Expedition Consulting

Big Slide & The Brothers – September, Reverse Loop

We started at the Garden Trailhead and headed up towards John Brooks Lodge; taking the Phelps trail to the Big Slide Trail as this allowed us to do most of the vertical up front. The trail followed running water for quite a while — nothing dramatic, but enough small cascades and moving flow to give the climb a steady background soundtrack.

As the trail steepened, the rock slabs and scattered boulders showed up more often. None of it was genuinely technical, but it was sustained. The views started to open up and the wildfire haze gave the distance a washed-out look without actually hiding anything.

Reaching the summit of Big Slide delivered exactly what we expected: broad views across the valley, of the Great Range.

The traverse off Big Slide toward the Brothers settled into an easier rhythm. Short dips through forest, open ledges appearing every few minutes, and descending the slabs did not present any difficulty, however if they had been wet or icy it would have been a completely different experience.

Each of the Brothers gave us another vantage point, each slightly different, with plenty of places to sit on bare rock and take a break. The terrain never pushed into anything that required hands, just steady walking with frequent views.

The descent back toward the Garden was pretty quick and the trail comes out right at the parking lot — a straightforward, rewarding loop with one of the best effort-to-view ratios in the Adirondacks, and one we’d easily do again in the same direction.

Trip Summary
Distance 13.8km
Elevation Gained 938m
Elevation Lost 938m
Peaks Summited: Big Slide