Murphy, Middle, and Bennet Lake thru Murphy Lake Trail

[dcuper1]

I am planning on hiking through the Murphy Trail to go by Bennet, Middle, and Murphy Lake. It will be my first hike through the Adirondacks. I will be staying at the Sacandaga Campgrounds.

I am looking for any info on this hike, is there anything to be aware of that may have changed recently such as access to any of the lakes, private vs. public roads, any hazards, etc. I decided on this hike since it is close to the campground and it is an easy hike. Any suggestions on what to do and what to see in the area will be appreciated.

Daniel

[pico23]

Murphy lake is squarely on NYS-Forest Preserve land. I believe the trail corridor is wholely owned as well.

I haven't hiked it in a few years but my remembrance was Murphy lake had quite a few snakes. The lake also had a pair (actually 3) loons.

The trail was easy, relatively flat and can't think of any specifics as to any problems.

Nice area, and my recollection was it was in good shape compared to similarly accessable areas in the Southern ADK which seem to bring about the worst of the inner sloth in people.

[southernadkhiker]

Beautiful lakes, the best of which is middle lake. When you see middle through the trees, wait till you have hike to the head of the lake and take the herd path around to the backside or middle of the lake. Brings you to some awesome campsites, one of which I camped at on memorial day weekend

[dcuper1]

Thanks for the info. How is the parking at the trail head? Any problems there? I will probably be going on the end of July - beginning of August - any possibility there won't be any place to park?

Daniel

[Kevin]

Thanks for the info. How is the parking at the trail head? Any problems there? I will probably be going on the end of July - beginning of August - any possibility there won't be any place to park?

Daniel

There's several spots and it's 'along' the road mostly, so as long as you're as far off the road as possible it shouldn't be a problem. It does see quite a bit of day hiking traffic but the road is wide enough I can see many cars parking along it without issue.

If you want to hike past the lean-to, I remember the footbridge was out the last time I was in there. It was pretty deep so expect to be wading for 15 feet through that section. The other option is to whack a long way around behind the lean-to. Don't know how far that marshy area extends back though.

[pico23]

There's several spots and it's 'along' the road mostly, so as long as you're as far off the road as possible it shouldn't be a problem. It does see quite a bit of day hiking traffic but the road is wide enough I can see many cars parking along it without issue.

If you want to hike past the lean-to, I remember the footbridge was out the last time I was in there. It was pretty deep so expect to be wading for 15 feet through that section. The other option is to whack a long way around behind the lean-to. Don't know how far that marshy area extends back though.

Yeah bridge was out in the 2002 time frame by the lean-to.

There were logs and such which we used in our sandals.

I agree with the post above, there is some great informal camping on the lake beyond Murphy (i suppose thats middle IIRC)...it didn't appear to be over used at that time either. Surprisingly my recollection was this was an area that somehow escaped destruction from the party crowd.

[Bill I.]

Surprisingly my recollection was this was an area that somehow escaped destruction from the party crowd.

The southern island on Middle Lake was burned to a crisp as of March 2006, and the visual evidence seemed to point to a campsite at the northern tip--someone had let a campfire get out of control, or didn't douse it completely when they left. Most of the trees were killed, and a large portion of the duff was completely burned away. Looked like it had been that way for a while, perhaps during that drought summer of 2001.

[Justin]

I am planning on hiking through the Murphy Trail to go by Bennet, Middle, and Murphy Lake.

I am looking for any info on this hike, etc. Any suggestions on what to do and what to see in the area will be appreciated.

Daniel

I haven't been to that area in a long time, but I used to go there alot with my father when I was younger. It is a real nice area, and I'm sure it is still a pretty popular route for hikers and snowmobilers. Though I can recall many fun times at those ponds, we had our share of not so great memories there too. For some reason, it seemed like everytime we went there, something very unusaul happened.

There are some cool things to explore around the shores, and in the woods on the eastern sides of Bennett & Middle. Murphy vly is cool too.

I would say that Middle is my favorite, and that's too bad to hear about that fire.
...makes me remember about the strange, brief, little fire we all saw on the southern shore of that island one night about 18 years ago.

[DuctTape]

If you want to hike past the lean-to, I remember the footbridge was out the last time I was in there. It was pretty deep so expect to be wading for 15 feet through that section. The other option is to whack a long way around behind the lean-to. Don't know how far that marshy area extends back though.

Last fall I stayed at the Murphy Leanto with ADKFUN. We hiked in with HAwk, kwc, Jacquie, and hobbitlng. The trail to pumpkin hollow was almost non-existent due to beaver activity as you say. Earlier, I had hiked around the other side to find the "shiny thing". It was very easy, the marshy part did not hamper me as the forest area was quite clear of growth. Then again it was November.

[pico23]

The southern island on Middle Lake was burned to a crisp as of March 2006, and the visual evidence seemed to point to a campsite at the northern tip--someone had let a campfire get out of control, or didn't douse it completely when they left. Most of the trees were killed, and a large portion of the duff was completely burned away. Looked like it had been that way for a while, perhaps during that drought summer of 2001.

I don't remember this...but then I didn't have a boat so I probably wasn't paying attention to the islands, we were too busy eating blueberries and trying to scavenge a few pounds for breakfast. we walked the west shore and much of the east shore (maybe the whole lake).

THere was only a single group camping there, but I think at that time I had Thur-Friday off so maybe the weekend crowd was a bit more intense. (actually, edited to note, this might have been the weekend, as I was probably unemployed then and climbing all week, and spending weekends with my wife)

I've always thought it would make for a great novice overnight XC ski trip so I expect to get back there someday. Plus, I could do with a few less snakes!!!

[Pumpkin QAAD]

I just did this trail in May, it's a nice day hike. There potentially will be "guests" if you go on a holiday weekend but otherwise there is plenty of space and most people are generally courteous. We all are out there to enjoy nature not to hear drunken campers and see their garbage.

The trail from Hope falls (south) is in very good condition and very easy to hit all 3 lakes at around 3.5 miles from Hope Falls to Murphy passing Bennett and Middle Lakes. The area connecting Murphy to the Vly is swampy but passable with a good sturdy stick. From Hope Falls to Pumpkin Hollow it's about 7+ miles and the Northern leg of the trail seems slightly more difficult imo. I was there in Spring so the trail was very wet but it should be fine now.

This trail specifically I like to use to introduce new people to hiking.

The best experience was floating around in Murphy Lake watching the wildlife as a Goose made his circles as the fog was lifting...Gotta find my pics...

[JayS]

My wife and I spent two nights at the Murphy Lake lean-to over the July 4th weekend. Here are some observations that might help with trip planning for someone.

Weather was beautiful. Sunny days and starry nights, a little humidity. Highs in the mid 80s, low of 51 one night and mid 50s the next. Swam in Murphy one afternoon - it was chilly and refreshing but not numbing. Temp was probably in mid to upper 60s.

Trail from Creek Road to the lean-to is in fine shape - a couple of wet spots but easy to rock hop most of them. Creek crossing were of no consequence. The trail beyond the lean-to was too dicey at the first beaver dam to attempt so we bushwacked around the west side of the lake to the snowmobile trail exit on the northwest part of the lake. There is plenty of water in the area behind the beaver dam near the lean-to as well as at the exit from Middle Lake, leading to plenty of bullfrogs croaking at night.

The lean-to was clean (as usual) and well supplied. Thanks to the local club that maintains it (can't remember who, maybe the local ADK chapter). The one down side was the condition of the immediate area. Someone has chopped down several small evergreens around the back of the lean-to and has sawn down green hardwoods to use in the fire. The result is half-burned logs that obviously were freshly cut from standing. There are also a half-dozen holes dug beside and behind the lean-to. They rang up to a foot and a half across and a foot deep. I couldn't figure out what they were for but they were obviously dug with the shovel at the lean-to. This is all obviously so anti-LNT and just unnecessary. There was a lot of unburnable wood, some with fresh leaves still on it.

Mosquitos and flies were heavy at times, especially around dusk. We used a picaridin (spelling?) based repellent and it worked okay.

As mentioned, I swam one afternoon and noticed several leeches as I was getting out, including one in the bottom of my Croc. Most were just over 3 inches long. Our dog was with us and we didn't see any ticks on him during or after the trip. He uses FrontLine but no tick/flea collar.

There were forty some odd folks registered at the trailhead after us but we saw far less folks in the woods. Including the folks at Murphy who came in from the north, we saw about 15 people during a two night stay. There was one camper at Middle Lake who was fishing (unsuccessfully...).

Hope this is useful info for someone.

[dcuper1]

Thanks for the info! I am going there August 2nd and will try to add some pictures and report of how it went.

Daniel

[JayS]

Murphy Lake Lean-to

Last October (2010) we went to Murphy Lake and found the privy in disrepair. We are planning a trip to Murphy Lake soon and would be happy to take in some supplies and help fix it up.

Does anyone know if the privy still needs to be repaired? If so, do you have any idea what needs fixing and what size lumber is needed? For example, when we were there, 2 outside (wall) boards were needed (approx 1"x6"x 6') and the seat support and panel below the seat were needed (probably a 2"x4" and a piece of plywood - what size, I don't know).

The repairs appeared to be needed because someone removed wood, most likely to burn. It's a shame some folks feel it is okay to destroy things for their entertainment. Anyway, this lean-to and privy are usually in great condition and we wouldn't mind helping out to keep it that way.

Thanks for your help.

[Justin]

Last October (2010) we went to Murphy Lake and found the privy in disrepair. We are planning a trip to Murphy Lake soon and would be happy to take in some supplies and help fix it up.

Does anyone know if the privy still needs to be repaired? If so, do you have any idea what needs fixing and what size lumber is needed? For example, when we were there, 2 outside (wall) boards were needed (approx 1"x6"x 6') and the seat support and panel below the seat were needed (probably a 2"x4" and a piece of plywood - what size, I don't know).

The repairs appeared to be needed because someone removed wood, most likely to burn. It's a shame some folks feel it is okay to destroy things for their entertainment. Anyway, this lean-to and privy are usually in great condition and we wouldn't mind helping out to keep it that way.

Thanks for your help.

What a shame!
Will lean-to (& privy) abuse ever end???!!!

I applaud your interest to help repair the damage that was caused by the negligence of others.
I have many great memories at Murphy Lake & vicinity. It is a fairly popular area and it is a real shame to see the abuse that area has encountered over the years. Please let me know if you need a hand.

You may want to contact the DEC, and or the ADK before you do any repairs. I'm sure that lean-to has an adopter, and maybe it has already been taken care of, but it never hurts to ask.
You can contact Jody Rothmeyer, Chair of the ADK-Foothills Chapter HERE.
She might be able to help you out.