Mount Skylight

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Mount Skylight
Elevation approx. 4,920 ft (1,501 m)
Location New York, USA
Range Adirondacks
Coordinates 44°05′59″N, 73°55′51″W
Topo map USGS Mount Marcy
First ascent Verplanck Colvin, Orson Schofield Phelps and unknown party, 1873 (first recorded)
Easiest route hike

Mount Skylight is a mountain in the Great Range of the Adirondack High Peaks in the Adirondack Mountains of New York. It gets its name from its open, bare and relatively flat summit, unusual in the Adirondack High Peaks.

A remote summit by any approach, it is nonetheless a favorite of hikers. It is famously distinguished by two large cairns that have grown on either end of the summit over the years, as 46er lore has it that carrying a rock up and placing it on them will ensure good weather.

A single trail goes up to the mountain's summit from the Four Corners junction between Skylight and Mount Marcy, its northern neighbor; as the name suggests, however, there are three ways to get there. Most commonly, hikers come up from the west, via the Feldspar Brook Trail from the campsites at the Flowed Lands and climb the peak in conjunction with a visit to Lake Tear-of-the-Clouds, the source of the Hudson River, and a climb up neighboring, trailless Gray Peak. The trailhead can also be reached by descending from Marcy to the north, or via Panther Gorge and Elk Lake to the southeast, all very lengthy trips that are usually done via an overnight backpack.

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The 46 High Peaks of New York's Adirondack Mountains

Algonquin • Allen • Basin • Big Slide • Blake • Cascade • Cliff • ColdenColvin • Couchsachraga • Dial • Dix • East Dix • South Dix • Donaldson • Emmons • Esther • Giant • Gothics • Gray • Hough • HaystackIroquoisMarcy • Nippletop • Panther • Phelps • Porter • Macomb • Marshall • Nye • Redfield • Rocky Peak • Saddleback • Santanoni • Sawteeth • Seward • Seymour • Skylight • Street • Tabletop • Whiteface • Lower Wolfjaw • Upper Wolfjaw • Wright