Parking
Use the Cook Mountain Preserve parking area and kiosk on Baldwin Road. Off-street spaces are limited, and the lot is not plowed in winter.
Overview
About Cook Mountain Blue Trail to Cemetery
Why go
- A short, history-focused outing with a distinct cemetery destination.
Heads up
- No summit view; the Baldwin Road lot is limited and unplowed in winter.
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Lake George map
Full mapElevation348–584 ft
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
2 active Lake George alerts
- ClosureFishbrook Pond North Lean-to site closedThe entire Fishbrook Pond North Lean-to site is closed because the lean-to burned down. - No camping or campfires are allowed at the site until further notice.Official details
- CautionNo Parking Zones enforced along River RoadDo not park in the No Parking Zones along River Road in the Hudson River Special Management Area in the Towns of Lake Luzerne and Warrensburg; DEC is enforcing the restriction.Official details
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Lake George Tour Guide
Your drive to Cook Mountain Blue Trail to Cemetery, narrated.
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Lake George NY. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Lake George audio tourRecorded for this trailhead
Cook Mountain Preserve0:00 / 0:27
“You're nearing Cook Mountain Preserve, where a steep, rocky climb on the Ridges Trail earns a view down Lake George. Allow two to three hours for the roughly three-mile round trip, even though the approach starts gently.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Lake George Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Mossy Point Boat Launch
- The Nursery That Dries Up
- A Hare Between Two Coats
- A Camera and a Traveling Workshop
- 113 audio storiesacross Lake George’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor White-tailed Deer, Timber Rattlesnake, Osprey, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 67 trails, 64 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Trail guide
Hiking Cook Mountain Blue Trail to Cemetery
A short walk to a historic cemeteryCook Mountain's Blue Trail is a short out-and-back to a historic cemetery, starting at the…
Cook Mountain's Blue Trail is a short out-and-back to a historic cemetery, starting at the preserve lot on Baldwin Road. Plan on about 0.84 mile round trip and roughly 45 minutes with a pause at the cemetery. This is a separate outing from the longer Ridges Trail to the Cook Mountain summit.
Where to turnStart at the parking area and kiosk.
Start at the parking area and kiosk. The Yellow Trail opens on a wide, flat path; its loop begins about 0.12 mile in. Continue on Yellow for roughly 0.15 mile to the Blue Trail, then follow the 0.15-mile Blue spur to the cemetery and return the same way. The total is an estimate from the map's separate trail distances, not a posted round-trip figure. The mapped route gains about 250 feet overall; footing beyond the flat opening is not described, so expect a climb rather than a level stroll.
The cemeteryThe wooded cemetery is the point of this walk, not a summit viewpoint.
The wooded cemetery is the point of this walk, not a summit viewpoint. Local accounts connect it with Revolutionary War veteran Isaac Morse, while preserve materials describe the cemetery as Civil War-era; the dates do not agree, so its exact history remains unsettled. The old stones and trees make a more useful photo together than a tight crop of one marker. The preserve is open from dawn to dusk year-round, and dogs must stay leashed on marked trails.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Lake George
34 sightingsWhite-tailed DeerMost seen around 5 PMSighting map
26 sightingsTimber RattlesnakeMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
22 sightingsOspreyMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
60 sightingsLoonMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
33 sightingsPorcupineMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
84 sightingsGreat Blue HeronMost seen around 6 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Lake George. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
