Lake Colden

Access:
The quickest, shortest, and easiest access to Lake Colden and Flowed Lands with the least vertical climb is from Upper Works. The most beautiful access is from Heart Lake (Adirondack Loj) due mainly to Marcy Dam, Avalanche Lake, and the hike between the two.

About the Lake Colden-Flowed Land Area:
If there is a heart in the High Peaks it must beat where those fraternal twins Lake Colden and Flowed Lands shimmer on a summer day or lie cold and still in the bosom of Winter. We list these adjacent lakes as an "interior trailhead" because they form a hub for quite a few Adirondack High Peaks. Yet, Lake Colden and Flowed Lands are themselves remote and accessible only by foot.

The Lake Colden-Flowed Lands area is both a destination and a way point. Hikers who just want to get away for a weekend to a beautiful mountain and lake setting may make this their destination. There are a lot of lean-to's to choose from and almost all have beautiful lake and mountain views. The majority of hikers, though, are just passing through, using this as a way point and a trail junction. They arrive here from Upper Works, Marcy Dam, or Heart Lake headed for any of a number of peaks and trails.

This topographic map best shows the Lake Colden-Flowed Lands region. Lake Colden and Flowed Lands lie at about 2800 ft elevation. Peaks readily accessible from Lake Colden and Flowed Lands include the MacIntyre Range, Marshall, Colden, and the Marcy region including Cliff and Redfield, Skylight, and Gray,

Trail Map

Since Lake Colden and Marcy Dam are popular camping sites, both are visited nightly by bears determined to steal your food. Campers at either location are strongly advised to use one of two methods to prevent this:

Put ALL food in a small sack and suspend it 10 feet or higher in the air between a couple of stout trees prior to turning in for the night. This is a reliable method if you take the time to do it right.
A second and much more reliable option is to rent or purchase a bear canister. These are manufactured of ABS plastic, they fit into most packs, they'll typically hold an amount of food sufficient for two persons for 3 days in the woods and, most important, they are ABSOLUTELY bear-proof. On the downside, they are costly, running about $90, although you should check for rentals at Eastern Mountain Sports. Also, ADK members can contact the club for rentals in the Albany area.

Lake Colden and Flowed Land
1	The Calamity Brook Trail (ADK #121, McM #39), at only 3.7 miles, is both the shortest and easiest route to Flowed Lands and Lake Colden. The trail starts out RED at the Upper Works trailhead. Soon after, the trail changes to BLUE, eventually arriving at its terminus on the west banks of Flowed Lands. This DEC trail sign located almost at the water's edge. The many destinations shown on the sign demonstrate how these two lakes at as a hub for hikers.	2	This is the view east from the above sign. The trail you see is the start of the RED Opalescent River Trail (ADK #123, McM #42) to Hanging Spear Falls and thence to the East River Trailhead located on Upper Works Rd. roughly a mile S of the Upper Works Trailhead From end to end this trail is 8.5 miles long. There are two lean-to's located at this spot that share the view shown in the next photo down.
3	This view to the NE of Flowed Lands is also taken at the sign above and shows Beaver Point, the round headland at the upper end of Flowed Lands. Mt Colden is at right in the background. Lake Colden cannot be seen, but it lies between Beaver Point and Mt Colden. From here the trail to Lake Colden and most peaks goes left around Flowed Lands to Beaver Point where it crosses the Lake Colden dam..	4	A section of the RED trail around the west side of Flowed Lands. One might think that this would be flat land, being a stone's throw from Flowed Lands, but Mt. Marshall's SE slopes continue right to the water's edge.
5	This view of Mt Colden is taken on the west bank of Lake Colden, on the BLUE trail not far below the Ranger Station.	6	The view N up the west bank of Lake Colden toward the land bridge between Lake Colden and Avalanche Lake.
7	Lake Colden from the Lake Colden dam which separates Lake Colden from Flowed Lands, holding Lake Colden 5 or 6 feet above Flowed Lands.	8	Lake Colden dam looking east from Beaver Point. The walkway across the dam leads very shortly to the trail junction sign (photo #9).
9	This sign is on the east bank of Lake Colden at the dam. The upper sign points the way to the RED trail (ADK #121, McM #46) that heads up the upper section of the Opalescent River toward Marcy. The lower sign points the way W across the dam to the BLUE trail that follows Lake Colden's W shore to the Ranger Station, the Algonquin Pass Trail (ADK #72, McM #48) and, eventually, to Avalanche Lake. There should be a third sign on this tree that points to the start of the Mt. Colden trail (ADK #70, McM #142).