Mount Haystack, a prominent summit in New York’s Adirondack Great Range, rises 4,960 feet and is the state’s third-highest mountain and one of the 46 High Peaks. In the town of Keene, its bare upper slopes and alpine summit above the treeline give it an open, dramatic character, with views toward Mount Marcy and Panther Gorge. Adirondack guide Orson Schofield Phelps made the first recorded ascent in 1849 with Almeron Oliver and George Etsy, gave the mountain its present name, and cut the first trail to the summit in 1873. That connection links Haystack closely to the history of Adirondack exploration and trail building.