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Hiking Albany Mountain from the North Leaving the parking lot at the northern trailhead of the Albany Notch Trail, the trail starts off at a very easy grade. A half mile into the hike a 30 foot section of the trail is flooded as a result of beaver activity. This can be easily bypassed. Upon reaching the flooded section, look for a herd path to the left. This path will take you a couple hundred feet south where you will find that the path then goes across a beaver dam that has been there for sometime. There is a well worn path across the top. Upon reaching the other side, turn right and cut at a 45 degree angle through very open woods back to the trail. Shortly after this you will reach the trail junction of the Albany Mountain Trail and the Albany Notch Trail. The Albany Notch Trail continues to the right but that section of the trail is currently closed due to more beaver activity. Now take the Albany Mountain Trail. The next .9 miles is the steepest section of the hike. You will reach another intersection. Turning to the right will take you down to Albany Notch. Staying straight leads to Albany Mountain. A couple minutes after the intersection you will come to the first of many open areas of trail where the footbed is ledge. If you bushwhack to the left about 200 feet through open woods there is a fine view to the west. Continuing on the trail, the trail remains quite open until reaching the top. Just before the summit there is a very nice view to the east. The cairns then lead you to the highpoint of the trail. The actually summit is further south with no trail leading to it, but the elevation change is only a couple of feet. If you continue following the cairns you will drop in elevation slightly and reenter the woods for a couple of minutes. You will then emerge on some open ledges with great views to the west. Continue following the cairns another tenth of a mile until you come out onto the wide open southern ledge of Albany Mountain with exceptional views to the south and west. Distance from trailhead to southern ledges is 2.2 miles

 

Hiking Albany Mountain from the South According to the guidebook, the Albany Notch Trail from the south starts at the end of Birch Avenue. If you park there you will have a .9 mile road walk until the gate. If your vehicle has high clearance you should be able to drive to the gate. After the gate the hiking trail and snowmobile coexist for a few minutes. The hiking trail then branches off to the left. The next mile of trail has lots of drainage issues so you most likely will get your feet wet. This will bring you to a beaver pond. Technically, the pond cuts off a few feet of trail but it is very easy to skirt around the edge. The snowmobile rejoins from the right. They coexist again for the next tenth of a mile before the trail branches off to the right. The trail remains flat going through a couple more very wet areas before the climbing starts. The trail crosses a couple of brook and then brings you up to Albany Notch. At the notch there is a huge rock. The Albany Notch Trail used to continue passed this, but that section is now closed. The west branch of the Albany Mountain Trail starts here as you make a right hand turn at the intersection. The trail goes up and then drops back down briefly. It crosses a drainage ditch from a spring and then heads back up. A few minutes later it reaches a ledge with a nice but limited view to the west. The trail is fairly open from here to the next trail junction. At the next trail junction take a right. A couple minutes after the intersection you will come to the first of many open areas of trail where the footbed is ledge. If you bushwhack to the left about 200 feet through open woods there is a fine view to the west. Continuing on the trail, the trail remains quite open until reaching the top. Just before the summit there is a very nice view to the east. The cairns then lead you to the highpoint of the trail. The actually summit is further south with no trail leading to it, but the elevation change is only a couple of feet. If you continue following the cairns you will drop in elevation slightly and reenter the woods for a couple of minutes. You will then emerge on some open ledges with great views to the west. Continue following the cairns another tenth of a mile until you come out onto the wide open southern ledge of Albany Mountain with exceptional views to the south and west. Distance from end of Birch Avenue to southern ledges is 3.3 miles. Distance from gate to southern ledges is 2.4 miles.