An Elevator Through a Mountain at the Top of New York's Only Drivable High Peak

Whiteface is the fifth-highest summit in New York and the only one of the Adirondack High Peaks you can drive up, courtesy of a Depression-era public work with a memorial soul: the Veterans Memorial Highway, begun under Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt and dedicated by him as president in 1935 to honor the fallen of the First World War. The road itself is a five-mile granite balcony, swinging through hairpins with the High Peaks, Lake Placid, and the Ausable valley wheeling past the guard walls, and it ends in pure theater: a stone castle built from the granite blasted out of the mountain, and a 426-foot tunnel bored into the summit cone, where an elevator rises through the living rock to the top. Up there, 4,867 feet delivers one of the great views of the American East, across Lake Champlain to Vermont's Green Mountains and, on crystal days, the towers of Montreal, all above one of New York's rare and fragile alpine plant zones. Below, the drive threads a corridor of matching legends: the Olympic village of Lake Placid (host in 1932 and 1980), the waterfall walkways of Wilmington Notch, the trout water of the Ausable's West Branch, and a 1949 storybook park that gave America one of its first theme parks. Short in miles, tall in every other way.

Key Stops

Lake Placid. The two-time Olympic village makes the natural base: ski jumps towering over the outskirts, Mirror Lake's promenade in the center, and the Olympic Museum's medals and miracle stories. Provision here; the mountain has a café but the valley has everything else.

Wilmington Notch and High Falls Gorge. NY 86 squeezes between cliff and river through the notch, where High Falls Gorge, a private park, hangs walkways and glass-floored platforms over the Ausable's 700-foot drop through ancient granite. A short, family-friendly hour, spectacular in foliage and in winter's ice.

The Flume and the West Branch. Just before Wilmington, the Ausable's West Branch slides through the Flume's ledges and pools, with trailheads on the riverbank. This is one of America's storied fly-fishing rivers; watch the casters work the pocket water below the bridge.

Wilmington. The mountain's town: outfitters, bakeries, and, up the North Pole road, Santa's Workshop, the 1949 children's park that claims a place among America's first theme parks and still runs its reindeer and storybook village. The tollhouse for the Memorial Highway sits just above town on NY 431.

The hairpins and overlooks. Past the tollhouse the road settles into its climb: sweeping switchbacks with stone guard walls, pullouts at the named turns, and the panorama assembling behind you, Lake Placid's lakes on one side, the wall of the High Peaks on the other. Use the pullouts; the guard walls are period pieces, not modern barriers.

Whiteface Castle. The road ends at the summit castle, a granite redoubt with a café, gift shop, and terraces already standing 4,500 feet in the sky. The stone came out of the roadbed itself; the restrooms and coffee come at the perfect altitude.

The tunnel and elevator. From the castle, walk the 426-foot tunnel into the heart of the summit cone and ride the elevator up through 27 stories of rock, an experience with no parallel on any American mountain and the reason this summit ranks among the most accessible alpine tops anywhere. The alternative is the open stone stairway along the ridge, a ten-minute scramble with handrails and constant views.

The summit dome. The top carries a weather observatory and the state university's Atmospheric Science Research Center, which has studied clouds here since 1961, along with the 360-degree payoff: Champlain and Vermont east, the High Peaks south, Montreal's skyline north on the clearest days. The tundra plants between the rocks survive nowhere else in the state but a handful of summits; stay on bare rock and paved paths.

Whiteface Mountain ski area (optional). Back on NY 86, the Olympic ski area runs its Cloudsplitter gondola to Little Whiteface in summer and fall, a second aerial angle on the mountain, and its base lodge anchors the region's mountain biking.

Driving Tips

Check the summit before you pay the valley sunshine any trust. The road operates roughly May 15 to October 12, 8:45 to 5:30, but wind, fog, or ice can close the upper mountain on short notice in any month, and a socked-in summit refunds nothing but disappointment. Check the mountain's site or call the tollhouse in the morning, and keep the drive flexible for the first clear day.

Pack for a different season on top. The summit routinely runs 20 to 30 degrees colder than Wilmington with serious wind; a windproof layer and closed-toe shoes belong in the car even on an August beach day.

Climb and descend in low gear. The grades hold steady around eight percent with hairpins; downshift at the castle rather than riding the brakes, and use the pullouts to cool off and let the frequent motorcycles by.

Choose stairway up, elevator down. The ridge stairway's ten exposed minutes are the summit's best moments when the wind allows, and the elevator spares knees on the return; those with mobility needs can ride both ways, a rare alpine privilege.

Arrive early on foliage weekends. Adirondack color peaks earlier than coastal New England, usually late September into the first days of October, and the castle lots fill by late morning; the 8:45 gate is the connoisseur's slot, with morning light on the High Peaks thrown in.

Watch the event calendar. The highway hosts occasional bike hill-climbs and memorial events that close the road to cars for a morning; the official site lists dates.

Expect thin cell service in the notch. Coverage drops along NY 86 between Lake Placid and Wilmington; download maps and settle arrangements in town.

Give the river its etiquette. The Ausable's famous pools deserve quiet banks; New York fishing licenses are sold online and in Wilmington, and swimmers should stick to established spots away from anglers.

For more information visit: Whiteface Veterans Memorial Highway (Official)