Cabins for a Hiking Trip

The three cabins stand about ten road miles south of Malone, at the northern edge of the Adirondack Park, and the closest marked trails start four to nine road miles from the door. Fire-tower summits are 20 to 45 road miles away, the Saranac Lake 6er peaks 33 to 51 and the High Peaks about 60, so one stay can mix a nearly level walk to a waterfall with a long climb. This page covers which cabin suits a hiking group, the trailheads by drive time, a long weekend planned for three levels of fitness, drying gear, the hot tub after, dogs, the seasons and safety.

What each cabin offers a hiker

All three cabins sleep four, in a main bedroom and a bunk room with three beds and one bathroom. Each has a full kitchen for trail lunches and big dinners, a washer and dryer, a private hot tub, a fire pit, a grill and wifi for loading maps before a day without signal. The differences that matter on a hiking trip are a trail from the door, room for wet gear and the heat.

The Modern Tiny Home

Cabin 1 is the one with a walk from the door. A short trail, about five minutes on foot by the listing's count, leads to a pond and an observation deck that the host recommends for wildlife watching, from birds to beavers. The cabin stands on more than 300 private acres shared with one other cabin, which is not one of the three, and when that cabin is booked the trails, the observation deck and the parking area are shared. Its own deck has a small screened corner, and the cabin keeps warm with its heating system rather than a gas stove.

The Modern Pine

Cabin 2 has the best spot for wet gear: a large screened room on the deck, a place out of the bugs to unlace muddy boots and hang a rain shell. A Jøtul GF 160 DV gas stove warms the living room, a dishwasher takes the pots after a big dinner, and the listing keeps the private hot tub open 24 hours, which suits a group that gets back from a long climb after dark.

The Aviator

Cabin 3 has the same Jøtul stove and a large open deck, the place to knock the mud off boots before anyone goes in. Its hot tub and the smokeless fire pit on the lawn are kept for this cabin's guests alone. It is the far cabin on the property it shares with The Modern Pine.

A group of eight in two cabins

The Modern Pine and The Aviator share a wooded property of more than 100 acres and one gravel drive, so a group of eight can book both and still have two kitchens, two bathrooms and two hot tubs. A group of mixed ability can split for the day, one car to Lyon Mountain and one to High Falls, and meet at a fire pit for dinner; group stays covers booking the pair.

Hikes by road distance from the cabins

Road miles run from the cabins to the trailhead parking, and the drive times are conservative. Distances on foot are round trips.

A guest who stayed at The Modern Tiny Home in May 2020 put the setting in one line:

And the surrounding area in the NE Adirondacks has endless nearby places for hiking and relaxing in nature.

The hiking guide describes each of these trails, from the footing to the view, and the guides linked in the table cover the parking and the history.

Driving to the trailheads

Four trailheads are within about 20 minutes, close enough for a morning climb and lunch back at the cabin. Local roads through the hamlet of Owls Head reach both the Owls Head trail and High Falls, and the two are about two and a half road miles apart, so one morning can take in both. The Ledges is reached through Chasm Falls, with a last stretch on rough Lee Road where a high-clearance vehicle helps. Elephant's Head is off NY 30 to the west, and its upper lot sits 1.5 miles up a gravel road behind a gate that stays locked in mud season.

South of the cabins, NY 30 is the main line. Loon Lake Mountain is the exception: its lot is on County Route 26, reached by Pond Road through Owls Head and Mountain View in about 40 minutes. Debar Mountain starts inside the Meacham Lake campground off NY 30, about 35 minutes away, and while the campground is open hikers pay its day-use fee at the booth. Keese Mills Road leaves NY 30 by Paul Smith's College for the St. Regis lot, about an hour from the cabins, and from Paul Smiths NY 86 runs on to Saranac Lake, the base for the rest of the 6er.

Azure Mountain lies southwest: NY 30 south, NY 458 for 13 miles and Blue Mountain Road for seven, about an hour and a quarter in all. Lyon Mountain lies east, through Malone and along US 11 to Chateaugay, then south on NY 374 and Chazy Lake Road, also about an hour and a quarter. The High Peaks are about an hour and a half away by NY 30 and NY 86 through Saranac Lake; Cascade's lot is on NY 73 east of Lake Placid, just before Upper Cascade Lake.

Do the shopping in Malone on the way in, since the trailheads have no stores, and plan on a patchy phone signal on the back roads: load directions and maps on the cabin wifi before you leave.

How a hiking day runs from the cabins

Most days here follow the same pattern. Pack lunches and fill water bottles in the cabin kitchen the evening before, and put the packs in the car. Quiet hours at The Aviator and The Modern Tiny Home run from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m., so an early start should be a quiet one. For a fire tower, leave around 8 a.m.; for a High Peak on a summer weekend, leave by 5. At the trailhead, sign the register, agree on a turnaround time and keep to it, and aim to be back at the car by mid-afternoon.

The return has its routine too: boots off outside, wet clothes into the washer, showers, then the hot tub while dinner waits on the grill, and the fire pit once it is dark.

Rest days fit in easily. Malone is about ten road miles north for lunch, groceries and errands, and the cabins' own decks, fire pits and hot tubs fill an afternoon without the car.

Hiking on the way in and on the way out

Check-in is after 4 p.m. at all three cabins, so the arrival day has room for a climb on the road in. From Lake Placid and the south, the route runs up NY 86 to Paul Smiths and north on NY 30, past the turn for the St. Regis lot and the Meacham Lake campground, where the Debar trail starts. From Plattsburgh and the Northway, the Lyon Mountain lot is about 26 road miles out on NY 374, and driving on to the cabins from there adds only about ten miles to the trip. From Malone and the north, Owls Head and High Falls are 10 to 15 minutes past the cabins, an easy first walk before you unpack.

Checkout is before 11 a.m., which leaves the last day for a hike after you leave. High Falls and Owls Head suit the morning you pack up. A group driving east can climb Lyon Mountain on the way to the Northway, and a group heading south can stop for St. Regis or Debar along NY 30.

A four-day plan by fitness

This plan runs from Friday afternoon to Monday morning, from mid-June through mid-October, when the high trails are dry and the days are long. Choose the column that suits the slowest walker in the group. Easy walkers here means level paths and climbs of a few hundred feet; steady hikers are happy with half a day and up to about 1,700 feet of climbing; strong hikers want two summits in a day or a High Peak.

Easy walkers

Most walks in this column are under two miles round trip. High Falls follows the Salmon River on nearly level ground, with blue markers, to a curtain-shaped falls about 30 feet high. At the VIC, the Boreal Life loop is a mile long with a 1,600-foot boardwalk across a black spruce bog, and the three-mile Heron Marsh loop crosses a 900-foot boardwalk over the marsh, so turn back whenever the group has had enough. Elephant's Head climbs 320 feet to a lookout over Lake Titus, with an old wooden staircase near the top; it was decaying in spring 2025, so test each step. If the Elephant Head Road gate is locked, swap in a second morning at the VIC.

Steady hikers

St. Regis rolls gently for its first two miles and saves its steepest rock for the last 0.3 mile below the tower. Loon Lake Mountain finishes up a mossy, rocky stream bed that is steep and slippery, so save it for a dry day; its tower is closed, and the summit rock has the view.

Strong hikers

The St. Regis and Azure Mountain lots are about 15 road miles apart by Keese Mills Road and Blue Mountain Road, about ten of those miles on dirt, so allow about an hour between them. The two climbs add up to about nine miles of walking and more than 2,000 feet of climbing. On the Cascade day, the trail gains 1,940 feet in 2.4 miles, and the lot fills early on a busy weekend, so be on the road by 5 a.m.

Fire towers within reach

Four fire-tower summits are within about an hour and a quarter of the cabins: Loon Lake Mountain, St. Regis, Azure Mountain and Lyon Mountain. All four count toward the Adirondack Mountain Club's Fire Tower Challenge, which asks for a standing tower on the summit the day you climb, not a climb up the tower itself. That matters at Loon Lake Mountain, where the cab is closed to the public for good; the restored towers on St. Regis, Azure Mountain and Lyon Mountain are open to climb. From December 21 to March 21 the club asks hikers to stay off all the towers. The fire tower guide has the full list, the patch and the stewardship step.

The Saranac Lake 6er from the cabins

The 6er is six summits around Saranac Lake, from 2,452 feet at Baker to 3,861 feet at McKenzie. St. Regis is the nearest to the cabins, about 33 road miles away, and the VIC is a short stop on its way home; the other five start near the village, 43 to 51 road miles away. With two hours or more of driving on every 6er day, one or two peaks a day is a sensible pace from here. The 6er guide has the order, the bell, the trailheads and registration.

The High Peaks from the cabins

The 46 High Peaks start about an hour and a half south of the cabins. Cascade Mountain, 4,098 feet, is 2.4 miles each way from a lot on NY 73 that is often full on fine days, so arrive early or have a second plan. No permit was needed for Cascade in 2026, though a study the state released that April proposed capping it at 240 hikers a day, possibly from 2027, and DEC said the study's release did not mean it was adopted, so check before you go. The Adirondak Loj at Heart Lake, the trailhead for Marcy Dam and the peaks beyond it, charges for parking: in 2026 the Adirondack Mountain Club asked non-members $25 a day before 1 p.m. and $15 after, and its lots often fill before 6 a.m. on weekends, which means leaving the cabins by about 4:30. The Adirondack Mountain Reserve in Keene takes hikers by advance reservation only, from spring through October 31, and allows no dogs. In winter the High Peaks call for winter gear and experience, and the short climbs near the cabins make better snowshoe days.

Drying boots and wet gear

Every cabin has a washer and dryer, so socks, base layers and muddy trousers go in after dinner and come out dry for the next morning.

Boots need gentler handling. Pull out the insoles after each hike, stuff the boots with newspaper to draw out the water, and leave them at room temperature, out of direct sun. Strong heat shortens a boot's life and can change its fit, so keep boots out of the clothes dryer and bring a second pair of shoes for the days the boots are still damp.

Keep wet socks and boots off and away from the Jøtul stoves in The Modern Pine and The Aviator. Clothing and other flammable materials do not belong on or near the stove, and its glass gets hot enough to burn, so let the warm room do the drying from a safe distance. Packs and rain shells air out best in the Pine's screened room or the Tiny Home's screened corner, and The Aviator's open deck is the spot to brush off mud on a dry evening.

The hot tub after a hike

Every cabin has a private hot tub on its deck, ready for tired legs. A guest at The Modern Pine wrote after an August 2025 stay:

One of the highlights was the hot tub, relaxing in it under the stars after a long day of hiking was incredible.

At The Aviator and The Modern Tiny Home quiet hours start at 10 p.m., so keep a late soak quiet. A few habits make the soak better. Give yourself a few minutes to cool down and drink some water first, since spa makers advise against getting in right after hard exercise. Shower before you get in, keep the water at 104°F or below, and save the beer for afterward, because alcohol and hot water do not mix. The hot tub page compares the three tubs.

Hiking with a dog under the pet rules

All three cabins take a pet for a fee, under rules spelled out in each listing: under 25 pounds, house-trained, kept off the furniture and never left alone in the cabin. The Aviator allows one pet. That last rule shapes a hiking trip, because the dog comes on every outing or someone stays back with it, so choose each day's trail with the dog in mind.

The trails close to the cabins, Owls Head and the three in the Titusville forest, suit a small dog on a leash, and the Paul Smith's College VIC welcomes leashed dogs all year and asks owners to sign in and clean up. DEC requires a leash at trailheads and campsites, above 4,000 feet anywhere, and at all times in the eastern High Peaks, and the Adirondack Mountain Reserve bans dogs outright. Fire-tower stairs are steep, so one person waits with the dog at the bottom. In hunting season, put something bright on the dog as well as on yourself. Bringing your dog covers leash laws, ticks and vets, and pet-friendly cabins sets out the rules in full.

Hiking seasons at the cabins

The table gives Malone's average daily high and low by month, from the 1991 to 2020 normals, and the sunset at the cabins in the middle of each month. Summits run colder, by about five degrees for every 1,000 feet of climbing.

Mud season runs anywhere from late March into mid-June, and DEC asks hikers to stay off trails above 2,500 feet until mid-June, all of the High Peaks included, to spare the wet soil and the alpine plants. The short climbs close to the cabins top out below that line, so spring is their season. Black flies are out from mid-May into early July, worst in late May and early June; bugs, ticks and black flies has what works.

Fall brings the color and the hunting seasons together. Around the cabins in 2026, bear season opened on September 19, deer bowhunting on September 27, and the regular deer season runs from October 24 to December 6, so wear blaze orange or pink on the trails and on state land. The days shorten fast, so carry a headlamp on any climb that starts after lunch. The fall foliage guide covers when the leaves turn. Winter turns the close hikes into snowshoe outings, with short days and the hot tub at its best. Snowshoes are not on the cabins' amenity lists, so bring your own or rent them; cross-country skiing and snowshoeing lists rentals and trails.

Trail registers and safety tips

• Sign the register. Many trailheads have a register box. Sign in with your names and where you are headed, and sign out when you come back down. The registers help DEC search for hikers who are lost, hurt or in trouble, and the entries also count how many people use each trail, which guides trail work.
• Leave a plan at home. Tell a friend which trail you chose and when you expect to be off it, so someone can raise the alarm if you are late.
• Carry a light. Take a headlamp on every hike, even one you expect to finish in daylight; DEC suggests two.
• Know the numbers. In an emergency, call 911 or the DEC Forest Ranger dispatch at 833-NYS-RANGERS (833-697-7264). Save the number before you set out, since a signal is not guaranteed. For questions that are not emergencies, the local rangers are at 518-897-1300.
• Walk through the mud. Stepping around wet spots widens the trail and damages its edges.
• Step aside going down. Hikers climbing uphill have the right of way.
• Check for ticks. Check everyone, dogs included, after every hike from spring through fall.
• Know the way to the hospital. UVM Health's Alice Hyde Medical Center in Malone has a 24-hour emergency department about 10.5 road miles from the cabins; health and safety has the details.

The hiking guide has the full gear list, offline maps and the state-land rules that apply to every trail here.

Questions

Sources

Facts on this page were checked against these sources in October 2026. Hours, fees and schedules change; confirm before you go.

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2. The cabin's Airbnb listing airbnb.com/rooms/53628054
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