Colden and its ilk are in the deep ADK, the far reaching places from the LOJ. Skylight and Grey, Cliff and Redfield (Marshal as well) occupy this area, on the far end of Lake Arnold. Admittedly, this is one of the muddiest and least appealing areas in the entire park to me, but it is home to some great peaks, Colden being one of them, Skylight being another.

We did Colden as part of a three day, two night trek that also included Cliff and Redfield. Night one we camped near the base of Colden and night two we camped at the “Up Hill Lean-To” near Cliff and Redfield. 

We decided to try and line up our arrival on Colden with sunset, but we were a little late to the party. We caught the sunset on the last knob of the climb, by the time we reached the peak we could see the lights from Placid (or possibly another nearby town?). Our climb down was dark and required lights, but was mostly manageable. 

The final mile or so of this climb, like many others, holds a majority of the elevation gain. Not particularly easy, but not crazy either. There are scrambles and lots of stairs, but totally manageable. The trek up to that point is also fairly long and has plenty of elevation gain to wear you out.

• We approached this one from the LOJ which appears to be the best way, although we could be wrong.
• These trails back around Lake Arnold are very muddy, keep that in mind.
• Although it would be a longer climb overall, you could take the Avalanche Pass up to Colden. The Pass offers some of the best views across the park from ground level and is truly a site to behold.