|37|N|73|59|12|W|type:mountain_region:US-NY_scale:100000|format=dms|display=inline,title}}

| coordinates_ref = {{cite gnis | id = 973340 | name = Algonquin Peak |access-date=8 May 2024}}

| topo = USGS Keene Valley

| type =

| age =

| first_ascent = August 8, 1837, by Ebenezer Emmons and party{{Efn|name="party"}}

| easiest_route = Hike from the Adirondak Loj

}}

Algonquin Peak is a mountain in the MacIntyre Range of the Adirondacks in the U.S. state of New York. It is the second-highest mountain in New York, with an elevation of {{Convert|5114|ft}}, and one of the 46 Adirondack High Peaks. It is located in the town of North Elba in Essex County and in the High Peaks Wilderness Area{{cite web |title=High Peaks Wilderness Complex - NYSDEC |url=https://dec.ny.gov/places/high-peaks-wilderness-complex |website=dec.ny.gov |access-date=28 May 2024 |language=en}} of Adirondack Park. The first recorded ascent of the mountain was made on August 8, 1837, by a party led by New York state geologist Ebenezer Emmons.{{Efn|name="party"|Other members of the party included his son Ebenezer Emmons Jr., scientist William Charles Redfield, assistant state geologist James Hall, artist Charles C. Ingham, state botanist John Torrey, businessman David Henderson, guides John Cheney and Harvey Holt, and three unknown guides.{{cite book |last1=Weber |first1=Sandra |title=Mount Marcy : the high peak of New York |date=2001 |publisher=Purple Mountain Press |location=Fleischmanns, N.Y. |pages= 29, 35 |isbn=1930098227 |url=https://archive.org/details/mountmarcyhighpe0000webe/mode/2up}}

Surveyor Charles Brodhead crossed the lower slopes of the mountain in 1797, but it cannot be verified if he traveled to the summit.{{cite book |last1=Waterman |first1=Laura |title=Forest and crag : a history of hiking, trail blazing, and adventure in the Northeast mountains |date=2003 |publisher=Appalachian Mountain Club Books |location=Boston |isbn=0910146756 |edition=First |page=67 |url=https://archive.org/details/forestcraghistor0000wate/mode/2up}}}} It was originally named Mount McIntyre, after Archibald McIntyre, but this name was eventually applied to the entire range. Surveyor Verplanck Colvin added the name "Algonquin" in 1880. This name came from the peak reputedly being on the Algonquian side of a nearby informal boundary between the Algonquian and their Iroquois neighbors, although no such boundary existed in reality.{{cite book |last1=Carson |first1=Russell M. L. |title=Peaks and People of the Adirondacks |date=1927 |publisher=Doubleday |location=Garden City |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tSsqAQAAMAAJ |isbn=9781404751200 |page=188}}{{cite book |editor1-last=Goodwin |editor1-first=Tony |title=Adirondack trails. High peaks region |date=2021 |publisher=Adirondack Mountain Club |isbn=9780998637181 |edition=15th |pages=118–122}}

Algonquin Peak is accessible from two trails. Starting at the Adirondak Loj outside Lake Placid, the mountain can be approached from the north by following the blue-blazed Van Hoevenberg Trail {{Convert|1.0|mi|km}} to its junction with the yellow-blazed MacIntyre Range Trail. That trail continues the remaining {{Convert|3.3|mi|km}} to the summit, during which the route gets progressively steeper and rockier. The total distance is {{Convert|4.3|mi|km}} for an elevation gain of {{Convert|2936|ft|m}}. The mountain can also be approached from the southeast via an even steeper trail which begins at Lake Colden, which rises {{Convert|2350|ft|m}} in just {{Convert|2.1|mi|km}}.{{cite book |editor1-last=Goodwin |editor1-first=Tony |title=Adirondack trails. High peaks region |date=2021 |publisher=Adirondack Mountain Club |isbn=9780998637181 |edition=15th |page=128}} From the summit, an unmarked trail leads {{Convert|1.1|mi|km}} southeast to nearby Boundary Peak and Iroquois Peak. A trail to Wright Peak forks from the yellow trail {{Convert|0.9|mi|km}} below the summit. The mountain's summit is above tree line. Views of the surrounding peaks are available in all directions, with particularly good views available of nearby Mount Colden and Lake Colden. Algonquin is increasingly popular with hikers, with a 2021 study by Otak observing significant crowds on the summit of the mountain on popular summer days.{{cite web |title=Adirondack High Peaks Wilderness Visitor Use Management Study Final Report |url=https://www.adirondackcouncil.org/vs-uploads/1688128338_ADKHP-VUMF_FINAL.pdf |website=adirondackcouncil.org |publisher=Otak |access-date=12 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240312014245/https://www.adirondackcouncil.org/vs-uploads/1688128338_ADKHP-VUMF_FINAL.pdf |archive-date=12 March 2024 |page=32}}

File:Hikers lounging near Algonquin Peak summit.jpg

An area of {{Convert|23.5|acre}} surrounding the summit is an alpine tundra zone, the largest found in the Adirondacks.{{Cite journal |last1=Carlson |first1=Bradley Z. |last2=Munroe |first2=Jeffrey S. |last3=Hegman |first3=Bill |date=2011 |title=Distribution of Alpine Tundra in the Adirondack Mountains of New York, U.S.A. |journal=Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research |volume=43 |issue=3 |pages=331–342|doi=10.1657/1938-4246-43.3.331 |s2cid=53579861 |doi-access=free }} This area is home to many arctic plants, including American dwarf birch, bearberry willow, black crowberry, Bog bilberry, Cutler's alpine goldenrod, Diapensia, Lapland rose-bay, and low rattlesnake root,{{cite journal |last1=Buys |first1=John L. |title=Leafhoppers of Mt. Marcy and Mt. Macintyre, Essex Co., New York (Homoptera, Cicadellidæ) |journal=Journal of the New York Entomological Society |date=1931 |volume=39 |issue=2 |pages=139–143 |jstor=25004400 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25004400 |access-date=19 March 2024}} and contains a prominent bog. The large numbers of hikers on the summit have in the past caused damage to the fragile plant life, and strict regulations have been put in place on the summit to protect it. Camping is prohibited above an elevation of {{Convert|4000|ft|m}}, hikers must remain on the trail in the alpine zone, and no dogs are allowed without a leash. The Summit Steward program places guides on Algonquin and other peaks to both remind hikers of these rules and educate them about the ecosystem.{{cite book |last1=Slack |first1=Nancy |title=Adirondack alpine summits : an ecological field guide |date=2006 |publisher=Adirondack Mountain Club |location=Lake George, New York |pages=70–74 |isbn=9781931951180 |url=https://archive.org/details/adirondackalpine0000slac/mode/2up}}