Mount Van Hoevenberg - 9/24/17

It's not everyday that you summit a mountain and wind up at an Olympic Bobsled course... But, it was one of those days.

Van Hoevenberg
Summit side.

Mount Van Hoevenberg is located in North Elba and it's a hill that's loaded with history and some great views. It's named after the famous Henry Van Hoevenberg, who cut many of the trails to the high peaks over 100 years ago. The hill also played host to Olympic bobsled and luge events in 1932 & 1980.

We parked our car on South Meadow Drive signed in at the register and hit the trail on what turned out to be an extremely hot first Sunday of Fall.



The first mile-or-so is a straight shot on a classic style, wide trail under a canopy of conifers with carpets of moss covering everything.

Looking at Mount
Van Hoe' from the
Swamp.

After the first portion of the trail, we arrived at a pond and got our first clear view of the mountain. Once around the pond, we began our climb.

I thought the mountain started out kind of  steep but became increasingly easier as we moved forward. The conifers gave way to a mostly birch and maple forest. About half the maples had turned to their bright red Fall form, but none of the birches had changed to yellow yet.

The only issue we really faced was the heat and we took a number of quick minute or two breaks to stay hydrated.

Soon we were at the Summit ledges which offered the best view of the inner High Peaks that I've seen this year. I was able to easily identify the mighty Algonquin, the scarred-up Wright Peak, Street, Nye and I could even see Marcy peeking over the mountains in the distance.

Algonquin and some
other High Peaks.

We could also see the ski jumps and village of Lake Placid to the North, but we would end up getting an even better view of that just a short while later.

Start of the '32 sled
course.

Continuing on the path past the Summit we left State property and entered the Olympic zone. We followed the dirt and rock remains of the 1932 bobsled course which is now used as a cross country ski trail.


It was neat to see that the sled trail's curves still maintained much of their original shape 85 years later.

Turn One on the
'32 course.

Start of the 1980
Sled course.

Eventually, we popped out at the remains of the 1980 Olympic bobsled course with the newer course right in front of us.

Despite having never seen a bobsled race in her life, Kailee thought it was super cool. And, she was right!

We were able to do quite a bit of discovering around the start of the course and ate lunch on the steps of it's lodge which gave us a great view of the village, the ski jumps and Whiteface.

The only bear we've (luckily)
seen this year.

After lunch I realized the door to the lodge was unlocked and we used it's bathroom and put some our garbage in one of it's trash cans... Amenities we haven't see on any mountains!

McKenzie, Lake Placid
& the ski jumps.

A tour guide drove a family up the mountain and somehow mistook Kailee and I for a drone crew that was supposed to be there filming.





"Not us, we took the long way up," I replied to him.

"Oh, you're hikers! We get them here sometimes! They're always welcome here and you are too."



We thanked him and began to get our stuff together to prepare for the trek back to the car.

It was a fairly quick trip back to the car and we took some brief stops along the way to enjoy the views a final time.

We both really enjoyed Mount Van Hoe'. Kailee quickly declared that it overtook the #1 spot for her favorite mountain this year. It really is the best of different worlds. On one side you have a sleepy mountain with a historic trail gazing off to the High Peaks. On the other side, a mountain rich in Olympic sports history.

Mount Van Hoevenberg is a must for any hiker looking to enjoy a fun filled day in the Adirondacks. Give it a shot. Trust us. You'll love it!


Mount Van Hoevenberg's trailhead is on South Meadow Drive in North Elba. It's a 2.2 mile walk to the Summit (4.4 mile RT) and approximately 3 miles to the modern bobsled course (appx 6 mile RT.)

If we had an extra adult and car with us we would've walked down the bobsled side and drove back to our car at the trailhead... 

Additionally, one could do this with only one car and walk back to the trailhead via a cross country ski trail for a 9 mile trip. Check out Off an Adventure's review of Mount Van Hoe' for more info on that plan of attack.