Phelps is one of the more accessible High Peaks from the LOJ and offers pretty great views for its length and difficulty. Your turn-off comes a ways past Marcy Dam and is pretty hard to miss. The climb up to Marcy Dam is relatively easy but the cut off to Phelps is more difficult with higher elevation gains and plenty of scrambles as you approach the peak.

As far as I can tell, this one spends a lot of time in low hanging clouds in the Spring and Summer. We’ve done it a few times and the only instance we got clear views was on an early snow covered Spring day. Double check to make sure it’s not going to be rainy or overcast, since you likely won’t see anything in those conditions. Solid Winter climb if you’re looking for some more do-able ones to start off.

There have been days that we’ve been at the LOJ, planning on maybe the MacIntyre Range or something else, only to get hit with questionable weather or conditions – after which the question becomes “wanna just hit Phelps real quick instead, we’re already here?”

Phelps Mountain is also an easy recommendation for winter hikes, being not too difficult, and the trail up to Marcy Dam generally being broken out by other hikers. Snowshoeing can be a significant challenge, more so than regular hiking – it’s a whole different pressure on your gate and the additional foot weight can drag you more than you might initially realize.

• Parking at the LOJ is always a stiff competition, be early and get a good spot. You never know with the LOJ, especially during Fall.
• The peak here actually curves around a bit so there’s more to see than it may initially seem, explore the peak and enjoy it!
• That last mile can be tough but it’s worth the effort, this one is pretty manageable overall, and if you get lucky with the overcast, you might get some pretty great views.