Mount Skylight, Mountain summit in Adirondack Park, New York, US
Mount Skylight is a mountain summit in Adirondack Park, New York, with a bare and relatively flat top that ranks among the highest points in the region. Large stone markers sit at the peak, making the exact highest point easy to locate from across the open summit area.
The mountain received its name in 1857, when an early exploration party noticed the distinctive rock formation near the top and named the peak after it. Surveyors reached the summit in 1873 as part of a broader effort to map the Adirondack region.
The summit's name comes from a rock formation that early visitors saw as a window open to the sky, giving the place a poetic character that has stayed with it ever since. Standing at the top, it is easy to understand why that image felt so fitting to those who first looked up at it.
The trail to the top is long and demanding, so starting early in the morning gives you the best chance of a full and safe day out. Pack warm layers and enough water, as conditions can shift quickly at this elevation.
Just below the summit lies Lake Tear of the Clouds, a small mountain lake known as the highest source of the Hudson River. Many hikers walk past it without realizing that the water in this quiet pool eventually flows all the way to the Atlantic Ocean.
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