Numerous High Peaks and the Keene Valley are seen from a lookout point near Big Crow Mountain’s summit in the town of Keene on Monday, Sept. 22. (News photo — Chris Gaige)

KEENE — While it’s a fool’s errand to try to pinpoint exactly when peak foliage will occur in the Olympic region, the odds are quite strong that will be sometime this week.

Wanting to make the most of this fleeting window, I began searching for a hike that offered spectacular views over a relatively short distance. Big Crow and Little Crow Mountains seemed to fit the bill perfectly.

The trail begins at the Crow Clearing parking area off of O’Toole Road. The parking lot driveway is circular and shares a trailhead with one of the approaches to Hurricane Mountain. The Big Crow and Little Crow mountains begins on the left side when driving in and is marked with red state Department of Environmental Conservation foot trail discs. There is only one sign-in register at the parking lot, which is near the Hurricane Mountain trailhead.

Leaving the parking area, the trail proceeds at a flat or slightly inclined pitch for 0.2 miles. There, it crosses a small stream that’s generally easy to rock-hop, even during wet weather. Lately, the weather has been quite dry — with the Olympic region running a 5 to 7 inch rainfall deficit between July, August and most of September — that when I hiked on Monday, Sept. 22, there wasn’t but a trickle there, just some damp dirt between the rocks.

A hundred feet or so after the stream, the trail abruptly begins its steep ascent, gaining just over 500 feet over 0.45 miles. There are no rock scrambles or other technically-demanding terrain elements, but the climb is relentless, and there are the usual rocks, roots and uneven trail surface that requires hikers to constantly watch their feet.

A trail sign for Big Crow and Little Crow mountains is seen near the Crow Clearing parking area in the town of Keene on Monday, Sept. 22. (News photo — Chris Gaige)

There are several good lookouts on the way up. The trail reaches Big Crow Mountain’s summit around 0.7 miles. There’s plenty of flat rock for an extended break or picnic, with expansive views toward the High Peaks, Keene Valley and surrounding mountains. After taking it in, I continued on to Little Crow, with a pronounced descent beginning around 0.5 miles. Like the initial ascent, the descent was steep but no scrambling was needed.

At about 0.9 miles from the parking lot, the trail comes to the col, or the lowest point, between Big Crow and Little Crow in a primarily maple forest sure to come alive with color this week. From there, it’s only about 0.2 miles to Little Crow Mountain’s summit, and it’s a fairly gentle ascent as Little Crow is about 200 feet shorter in elevation than Big Crow.

I had hiked Big Crow several times before but had never continued on to Little Crow. I was excited for the chance to finally make it over on this hike. Candidly, I must admit that I found Little Crow underwhelming compared to Big Crow. I wouldn’t go so far as to say the hike to Little Crow wasn’t worth it.

The extension didn’t come at much physical expense — it’s an easy hike over and back to Big Crow — but the views on Little Crow aren’t anywhere near as grand as Big Crow, in my opinion. Furthermore, as the vantage points face the same direction, there’s not much of a new perspective on Little Crow. C’est la vie.

Little Crow’s summit was also difficult to find. I didn’t come across any sort of formal trail marker, just a small pile of rocks about 0.1 miles after I had gone past the highest point the trail crossed on that peak (1.2 miles from the Crow Clearing trailhead. Hikers should note that the trail continues on past Little Crow. Some maps show it going to another trailhead on O’Toole Lane below Crow’s Clearing, but I did see any signs, literally or figuratively, for that when I was driving in.

A steep section of trail up Big Crow Mountain is seen in the town of Keene on Monday, Sept. 22. (News photo — Chris Gaige)

After going a bit further past the rock pile, and realizing the descent was continuing, I turned around to make my way back over Little Crow. Once back on top of Big Crow, I took some more time to admire the scenery.

Though I’m probably missing some, I counted at least 19 of the 46 High Peaks visible from Big Crow’s summit. These included, in a general left to right direction from the near-summit lookout, Giant, Grace, South Dix, Hough, Dix, Dial, Nippletop, Colvin, Blake, Sawteeth, Lower Wolf Jaw, Upper Wolf Jaw, Armstrong, Gothics, Saddleback, Basin, Haystack, Big Slide and Cascade. Though not a High Peak, there are also great views of Hurricane Mountain and its summit fire tower. Put simply, the views from Big Crow are spectacular, especially considering the short distance.

Though the mileage is relatively short, the climb is no joke, and hikers should be in adequate physical shape before setting out on trail. That said, as far as mountain trails in the Olympic region go, the trail to Big and Little Crow is one of the easier hikes. It makes for a good test before hitting some of the more arduous climbs, is suitable for hiking families with younger children and is a solid choice for those with a shorter time budget.

It took me about 90 minutes, with plenty of time devoted to taking pictures, from start to finish. This likely would have been closer to an hour had I turned around atop Big Crow Mountain instead of continuing on to Little Crow Mountain. In all, it was a short but worthwhile hike, especially Big Crow Mountain, which is also part of the LP9er hiking challenge. For more information on that, visit lakeplacid9er.com.

To get there from Lake Placid, take state Route 73 into the hamlet of Keene and make a left turn on to Hurricane Road, about 15 miles from downtown Lake Placid. Follow Hurricane Road for just over 2 miles before taking a left on to O’Toole Lane, a dirt road. Note that O’Toole Lane’s uppermost portion closest to the parking area is a seasonal road, with no maintenance between Dec. 1 and April 1. The road is narrow with several sharp turns, and extra caution should be exercised when driving to and from the trailhead.

Early fall foliage is seen near the beginning of the trail for Big Crow Mountain from the Crow Clearing parking area in the town of Keene on Monday, Sept. 22. (News photo — Chris Gaige)

Wendy Patunoff, left, and Sam Lamberti, both of the Plattsburgh area smile atop the summit of Big Crow in the town of Keene on Monday. The two friends are avid hikers, with Patunoff saying the mountains and their trails are like a fitness gym to her. (News photo — Chris Gaige)

Little Crow Mountain is seen from near Big Crow Mountain's summit in the town of Keene on Monday, Sept. 22. (News photo — Chris Gaige)

Big Crow Mountain is seen from near Little Crow Mountain's summit in the town of Keene on Monday, Sept. 22. (News photo — Chris Gaige)

Several High Peaks and a portion of the Keene Valley are seen from Big Crow Mountain in the town of Keene on Monday, Sept. 22. Visible High Peaks, from left, include Sawteeth, Lower Wolf Jaw, Upper Wolf Jaw, Armstrong, Gothics, Saddleback, Basin and Haystack. (News photo — Chris Gaige)