A fire tower remains on the top of Blue Mountain, but is now unmanned and has been so since the 1970's, when New York State began to survey the Adirondack region for fires by helicopter. Mainly of interest now to hikers and sightseers in the area, the fire tower allows you to see hundreds of miles in the distance, and if the day is not hazy, you can get a good view of many of the regional high peaks, including Mt. Marcy , the Santononi Range, Dix, Colvin, Colden and MacIntyre Mountains as well as of Blue Mountain Lake itself. If you do not choose to climb the tower, you can get a good view from the northeast face of the summit, which is largely bare, and because the mountain stands alone, the view is not obstructed by nearby peaks.
The top of the mountain is barren, with the exception of scrub spruce and fir, and many hikers rest there for awhile, enjoying a snack while sitting in the sun on the huge slab of granite at the peak. There were several college students from Syracuse University at the peak when we made our climb, and we traded hiking stories with them, all the while admiring their energy as they briskly climbed up the tower. The climb up Blue Mountain is not an easy one, and the trial to the 3759 ft. summit is very rocky, with small boulders in the trail all the way up. While the climb starts out gradually, the trail quickly becomes steep, and can be very strenuous in parts. The mountain is tall enough to have only the northernmost vegetation near the top, and balsam and birch are what you see as you near the summit.
We climbed Blue Mountain in early August, and while the trail was not crowded, there were a fair number of people making the trip. Those who truly want to get away from it all may want to wait for a more "off-peak" season to make the climb, but we enjoyed trading hiking stories with other climbers we passed by. Blue Mountain is not for those who have difficulty with strenuous activity; even the descent can be difficult, accurate positioning of your feet on the rocks is critical to avoiding a fall. The climb up and back can be made in about four hours, and parking is available at the trailhead on the east side of NY Route 30, 0.4 miles north of the Adirondack Museum. A sign-in booth is located approximately 300 yards in from the parking lot.