One of the more unique High Peak names, Panther Peak serves as a reminder of the distinctive ecological history of the Adirondack Mountains. Panther sightings were numerous in early Adirondack history, though the population thinned out by the time of the Colvin survey. Fully exterminated by the end of the nineteenth century, panthers likely will never call this region home again due to humanity’s impact on these once very wild lands.

Though the name was applied to several other peaks in the 1800s, a 1904 map serves as the first published designation of Panther Peak as the northernmost mountain of the Santanoni Range. No known record exists explaining who named the 4,442-foot peak. The year 1904 also saw the first recorded ascent of the peak by surveyor Daniel Lynch as he ran a line through the Santanoni Range. Today, the peak is almost always climbed in conjunction with Santanoni and Couchsagraga Peaks- the other mountains of the Santanoni Range.