Hey all. I'm headed up to climb Dial and Nippletop Saturday and am looking for a little advice. I want to take the Leach Trail to Bear Den, continue over to Dial, on to Nippletop, and then down to Elk Pass and out to Lake Road. I understand that you have to hike about 4 miles down the road to get back to the Leach Trail turnoff. My question is, is the parking lot for this the same as it is for Noonmark/Round off of 73? Or can you just drive down Ausable Rd and then drive down Lake Rd to reach the trail? Thank you for any and all advice. Happy Trails!

You'll have to park at the lot just off of 73, same one as Noonmark. You can't drive further down the road, it's privately owned, but you can walk down it.

hawkinss wrote:You'll have to park at the lot just off of 73, same one as Noonmark. You can't drive further down the road, it's privately owned, but you can walk down it.

Aside from it being private, in the winter I don't think you can drive up the Lake Road at all past the gate near the golf course.

Have dinner at the Noonmark diner. It's good after a long cold hike!

I do believe that is the same parking area on Ausable club road in St Huberts. That's one heckuva dayhike, better bring snowshoes, crampons, and emergency supplies. I haven't been to the Daks yet this winter but I'm guessing they've got a ton of snow. The lake road gate will definitely be closed (but hikable/skiable) and since the Ausable Club is private, they do get very p!ssy about dropping off or loading directly at the gate. 4 miles from getting on the road from the trail and back down to the parking lot seems about right. Good luck!

Thanks for all the info guys. Ya, it is quite a trek for a day hike, but a month ago I did Marcy in under 10 hours with a guy who'd never climbed before haha....and through powder! So hopefully this goes smooth, we're gonna take tobagans or snowskates to save us some time on descents hahah. Happy trails!

Have crampons if you're going down Elk Pass, because if its light powder atop of ice you'll be doing a mile hike on your ass/back. Did that before; it sucked. Doing Elk Pass first is a much more enjoyable trip, especially doing it as a winter day trip.