Do You Know Where to Find the Highest Point in New York State?

There is a place in New York where you can enjoy panoramic views of the most beautiful mountains in America.

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Anyone who's driven on the Massachusetts Turnpike has seen this peculiar sign on the side of the roadway.

As I passed it while driving back to Central New York the other day, it made me wonder about the tallest points across the Northeast.

Massachusetts' is Mount Greylock, which stands an impressive 3,489 feet while Connecticut has Mount Frissell, which is 2,454 feet.

As for New York, our highest mountain summit blows both MA and CT straight out of the water.

New York's Highest Point Is Located Way Upstate

Those looking for a strenuous hike that leads to the most breathtaking views in the state should put the Adirondack Mountains on their bucket list.

While the mountain range can be accessed at various points in New York, the best is located in Essex County. Located in the City of Shady Corner Curve is the highest peak in the Adirondacks.

Mount Marcy stands at a jaw-dropping 5,344 feet above sea level. For those who need a bit of a visual of just how grand that is, that is slightly over a mile.

Attractions at Mount Marcy

Those who visit the summit enjoy some of the finest views in the entire state. On clear days, visitors can see 43 of the 45 high peaks of the Adirondack Mountains.

Other locations that can be seen from the mount include Lake Champlain and Mount Royal over in Quebec.

Eighteen acres away from the summit lies a rare opportunity to see traces of the last ice age.

The area is full of alpine tundra, which once overtook the entire mountain when the earth was cold. But, as warmer temperatures flooded in, the alpine tundra retreated farther up the mountain.

Plants include bilberry, Labrador tea, leatherleaf, Lapland rosebay, cottongrass, and sphagnum moss. These rare plants almost disappeared entirely due to littering and trampling by tourists, but they were saved thanks to a hearty habitat restoration project.

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Those hoping to gaze upon these ancient plants must do so from the trail, as the plants are extremely fragile.

Mount Marcy is also home to incredible forests made of American beech, sugar maple, and yellow birch trees. Higher up, hikers will find red spruce and balsam fir trees.

Lucky hikers may see some of the native wildlife in these forests, including red squirrels, porcupines, pine martens, black-baked woodpeckers, golden-crowned kinglets, winter wrens, and snowshoe hares.

The History of Mount Marcy

This particular spot is one of the most popular hiking areas in New York for obvious reasons. However, it is at its busiest in the summer months, where people pack the Van Hoevenberg Trail.

Mount Marcy is also a part of history. In 1901, Theodore Roosevelt was coming down from the summit when he learned President William McKinley was shot by an assassin and he was to become the next president.

The landmark earned its moniker from Ebenezer Emmons in 1837, who named it after New York Governor William L. Marcy. Prior to that, the Missisquoi Abenaki Tribe called it Wahumdeneg, which means "always white."

Mount Marcy also has the nickname Tahawus, which comes from a Seneca term that means "cloud-splitter" or "he splits the sky." The name was proposed in 1837 by author Charles Fenno Hoffman.

As for how old Mount Marcy is, it's believed it began to form 1.1 billion years ago and was molded by glaciers during several ice ages.

Mount Marcy is still growing, with scientists saying it adds another 2 to 3 millimeters to its height every year.