Black Mountain and Ponds Loop

Black Mountain and Ponds Loop is a 6.8-mile circuit from Pike Brook Road Parking Area. It climbs to Black Mountain’s 2,646-foot summit, drops to Black Mountain Pond, then heads east on Black Mountain Pond Trail and north on Millman Pond Trail past Round and Lapland Ponds before returning along the summit approach. Allow about four to five hours. I’d choose it when you want a full hike rather than only the Lake George view: the summit is the high point, but the pond-side return is what makes this a real loop.

One mileage caveat: the 5.6-mile figure attached to this route seems to leave out roughly a mile on the eastbound pond-trail connector described in the directions. Mapped from the parking area and back, the complete circuit is about 6.8 miles; plan for the longer walk.

Follow the red markers from the lot. The first stretch uses a double-track before turning west onto the mountain trail. The mapped climb is about 2.7 miles to the summit and gains roughly 1,240 feet. It starts broad and gradually gets steeper, with seeps and small rock outcrops along the way. Mixed woods keep the lake mostly out of sight until a grassy summit clearing, where stone footings mark the old fire-tower site.

A short side path reaches the north-facing rock with a long view down Lake George toward Ticonderoga and the Green Mountains on a clear day. For a photo, keep a few of the lake’s islands in frame; they give the distant ridges some scale.

From the summit the red trail drops about a mile, narrowing and steepening below cliffs before using switchbacks to reach the pond-trail junction. Short side paths lead to rock ledges looking southwest over the island-filled Narrows, with Tongue Mountain and Shelving Rock Mountain beyond. At the lower junction, continue east toward the ponds. A separate red branch descends toward Black Mountain Point on the lake shore.

Black Mountain Pond is a good place to stop: a slanted rock shoreline looks across the evergreen-edged water, and a lean-to sits above it. The blue pond trail continues over rocky, rolling ground toward Round Pond. Cottongrass fringes the shore, though vegetation hides part of the water; small streams drain the mountain nearby.

Turn north onto Millman Pond Trail and pass Lapland Pond and a spur to its lean-to before the route rejoins the summit trail. This is not a flat exit. Short rises, wetland, boggy footing, beaver-felled trees, and a boardwalk over an outflow break up the forest walk. The lower trail can be slick when wet, and winter hikers report ice. Carry the water you’ll want; no refill point was confirmed on the route.

Black Mountain sits on very old Grenville Province bedrock in the Adirondack Highlands. Repeated glaciation smoothed the rock and left till and meltwater-sorted deposits across the area. The trail moves through mixed northern hardwood and conifer forest, with spruce-fir higher up; past logging and fires helped shape the mix visitors walk through now.

Use Pike Brook Road Parking Area, about a mile east of its junction with Route 9N. The lot’s capacity is not posted; visitor estimates range around 12 to 20 cars, and a busy-day account describes it filling late. If you mainly want the summit panorama, the shorter summit out-and-back skips the wet pond circuit. The current dog rule for this loop was not confirmed, so check before bringing a pet.