Porter Mountain rises to 4,059 feet in the town of Keene, Essex County, making it the 38th highest of the Adirondack 46 High Peaks. The mountain was formerly called West Mountain until 1875, when trail guide Ed Phelps and Noah Porter, then president of Yale University, made the first recorded ascent; the peak has carried Porter's name ever since.
The most popular approach follows red-blazed trail from the NY Route 73 trailhead, covering about 5 miles round trip with 2,235 feet of gain. The route shares a trail with neighboring Cascade Mountain for the first 2 miles, then splits right at a junction, dropping to a col before the final push to the summit. Most hikers tick both peaks on a single day via this trailhead. A longer alternative from Marcy Field follows the yellow-blazed Ridge Trail over Blueberry Mountain, gaining over 3,000 feet across roughly 8 miles round trip, rewarding those willing to work harder with open views well before the summit.
At the top, a broad rocky perch frames the High Peaks to the south, including an unobstructed look back at Cascade's open summit. Winter conditions arrive early here; ice and compressed snow on the rock slabs typically demand microspikes from October through May. The Route 73 trailhead is one of the busiest in the Adirondacks, and summer parking often fills before dawn.
