Phelps Mountain honors Orson Schofield "Old Mountain" Phelps, the legendary 19th-century Adirondack guide from Keene Valley who cut the first trail to Mount Marcy in 1861 and named several peaks across the range, including Basin, Haystack, and Gothics. With characteristic irony, Phelps himself is not believed to have ever reached the summit that now carries his name.
The standard approach follows the Van Hoevenberg Trail from the Adirondack Loj, passing through mixed spruce-hardwood forest to Marcy Dam at roughly 2.2 miles. At 3.2 miles a red-blazed spur branches left and climbs a steady 1.2 miles to the 4,161-foot summit. The round trip covers about 8.5 miles with just under 2,000 feet of elevation gain.
Although the summit is largely wooded, clearings on the upper slopes open broad views: Mount Marcy fills the foreground, flanked by the Great Range sweeping toward Basin and Haystack, while Algonquin and the MacIntyre Range anchor the horizon to the southwest. On clear days Whiteface Mountain and the Lake Placid Valley are visible to the north. The trail is well signed year-round, but winter travel demands microspikes or crampons. Phelps is frequently paired with nearby Tabletop Mountain as a two-summit day from the same trailhead.
