Not much of an uphill fight
Climbing Severance Hill: Rewards with little effort
By DENNIS APRILL, Outdoors Columnist
Anyone who has driven the Northway in the vicinity of Exit 28 has seen Severance Hill, though most wouldn’t give it a second glance, for it is only a nub surrounded by higher hills. Yet, for anyone looking for a short, easy climb, or just a chance to stretch out after a long drive on I-87, it is hard to find a more convenient hike than up Severance Hill.
To get to the parking area, take Exit 28 to Route 9 south one-half mile; the parking area is on the right. First off, you will notice something unusual: The trail goes through a large culvert buried under the Northway.
When I first made the climb up Severance in 1997 with my daughter Karalyn (who was 10 at the time), she raced through the underground man-made tunnel as if it was some kind of mysterious cave. These culverts were originally put in to funnel deer and other animals through so they wouldn’t run into harm’s way on the hard top above.
Just to the north, fences were set up on each side of the interstate at a large deeryard, which the Northway bisects; the culverts were supposed to allow the deer movement to their entire wintering area.
The trail up Severance follows a very moderate ascent to a lookout point about a half hour walk from the Northway. From here, the views are to the east and include Schroon Lake and the Pharoah Lake Wilderness beyond.
A little farther on is a second lookout that shows the more northerly part of Schroon Lake and Paradox Lake, near the community of Severance, named after early settlers to the region. Though the views are modest, very little effort is required getting to the lookouts.