Mount Van Hoevenberg is a summit point located in the Adirondack Mountains

Adirondack Mountains

The Adirondack Mountains are a mountain range located in the northeastern part of New York, that runs through Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Hamilton, Herkimer, Lewis, Saint Lawrence, Saratoga, Warren, and Washington counties....

 in Essex County, New York

Essex County, New York

Essex County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 39,370. Its name is from the English county of Essex. Its county seat is Elizabethtown...

, 9 miles (15 km) east-southeast of the town of Lake Placid

Lake Placid, New York

Lake Placid is a village in the Adirondack Mountains in Essex County, New York, United States. As of the 2000 census, the village had a population of 2,638....

. Named for Henry Van Hoevenberg (1849–1918), it is best known for the location of the bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track

Lake Placid bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track

The Mt. Van Hoevenberg Olympic Bobsled Run. is a venue for bobsleigh, luge and skeleton located in Lake Placid, New York, United States. This venue was used for the 1932 and 1980 Winter Olympics and for the only winter Goodwill Games in 2000...

, and of a network of cross-country ski trails. The Mount Van Hoevenberg sports complex was used to host the 1932

1932 Winter Olympics

The 1932 Winter Olympics, officially known as the III Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1932 in Lake Placid, New York, United States. The games opened on February 4 and closed on February 15. It would be the first winter olympics held in the United...

 (bobsleigh

Bobsleigh

Bobsleigh or bobsled is a winter sport in which teams of two or four make timed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sled that are combined to calculate the final score....

) and 1980 Winter Olympics

1980 Winter Olympics

The 1980 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIII Olympic Winter Games, was a multi-sport event which was celebrated from 13 February through 24 February 1980 in Lake Placid, New York, United States of America. This was the second time the Upstate New York village hosted the Games, after 1932...

 (bobsleigh, luge, cross-country skiing, and biathlon).
Mount Van Hoevenberg stands within the watershed

Drainage basin

A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...

 of the West Branch of the Ausable River, which drains into Lake Champlain

Lake Champlain

Lake Champlain is a natural, freshwater lake in North America, located mainly within the borders of the United States but partially situated across the Canada—United States border in the Canadian province of Quebec.The New York portion of the Champlain Valley includes the eastern portions of...

, thence into Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

's Richelieu River

Richelieu River

The Richelieu River is a river in Quebec, Canada. It flows from the north end of Lake Champlain about north, ending at the confluence with the St. Lawrence River at Sorel-Tracy, Quebec downstream and northeast of Montreal...

, the Saint Lawrence River

Saint Lawrence River

The Saint Lawrence is a large river flowing approximately from southwest to northeast in the middle latitudes of North America, connecting the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean. It is the primary drainage conveyor of the Great Lakes Basin...

, and into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence

Gulf of Saint Lawrence

The Gulf of Saint Lawrence , the world's largest estuary, is the outlet of North America's Great Lakes via the Saint Lawrence River into the Atlantic Ocean...

.
The southwest slopes of Mt. Van Hoevenberg drain directly into the West Branch.
The northern and southern slopes of Van Hoevenberg drain into the North and South Meadow Brooks, respectively — tributaries

Tributary

A tributary or affluent is a stream or river that flows into a main stem river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean...

 of the West Branch.

The mountain is part of the Olympic Regional Development Authority

Olympic Regional Development Authority

The Olympic Regional Development Authority is a New York State public benefit corporations, created by the State of New York to manage the facilities used during the 1980 Olympic Winter Games at Lake Placid, New York...

 (ORDA). ORDA maintains the cross-country ski and biathlon trail system originally used in the 1980 Olympics.

During the summer, the mountain is used for hiking

Hiking

Hiking is an outdoor activity which consists of walking in natural environments, often in mountainous or other scenic terrain. People often hike on hiking trails. It is such a popular activity that there are numerous hiking organizations worldwide. The health benefits of different types of hiking...

 and mountain biking

Mountain biking

Mountain biking is a sport which consists of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, using specially adapted mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes, but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and performance in rough terrain.Mountain biking can...

.