Scarface Mountain Trailhead — Attraction in Town of North Elba

3 1/2 stars

My chum and I trekked over here last Sunday for an adventure, and to be honest, probably not for the best reason - we primarily selected this hike because of the name, sight unseen. Climbing a mountain with 1930s gangster vibes? What could go wrong? Scarface is not a bad hike, but based on my limited experience in the area, this is not your best option if you're looking for overall personality and amazing viewpoints.

The hike itself is pretty straightforward - it's an out and back that starts right off 32 (there's a very nice Maplefields right down the road on 86 that I enjoyed - very clean and spacious with oodles of souvenirs for purchase, along with a bathroom to use) that's relatively flat for the first two miles or so, goes up fairly steeply for another mile before getting to some views looking westward to Oseetah Lake and beyond and leveling out for the most part to the summit.

We started a little before 9am on a partly cloudy morning. The trailhead is a little tough to find. There's parking for a handful of cars, but not a lot of signage to confirm you're in the right place. Thankfully you still have a cell phone signal over there to help verify location, and we also were fortunate enough to arrive at the same time as someone else who told us we were where we wanted to be. For the most part, the trail markers were well placed and consistent but we had trouble finding them past the viewpoints and improvised a lot up in the piney areas near the summit. By then though, it's tough to totally lose your way and we were able to pick up the trail again.

The lower-lying woody areas were pleasant, and we got some good pics by the little manmade bridge that goes over a pond about 10 minutes in. There's also ample brush/foliage if a bathroom break is needed - no port-a-potties made cameos on this particular hike. The climb up toward the viewpoints is a little tough. Both of us are in pretty good shape, but we took a few breaks along the way. It's not insanely steep, but it's constant movement uphill, which for me is usually a little rougher than dramatic climbing where you're barely moving as you slowly navigate up rocks, etc. Additionally, we were about a week or so removed from peak fall foliage, so the ground was covered in leaves and made this a bit more treacherous than I'm sure it is during other parts of the year. We both full-on slipped and fell at least once, as did our canine companion, making his legit hiking debut in a lovely bright orange shirt.

The viewpoints are solid. My only direct comp in the area is Mount Marcy, which I summited a few years ago. That one offers astounding views in all directions going out miles and miles. The Scarface viewpoints are pretty much exclusively to the western side of the mountain, and they don't occur at the summit - it's a little further down. Still pleasant to sit and soak up the sights, but by definition your vision is limited. And as alluded to, the summit is VERY anticlimactic. It's literally in the middle of a little pine forest, denoted by a sign on one of the trees. That's it. Your view is of pinecones, basically.

I don't regret this hike, but I'd probably bypass it next time in favor of a higher peak with...

Trail is honestly great, the pine needles covering the trail made for nice soft running. Unfortunately it also covers roots and I ate it hard twice in 5 minutes on my way down. Bruised and scratched me up pretty good as I was jogging along fairly quickly. Fought the knee pain and swelling for the rest of the day. Not fun. The top section is a little overgrown so be prepared to push through some branches here and there. There is a whole bunch of wood staged at the bridge for the rebuild, I think someone said work...

Poorly plowed parking lot at the trail head, but there is a gas station 0.2mi away where you can park if you don't have four wheel drive. This hike is a little under 8 miles round trip. The summit doesn't have a view, but there is a view on the way. There are a few rock scrambles, but most have a tree to help. This is a Saranac 6r hike, and in terms of winter technical difficulties it is easier than Baker or ampersand. It's a beautiful place with lots of spruces! Really cool...