The Saranac Six.
Six peaks within ten miles of Saranac Lake village. A friendly community challenge with a patch, a certificate, and the tradition of ringing the bell at Riverside Park when you finish.
The Saranac 6 was launched by the Saranac Lake Area Chamber of Commerce as a community alternative to the 46 — a challenge anyone reasonably fit can finish in a long summer, with peaks that bracket the village instead of an hour's drive away. None of the six is on the 46 list. None requires a herd path or an alpine zone. All six can be done as day hikes from a single base in town.
The roster, entered by hand.
Read this before the first trailhead.
There’s no required order. Most finishers save Ampersand for last — the bald summit offers a 360° view of the Seward Range and the St. Regis Canoe Area, which makes for the finisher’s photograph people actually frame. Baker is the shortestat 1.8 miles round-trip and gets bagged on most visitors’ first afternoon. McKenzie is the longest and most committing— pair it with a clear-weather day and a full breakfast.
The unwritten season is June through October. The higher three (McKenzie, Scarface, Ampersand) glaze with verglas by late October — doable in winter conditions with traction, but that’s when the “Winter 6er” patch starts to mean something. Black flies peak from late May through mid-June; mosquitoes carry July; deer flies own August. By September the bugs largely give up.
All six trailheads sit within fifteen minutes of downtown Saranac Lake, which makes the village a real base camp rather than an hour-each-morning drive. Hotel Saranac, the Adirondack Brewery, and a half-dozen cafés are within walking distance of the bell at Riverside Park. Bring a paper map— cell service drops on three of the six approaches, and the McKenzie summit ridge has confused more than one party that planned to navigate by phone.
How the patch is earned.
Register at the Saranac Lake Area Chamber, summit all six, then ring the community bell at Riverside Parkon Lake Flower to finish. The Chamber sends a patch and a finisher’s certificate; many hikers add the “Ultra 6er” (all six in a single day) or the “Winter 6er” (all six between December and March) as next chapters.