The mountain was given its name by artist Frederick S. Perkins and guide Orson Schofield Phelps in 1857, due to a rock formation on the peak resembling a window.

[4] A single trail goes 0.5 miles (0.80 km) up to the mountain's summit from the Four Corners junction between Skylight and Mount Marcy, its northern neighbor.

Most commonly, hikers approach from the west, via the Feldspar Brook Trail from the campsites at the Flowed Lands and climb the peak in conjunction with a visit to Lake Tear of the Clouds, and a climb up neighboring, trail-less Gray Peak.

The Four Corners can also be reached by descending from Marcy to the north, or via Panther Gorge and Elk Lake to the southeast on a trail of 10.2 miles (16.4 km).

Hikers traditionally carried a rock to the summit to add to a cairn, but this practice is now discouraged.