Owl’s Head Mountain Trail/ Chub Pond Loop
12th October 2020
Our first planned hike was Owl’s Head Mountain Trail in Long Lake. Though we didn’t get on the trail until about 8:45am, it was still a chilly start to the day. Once we started though, we quickly warmed up and were peeling our first layers of clothing off. The first 2 miles were a relatively flat trail that happened to be beautifully carpeted with the autumn leaves.
The ascent got to be pretty steep but totally manageable especially since there was no snow, wet leaves, mud or running water to deal with. It was about a 1500 ft difference in elevation gain. There are a couple rock scrambles but they weren’t bad.
When we reached the summit, we were greeted by gorgeous sunbeams breaking through the clouds over the peak of Sugarloaf Mountain in the distance.
The summit was VERY WINDY and even more so up in the fire tower. Anne went up alone and came back down fairly quickly as it was a bit shaky in the wind and bitterly cold. There were some rickety floorboards that made her a little nervous. Because of this, Christy was happy with her decision to stay firmly planted on the ground. The views from the tower all around were beautiful.
Lake Eaton 
Long Lake
We took our selfies with Floki and began our trek down the mountain. Along the way back, approximately ½ mile from the summit or about 2.8 miles from the trailhead, we stopped at the remains of the caretaker’s cabin. While walking about the ruins we noticed we were surrounded by magnificent clusters of birch trees. Anne was thrilled because birch is her favorite tree and in our experience so far, we haven’t seen many clusters like this in the Adirondacks.
We finished our descent, reaching the parking lot at about 12:30 pm. Our next and final stop of the day was a 3.6 mile hike to Castle Rock and Chub Pond Loop. It was a 25 minute drive to Hemlock Hills Resort where the trailhead is located. Since it’s a loop, we decided to take the southern trail with the steeper ascent first, thinking it would be easier on our tired legs to have a more modest descent later on. It started off rather easy, and at about .8 miles the ascent began. Around the 1.2 mile mark, we came across these huge boulders/rock formations, carved out of the mountain like a cave. We were glad we didn’t have to climb it!
The trail continues to the left and begins a .1 mile scramble to the summit. This is a technically challenging section, especially with a dog, but it’s very short and the payoff will blow your mind. In our case, it almost blew us over!
on the steep scramble!
The summit was extremely windy- it’s hard to express how windy it really was! But what a wonderful view, even without the sun shining. The leaves on the mountains no longer held their crisp autumn colors, but instead looked like an impressionist oil painting. It could have have been a Monet!
To our left we saw Blue Mountain peak and fire tower, which we had hiked on September 3, 2020.
The summit of Castle Rock is a nice big open slab, so without the wind it’s probably a great place to hang out all day and enjoy a picnic.
We took the northern section of the loop on the descent, which was indeed a more modest 2 miles. It was obvious that this section of trail is the lesser traveled route this time of year. Leaves weren’t packed down at all and the whole area felt more isolated. We didn’t feel at risk though, because surprisingly, we had full bars on our phones. But we really enjoyed how peaceful and quiet it was.
On our way home, we stopped at the Indian Lake Chamber of Commerce to submit our paperwork and collect our patches for completing the Indian Lake 4-3-2-1 Challenge.
All in all, we hiked about 10 miles on a spectacular day.
~Anne and Christy
All photos by Anne, taken with an iPhone 11Pro.
| Location: | ADK- Sargent Ponds Wild Forest; Owl’s Head: Long Lake, NY.; Castle Rock: Blue Mountain Lake, NY. |
| Directions: | Owl’s Head: Traveling West on Rt. 30: cross the bridge over Long Lake, passing the Long Lake Town Beach. Take the third left at approx 1.5 miles onto Endion Lane. After 1.6 miles on this rural road, the trailhead parking area will be on your right. There is room for about 6 cars. Castle Rock: From the intersection of Rt. 30 and Rt. 28 in the village of Blue Mountain Lake, travel north on Rt. 28 for 0.6 miles. Turn Left onto Maple Lodge Rd. You will see signs for Hemlock Hall Resort. Travel 1.2 miles past resort cottages to the parking area on the left and trailhead. There is room for about 10-12 cars and you will be in the vicinity of the main lodge of Hemlock Hall. Hemlock Hall is private resort property that allows hiker access. Please respect all signs and rules so that we may all continue to enjoy the area. |
| Challenges: | Owl’s Head: Adirondack Experience: Hamilton County Fire Tower, ADK Fire Tower, ADK Quest. Castle Rock: Indian Lake 4-3-2-1, ADK-9, ADK Quest |
| Difficulty: | Intermediate: modest ascents with sections of significant steepness and scrambling. |
| Distance: | Owl’s Head: 6.5 miles. Castle Rock: 3.6 miles. |
| Elevation: | Owl’s Head: Elevation Gain: 1,552 Ft. Castle Rock: Elevation Gain: 620 Ft. |
| Moving time: | Owl’s Head: Moving Time: 3 hours 7 minutes Out and Back. Castle Rock: Moving Time: 1 hour 46 minutes Loop |