Set apart from most of the other High Peaks, the summit offers a 360-degree view of the Adirondacks and clear-day glimpses of Vermont and Canada, where Montreal can be seen on a very clear day.

Because of its relative isolation, the mountain is exposed to prevailing winds from the west and frequently capped with snow and ice, making it an area of interest to meteorologists.

[7] Whiteface Mountain is primarily composed of gabbroic anorthosite, a white igneous rock which has been exposed near the summit and along the slopes where landslides have occurred.

[11] Due to its bare summit and isolation from other mountains, Whiteface is exposed to westerly winds, which makes it an ideal location for meteorological studies.

[22] The Slides also provide an additional 35 acres (14 ha) of skiable area on off-piste double-black diamond terrain.

[4][a] It was the first mountain in the Adirondacks to attract attention from tourists, due to its proximity to Lake Placid, and by 1859 there was a trail to the summit from nearby Wilmington.

[25] In the 1920s, the New York state government purchased 4,500 acres (1,800 hectares) of land on Whiteface Mountain from the Pardee family of Philadelphia and the J. J. Rogers Co. of Ausable Forks to add to the Forest Preserve.

[26] Construction of the Whiteface Mountain Veterans Memorial Highway and Whiteface Castle was conceived and initiated prior to the Great Depression and was funded entirely by the state of New York, though the timing of the projects led to a widespread belief that they were Depression-era public works projects arising from the New Deal.

[29] The highway officially opened July 20, 1935,[30] and was dedicated to veterans of the Great War in a ceremony featuring Roosevelt, by then President, on September 14 of that year.

[31] The slopes were regularly exposed to strong prevailing winds that would strip away snow and make skiing difficult or impossible.

The former base lodge of the ski slope is today used for additional meteorological observations by the Atmospheric Sciences Research Center.

The first route is the Stairway Ridge Trail, a footpath with handrails and intermittent concrete and stone steps approximately 0.2 miles (0.32 km) long.

[10] The trail from Connery Pond begins at a parking lot on New York State Route 86 and proceeds to the summit, for an elevation gain of 3,232 feet (985 m).

[35] The Wilmington Trail begins on the Veterans Memorial Highway and is 5.2 miles (8.4 km) to the summit, for an elevation gain of 3,620 feet (1,100 m).