This might be a stupid question, but I haven't been up to the pass in a while and haven't seen many consistent reports over the past few weeks. What the status of the Avalanche pass route? Is the pass legally open and reasonably pass-able (see what I did there)? Are the hitch-ups still in place? I was toying of the idea of being dropped off at UW and picked up at the Loj, and would prefer to take the route through "the lake district" rather than the northern route past the Macs or the slog past the Feldspar mess and up past LA.
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My mind was wandering like the wild geese in the west. -
The DEC’s backcountry info webpage still lists Avalanche Pass as closed (page last updated 9/4/25).
I haven’t been up to see the on the ground conditions myself, though. -
Interesting. I wasn't sure about the status, especially given the number of people who have been in the pass and uploading new images and video to socials.
It also appears that the Avalanched Pass route has been removed from Caltopo.
NJTom Thanks for that link. Tis is helpful info:- The Avalanche Pass Trail is closed and impassable due to mud/rock slides, effective immediately. Crews are working to assess the damage in the area and clear a functional path through the debris. Hikers must seek an alternative route until otherwise posted. Routes impacted include: Passage south to Lake Colden area from the Adirondak Loj; loop routes over Algonquin Peak, Mount Colden, and Mount Marcy back to the Adirondak Loj through Avalanche Pass; alternate route through Lake Arnold is possible but extremely wet and muddy.
My mind was wandering like the wild geese in the west.Comment
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A Forest Ranger has told me the pass is passable and that it's not illegal to hike that trail - just a bit rough and unmarked through the slide area.Comment
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Trying to know how rough it is to cross, anyone has been through?Comment
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Not much rougher than the rest of the trail, and it is now marked. Some clearing has been done as well. There are two routes now flagged out. One is along the approximate route of the original trail, but the one that gets you through stays higher near the base of the cliffs. The above is based on a trip there this past Thursday.Comment
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I am considering a ski approach from South Meadow to Lake Colden in the next few weeks. Anyone been through there this winter, and how rough is it to ski? If not ski-able, how big is the debris field to bootpack through?
Thanks,
MikeComment
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No problem skiing there as you easily ski right out onto the debris field. Before, not long after the narrow chutes off the top of the pass, there was a steep pitch with a sharp left turn at the bottom. But now you just go straight out onto the open area. After crossing the debris field, you still have another steep hill with a left turn before reaching Avalanche Lake. And the winter approach to Lake Colden is a bit different as you now ski for a few yards on a brook bed that was widened by the slides on the SW side of Colden. Again, no trouble going into or out of the brook bed. -
tgoodwin I'm trying to picture where old steep section with the sharp left turn at the bottom was. Heading towards the lake was it just as you'd pass the rock face on the right, which used to develop rust colored ice formations? Is that rock face still exposed?
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I just saw your comment and checked Caltopo. The trail is still there but its appearance is very different from all others. Caltopo uses pale gray dots whereas OSM uses a pale gray line.
I checked the trail in OpenStreetMap and, sure enough, someone had submitted a changeset that altered one of the trail's tags from "path", which is the standard used for all trails displayed in the High Peaks area) to "footway". The reason they gave for doing it wasn't related to the trail's closure; it was to modify its appearance in Gaia ... which was not a good reason to do it.
FWIW, I used a specialized tool to revert the changeset. I have reverted changesets before but it's the first time I have done it with this tool so I don't know how well it works. Anyways, it takes time for any changes to percolate through all layers of OSM's map so I don't expect to see anything different for several days (even longer for Caltopo which imports from OSM on a periodic basis).
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That gray dotted line was even a newer addition. Back when I asked this question there was no trail indicator at all. Thanks for this info. Hopefully somebody will submit a new GPX file once some form of a new route is established. -
I believe you're correct because I just noticed that the bridges and walkways I created for the Avy Pass Trail (many years ago) aren't being displayed. They exist in OSM database but someone mucked with their tags 7 months ago and, just like the Avy Pass Trail that was modified 5 months ago, *poof* they're no longer displayed.
If they don't reappear (and if the changeset reversion fails) within a week, I will fix those mistakes manually.
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