Nye Mountain, Street Mountain, Mount Jo in Adirondack Park, NY

Hike Nye Mountain, Street Mountain, Mount Jo Adirondack Park, NY

Class 2 10.2 miles 3400 gain 4-6 hrs Out + Back Jul 14, 2024
Effort
Beauty
Personality
Solitude

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I paid the steep fee to park at the Adirondack Loj near Heart Lake, but I was happy I arrived early enough to get a spot. On today's agenda were two 46ers: Nye Mountain and Street Mountain, with a quick add-on to visit Mount Jo on the way back.

I took the Indian Pass Trail around the north side of Heart Lake, picking up the route to Nye Mountain and Street Mountain, which had a few downed trees and felt much less maintained than typical Adirondack trails. The trail descended a couple of hundred feet to Indian Pass Brook, which I had to cross. On both my ascent and descent, I took different options to cross the brook, and both were on well-worn trails clearly both used as options by previous hikers over the years. I rejoined the main trail on the opposite side and took it west. Here, the trail paralleled a pretty creek before starting a steep, forested ascent up a gully. Down low, the vegetation wasn’t very lush, but this quickly changed as I made progress to higher altitudes. Farther up, the trail was particularly eroded and roots stuck out everywhere, seemingly more so than on most trails in the Adirondacks.

I reached the junction where the trail splits, choosing to head up to Nye Mountain first. This is a silly 46er because it barely has any prominence, as it’s just a sub-peak of Street Mountain, but it takes minimal effort to reach. There’s no view at the summit, though there is a little overlook mostly obscured by trees on the way up that allowed me to see Street Mountain's forested summit and not much else.

Back at the junction, I headed over to Street Mountain next. I found this to be the greenest and lushest segment of trail I’ve probably ever experienced in the Adirondacks. It felt magical, though maybe it was just the sunlight hitting the mosses just right. Although the summit of Street Mountain has only slightly better views than Nye Mountain, the beautiful lushness made up for it and I enjoyed it immensely. There was some light Class 2 scrambling, but it wasn’t extensive. If you head just south of the summit, there’s a slightly better view toward Algonquin Peak to the south.

I backtracked and located the spur trail for Mount Jo. There are two options for reaching this summit: the Short Trail and the Long Trail, labeled uncreatively as such. I chose to take the Short Trail both up and down, which is steeper and more direct. It’s a pretty trail and quite popular. A couple of ladders assist in gaining the summit slabs. Surprisingly, Mount Jo had the best views of the day despite its low elevation, looking toward Heart Lake and the High Peaks to the south.

PEAKS ON HIKE
Elevation (ft) / Prominence (ft)
Peaks on hike
Elevation
Prominence
1
Nye Mountain
3891 ft
133 rise
2
Street Mountain
4173 ft
1304 rise
3
Mount Jo
2877 ft
690 rise

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Starting along the Heart Lake Loop.
Starting along the Heart Lake Loop.
Ample signs pointed the way.
Ample signs pointed the way.
Heart Lake.
Heart Lake.
Descending a few hundred feet along the Nye and Street Mountain route.
Descending a few hundred feet along the Nye and Street Mountain route.
Indian Pass Brook, which I crossed.
Indian Pass Brook, which I crossed.
View back toward Indian Pass Brook.
View back toward Indian Pass Brook.
The trail stays above a creek for a bit.
The trail stays above a creek for a bit.
Then drops down and parallels it, crossing once.
Then drops down and parallels it, crossing once.
A nice forested hike next to the creek.
A nice forested hike next to the creek.
Then the trail ascends steeply up a wide and rocky gully.
Then the trail ascends steeply up a wide and rocky gully.
It's less lush here than elsewhere, but gets the work done quickly.
It's less lush here than elsewhere, but gets the work done quickly.
Continuing to ascend up the slope.
Continuing to ascend up the slope.
The trail then gets high enough to introduce more mosses and eroded washed-out trail.
The trail then gets high enough to introduce more mosses and eroded washed-out trail.
View back down at the steepness.
View back down at the steepness.
A view along the way up.
A view along the way up.
The trail felt particularly eroded around here, large roots and rocks really jutting out.
The trail felt particularly eroded around here, large roots and rocks really jutting out.
Junction of the Nye Mountain and Street Mountain Trails. I headed right fist to Nye Mountain.
Junction of the Nye Mountain and Street Mountain Trails. I headed right fist to Nye Mountain.
An easy walk over to Nye Mountain.
An easy walk over to Nye Mountain.
Image 18 from gallery
A little overlook toward Street Mountain on the way to Nye Mountain.
A little overlook toward Street Mountain on the way to Nye Mountain.
Summit of Nye Mountain.
Summit of Nye Mountain.
Now onto Street Mountain.
Now onto Street Mountain.
The trail up to Street Mountain felt incredibly green with mosses blanketing the ground.
The trail up to Street Mountain felt incredibly green with mosses blanketing the ground.
A really enjoyable hike without being too steep.
A really enjoyable hike without being too steep.
Image 24 from gallery
Image 25 from gallery
Image 26 from gallery
Summit of Street Mountain.
Summit of Street Mountain.
A view toward Algonquin from just past the summit of Street Mountain.
A view toward Algonquin from just past the summit of Street Mountain.
I backtracked to nearly the trailhead and picked up the Mount Jo Short Trail.
I backtracked to nearly the trailhead and picked up the Mount Jo Short Trail.
It's a bit steep and rocky, but quite popolar.
It's a bit steep and rocky, but quite popolar.
A pretty trickling rock face on the way up.
A pretty trickling rock face on the way up.
Junction of the Short Trail and Long Trail.
Junction of the Short Trail and Long Trail.
Ladders to gain the summit of Mount Jo.
Ladders to gain the summit of Mount Jo.
Mount Jo summit view.
Mount Jo summit view.

Hire me or show me some love!

Hire/refer me as a web developer or send me a few bucks if you find my site useful. I’m not sponsored, so all fees are out-of-pocket and my time preparing trip reports is unpaid. I really appreciate it!