Adirondack Park - St Regis Mountain

The view from the top of Saint Regis Mountain is a spectacular panorama of the surrounding Adirondack Mountains and 30 or so lakes in the foreground, including the Upper and Lower Saranac Lake and Upper and Lower Saint Regis Lake. 

The unobstructed views on the 2874 foot bare rock summit are due to an accidental fire dating back to 1876.  The 3 1/5 mile hike up to the top is fairly gentle, with just a few steep spots as you get close to the summit.  A fire tower on the summit is being restored by volunteers, but is currently closed.  Due to the exceptional views and the accessibility of the summit with a moderate level of effort, this is a very popular hike during the summer months.  

We hiked St Regis during a week-long camping trip in October to enjoy the gorgeous fall colors in the Adirondacks.  While taking in the the scenic views on top, we were greeted with swarms of ladybugs landing on everything, including us.  To our surprise, we discovered that  ladybugs bite – we had no idea they did that!