Northville-Lake Placid Advice

[TheNatrix]

So I purchased the book about the trail and have been reading it excitedly ever since. I was simply curious if anyone had any specific tips on hiking the trail besides the bugs and mud.

[kwc]

what sorta 'tips' are you looking for? where to stay/camp? what not to miss ... or miss?

the guidebook isn't necessarily very up to date ... i noticed a couple things along the way (like a missing small bridge somewhere ... and now i can't remember where) that didn't quite match the book.

i did the trail in sections ... and even so, i met only two ppl on the LL to LP section, two ppl near West Lake, and several ppl at Wakely Dam ... saw a couple others at lean-tos at Spruce Lake but didn't actually meet them.

I had solitude at Duck Hole (on a Friday night no less), Canada Lakes, Cold River (by the suspension bridge), Mud Pond ... and near Tyrell Pond.

There are a number of others on the forum who can tell you much more about the trail!!

[TheNatrix]

Thanks

Thanks! I kind of figured the book could have been outdated. I was simply wondering about the exact things you mentioned....places to swim, places to check out, areas that get confusing. Nothing specific just any general advice/ideas. Thanks!

[Rick]

I don't know how many days you are planning to do the trail in, but you might want to plan extra time for a stop in Blue Mountain Village, Long Lake Village and a nice rest days at either Plumley's, West Canada Lakes, Seward L/T or Duck Hole where you can get some swimming in. Also The first set of L/Ts you come to on the Cold River are phenomenal. Especially the one off to the left after you cross the bridge, not the real close one, but further back. The suns rises right on you in the morning - Spectacular view of the river.

I did 2 mail drops - One at Piseco and one at LLV. I probably could have done without LLV, but I wanted to get to Hoss's for a good meal anyways

If you need to get to the Piseco Post office and you miss closing time, you can camp at the edge of the airfield back near a playground to wait for morning. The airfield has a water spigot to get fresh water too. It was 10 years ago next month I was last at the airfield and when I spoke to one of the ops guys, he said "it wasn't no harm to camp there".

If you would like, I can send you a spreadsheet with the segment and cumulative mileage between all points - -Great tool for planning your hike. PM me with your E-mail and I'll send it right out.

Cheers
Rick

[southernadkhiker]

Northville Lake Placid Trail

If your hiking the trail from south to north, and plan on starting at benson road, and head toward piseco, then rock pond is the first lake you'd hit Its nothing special though, then meco lake which is too acidic for fish to live in, then silver lake, the biggest lake on this section of the trail. Camping, swimming, and fishing for big brookies arre all possibilites in this lake. Its big and shallow. Then the gem, in my opinion, of this part of the np trail, comes. Canary Pond is perfect for camping, swimming with its greenish looking water make it very desirable to do so. And it is stocked with trout so fishing is good there to. Mud lake, except for a lean-to, is real freakin muddy and not worthy to stop at. Going a little farther north will bring you to the unmarked trail taht leads into the gorge, which redhawk, could tell you all about. Hamilton lake stream and buckhorn lake are desirable camping spots and to glimpse some ospreys flying around at buckhorn is pretty cool.

[sacco]

i agree with you southern, about canary pond being the real gem. -except i wouldn't swim in it if you're bothered by leaches.

[RiseAboveHiker]

I agree regarding Canary Pond as the Jewel of the southern region. Although it's short distance between Canary Pond and Whitehouse, camping by the West Branch Sacandaga is not bad and the river is nice to cool off in. Whenever I've done it I've stopped at the general store in Piseco for junkfood and then stopped at the post office as a resupply of food and film. I've always stayed in Piseco at a place called Irondeqouit Inn that is maybe 0.3 miles on the road past where the NP trail forks right into the woods. The Irondequit Inn has a reasonably priced campground across the street where we've stayed, and there are quarter showers by the beach. The lake is also nice to swim in. We've always sent a a good meal to the post office that night and between feasting and showers treated ourselves like kings.

The next day is a rough day as the trail climbs for circa 11-13 miles to Spruce Lake. It's worth it though as the next few days through the West Canada Lakes Region are some of the best -- camp anywhere in here, you won't be disappointed (my favorite is South Lake, with Beaver Pond/Cedar Lake a close second). 20 miles or so later you have 9 miles of road walk on either side of Wakely Dam. This road walk is undesirable, but there's not much you can do about it. At the end of the roadwalk you need permission from the Macaluso property owner to cut through their property and rejoin the trail. So long as you are a thru-hiker they will grant permission, but you need to call ahead of time. The next segment of the trail is ho-hum, until you get to Tirrell Pond. It's a popular site, especially on weekends -- but it is so worth it. We've always stayed at the northern end where there is a nice, sandy beach.

After a 12.3 mile climb you come to Long Lake which has a flat walk along many nice camping areas with great lake swims. Definitely put your pack down for some cliff jumping when you get to Kelly's Point, but the jewel here is the aforementioned Cold River where the suspension bridge crosses. We've never camped here, but have spent four-hour-plus lunches here, before camping at Miller's Falls which has a lousy lean-to but a great spot especially during high water. Beyond that Duck Hole is not to be missed. Look out for heavy blowdown after Duck Hole although it may have been cleaned up by now. Wanika Falls is also great to explore, although the camping is less than desirable. The pool at the bottom provides a great -- but COLD shower -- and if you have the time it's worth climbing up the falls a ways and checking out the cascades.

I've done the complete trail three times so know the trail really well. Feel free to send any specific questions my way.

[Dick]

Here are some sites that might be of interest to you:

http://www.dec.state.ny.us/website/reg5/r5adktrails.html

http://www.avatar12.com/northvilleplacid/2002/

http://gorp.away.com/gorp/resource/statepark/ny/hik_nort.htm

http://www.geocities.com/schdyadk/northville-placid_trail.htm

http://www.adirondacks.com/northvillplacid.html

http://www.wilsey.net/Northville/

The first site listed above is DEC's own site, which has a lot of up-to-date general information on all regions of the Adirondacks. For example:

Silver Lake Wilderness
• The Northville-Placid Trail between Mud Lake and Canary Pond has heavy blow down.

West Canada Lakes Wilderness
• The Northville-Placid Trail in the Mud Lake area is flooded due to beaver activity.
• The McCane's Resort on Cedar River Road is closed to all public use (parking, camping, picnicking, waiting, etc.), except for long-distance hikers completing the Northville-Placid Trail. Stephens or Cascade Ponds can be accessed via the trail from Lake Durant Campground on Route 28. Once the DEC relocates the Northville-Placid trail, all public use of this area will be prohibited. For more information contact DEC Supervising Forester Richard Fenton, P.O. Box 1316, Northville, NY 12134, phone: 518/863-4545, e-mail: rtfenton@gw.dec.state.ny.us

Hope this helps.

Dick

[RiseAboveHiker]

Just a clarification so as not to confuse you. Dick's reference to the McCane's resort is the same place as what I call the Macaluso property. For years the property was known as McCane's Resort, but it was sold and bought by the Macaluso family several years back. It's one and the same.

[TheNatrix]

Directions

I might hike from Upper Benson to Piseco soon, pending the rain that is forecasted for next week! I'd be coming from Syracuse and was curious if anyone had decent directions how to get to Upper Benson. Thanks a lot!

[redhawk]

I might hike from Upper Benson to Piseco soon, pending the rain that is forecasted for next week! I'd be coming from Syracuse and was curious if anyone had decent directions how to get to Upper Benson. Thanks a lot!

Do you know how to get to NY365 from Syracuse?

If you do, follow 365 to 8 East and follow that to Route 10 which is a right of of 8 in Arietta. Follow 10 South about 25miles and you come to the Benson Road on your left. Follow that and not long after you cross into Benson from Bleeker you will se the signs for the trailhead on your left.

I'm sure Wildernessphoto can give you the directions out of Syracuse when he gets back tonight. He has property in Caroga,about 15 miles from the Benson Trailhead.

[TheNatrix]

Thanks a lot

I appreciate the directions. I"m a little familiar with 365 so I think I'll be able to figure it out. Again, thanks for the reply!

[eghaley]

My wife and I did the N-LP Trail on our honeymoon back over 30 years ago. We did it starting at the end of June right in the middle of blackfly and noseeum season. Big mistake. Took us till West Canada Lakes (super spot at South Lake) to consummate our vows!!! It was rainy for the first week.

Along the way there were ample rewards, though. Many of them have been mentioned in earlier posts. Swimming on the Cold River at Big Eddy being carressed by a serpentine sluiceway was one of them. Visiting the homesite of the "Hermit of Cold River - Noah John Rondeau" was interesting. He had the largest hillside pit of rusty tin cans I've ever seen. But he was a character. I doubt if much remains now of his lodge but the junk is probably still there. Wanika Falls, Tirell Pond, Duck Hole, Stoney Creek (where I woke up my wife to let her "see" the invasion of noseeums. Boy, she was pissed.

The worst was waking up near Whitehouse one morning and putting on my windpants which I'd carelessly left lying outside on the grass. One leg was rolled up and one leg wasn't. After I had the pants on for a minute or so I felt my left leg burning all over. Upon inspection, I found out that that pant leg was full of biting bugs. I counted over 100 bites on my leg as I dutifully applied dabs of AfterBite. Thank God for the AfterBite. It really works!

We didn't do mail drops. But we did resupply at Hoss's Country store in Long Lake. We had asked them if we could leave a box of items there for use later. They obliged. When we resupplied, we purchased additional items from them - especially ice cream ;o))

In subsequent years, I've done the trail 4 times with a backpacking group from my school (I was a physics teacher). It usually took 17 days for a leisurely trip with a layover day at Long Lake and at the Cold River where students had their final exam. They attempted to climb Couchy the hard way - from the river - without me. Always enjoyed listening to their stories of the climb as I fell asleep that night.

I recommend the trail solely for the adventure of the trip and for the memories you'll cherish later. Don't forget the Old Woodsman and the AfterBite.

[lumberzac]

Visiting the homesite of the "Hermit of Cold River - Noah John Rondeau" was interesting. He had the largest hillside pit of rusty tin cans I've ever seen. But he was a character. I doubt if much remains now of his lodge but the junk is probably still there.

Rondeau's home at Cold River was moved to the Adirondack Museum in Blue Mountain Lake.

[NicksMaint]

McCanes to Stephens Pond

My son and I did a thru hike last September (2004) and there is a portion of the trail between McCanes and Stephens Pond that was under water. It is only about 50-75 yards across (if my memory serves me correctly) and was about mid-thigh deep. Footing was good.