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Seymour Mountain
...Our Favorite in the Range...

Having decided to do our initial Seward Range loop without Seymour Mountain, we knew that we would need to take the long walk out once again to grab it separately. Many people do their Seward Range trips as overnights, splitting the range over two days, or tackling them all, sleeping out in the wilds and packing out in the morning. I’m sure it’s possible to do it all in one day and make it out alive, but our crew isn’t built like that.

All things considered, I’m glad we broke the range up, and I would probably recommend it to other aspiring 46ers, especially since Seymour Mountain has the best views of the entire range, hands down. Much like Seward and Allen, this one has a fairly steep final mile, with plenty of scrambles that had us crawling and grabbing at roots. Grabbing all 4 of these on a single trip would be quite challenging. The good news for those who are going out for a second time to grab this one is that Seymour is by far the best in terms of views and lookouts.

  • As stated on our Seward Post, there is a decent sized parking lot here, but it’s almost always full over-nighters. The good news is that you can overflow on the dirt road without any issues.
  • In terms of wet and muddy conditions, this one is on par with the rest of the range, and will almost certainly be worse depending on the most recent rainfall, we’d recommend dry conditions.
  • The Blueberry Trail is very long, and mostly flat, out and back (I would say 6+ miles.) Tag that onto the steep ascent and you’re looking at a pretty tough day. It took our crew about 8.5 Hours including breaks and whatnot. 
  • Many choose to overnight this one in addition to the Seward Range – which , if it’s something you’re comfortable with, isn’t too bad of an idea.

Basic Seymour Mountain Stats (Estimated):

  • Distance: ~15 miles
  • Elevation Gain: ~3,000 ft
  • Difficulty: ADK Difficult
  • Total Peaks: 1 (Seymour Mountain)
Some of these more technical scrambles were almost harder to get down then they were to get up.
These scrambles are a dime-a-dozen on the ascent to Seymour Mountain.
Taking a quick break on the scrambles for the views.

Seymour Mountain – 4,120′

Seymour may not be the tallest High Peak, but its difficulty and steep ascent make it feel like a titan. Our experience here was reminiscent of the long day we had on Allen. Seymour Mountain offers a beautiful view of Ampersand and other surrounding mountains from the lookout on the right before reaching the peak.

Some of these peeks off in the distance are quite a bit farther away then they look.
Although the actual peak is mostly wooded, you can still get some decent views.
Obligatory Jones naps on the peek.
The Seward Range as visible from Seymour Mountain.

Questions About Seymour Mountain

Should You Climb Seymour with the rest of the Seward Range?

If you can, I would say yes! Of course, we didn’t manage to do that, so, easier said than done. We ran into more people than I thought we would on our initial Seward Range run and many of those people had full overnight packs – so there’s clearly some merit to the idea of staying out there and tackling it all over two days (or one day and one night). There are a few different camping spots and lean-tos, and this a long trek out to the peak turn-offs – overnighting would save you on those long out and backs.

Good opportunities to filter were few and far between – and completely absent during the ascent (this goes for the whole range basically). The flat lands around the Blueberry Trail had some spots, but the other trails in the range, and the Seymour Trail itself were pretty sparse. Plan accordingly. 

It does, best of the range (Seward Range / Emmons Loop) in my humble opinion. That being said, the peak is quite small. Our group of 4 and the 2 others we ran into could not all comfortably fit on the Cliff ledges. This is one you would ideally arrive at without anyone else being there.

We Give This Trail: 7/10

Rating considers trail conditions, difficulty, views and other notable characteristics

Helpful Links:
All Trails - Seymour Range All-Trails Link
Pure ADK Seymour Mountain Link
Seymour Mountain Wiki