Osgood River

[Robin]

Hi, In an earlier thread DanceswithFlies wrote:

"One of my favorites is the Osgood River upstream from Paul Smiths. There is no finer example of Adirondack boreal forest than along this stretch, IMHO.
Motorboats are rare. Another nice trip, which may involve some beaver dams, is the passage between Osgood Pond and Jones Pond".

I have been wanting to get in there for some time, and have it on my list for next spring. Whats the camping options upstream? I would arrive Friday afternoon, anything close (mile or two) to the put in?

Any personal observations would be helpful. Thanks, Robin

[RiseAboveHiker]

I'm interested in details surrounding this trip as well. Can anyone provide information?

[Bob K]

Paddling information forum

For a more likely reply to detailed ADK paddling questions, you may want to post your question(s) on Paddling.net Message board - Wilderness Tripping section. Here is a link to it

http://www.paddling.net/message/show...html?fid=wtrip I believe it to be the best source of reliable info for ADK and Boundary waters info. GlenL is a very reliable source and he knows the northern ADK waters well including the Osgood.

[JJW]

Howdy,
Good choices
The Osgood River North to Meacham Lake is a very nice paddle.
Great turning practice too. ;-)

My folks have enjoyed the Osgood Pond to Jones Pond and back,
I would like to paddle it this summer myself.

Good Luck,
John

[dudley]

Hi all -

I'm a new guy here & hope I can provide some useful information on the Jones Pond/Osgood Pond area.

There is a small, primitive camping area on the northeastern shore of Jones Pond accessible via County Route 31. This is state land & is on a first-come, first-served basis. I'm not sure how many sites there are nor do I know if you need a permit to camp there.

There are also two large campsites maintained by DEC that are within a few minutes drive of Jones Pond and/or Osgood Pond. Buck Pond campsite is probably no more than 8 miles east of Jones Pond on County Route 30. Meacham Lake campsite is around 15 miles north of Osgood Pond on State Route 30 (not to be confused with County Route 30).

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has an excellent website that contains information on recreational outdoor activities in that particular area. Check out:

http://www.dec.state.ny.us/website/do/or2top.htm

for info on the Buck Pond & Meacham Lake campgrounds.

I live approximately 40 miles from Jones Pond. If I can be of assistance, please contact me.

John

[fore2right]

Dudley - Do you know how popular the campsites on Jones Pond are? I'm planning a trip up there starting the weekend after Labor Day - September 8th. Should arrive around 6pm in the evening. Was wondering if I'll have any trouble getting a campsite. My Paddler's map indicates 4 campsites on Jones Pond. Also, is there decent swimming in Jones Pond at these campsites? After a long day of paddling, we like to jump in and cool off and refresh.

To all on this post - a canoe guide book I have indicates that the Osgood River "disappears" into a hole several miles north / northwest from Osgood Pond. It suggests one has to carry for quite a while (miles?) before one can put back into the river to continue onto Meacham Lake. Anybody have any info on this?

[Keithk]

Hi there

Jones pond is a VERY busy location.... you can't drive by it during the summer without seeing a couple small rv's and/or tents parked near the road at the camp sites. I expect that even after labor day, there would still be people at the sites closest to the road. Most if not all of the public sites here are pretty close to the road, and imho it's not the nicest body of water....

The good news is, there is a ton of far better camping directly around that area. Buck Pond Campground is very nice as far as state campgrounds go. There are also some nice spots on Kushaqua and Rainbow Lake to camp. Paddling from Kushaqua through Rainbow, carrying to Jones Pond, and floating down to Osgood Pond makes for a very nice trip.

As for the river itself, if you start at Osgood Pond, it is a very nice but relatively short paddle up the river to where it narrows and the rapids begin. There is no real trail/portage around the rapids.

Having read about "the water disapearing into a hole", I excitedly paddled up there a year or two ago... despite the warnings of my family, I wasn't bright enough to realise that the author was speaking figuratively.... and that the river didn't LITERALLY pour into a hole in the ground.... or at least if it did, I sure couldn't find it What I'm sure he meant was, it is pretty much impassible, and the water seems to just dissapear.

I have also heard from many people that the stretch of the Osgood coming south from Meecham lake is very nice... there are some small ponds that are easily hiked to from the river, I know that I personally plan to make this trip some day...

anyway, hope that's helpfull, good luck

[fore2right]

Thanks for the good info and insight KeithK. We like to camp away from people as much as possible, so would probably not want to do the Buck Pond campground, but might follow your advice to seek a site on Rainbow or Kuashaqua.

Any insight as to motor boat traffic, if any, on Rainbow or Kuashaqua?

[ohiojmj]

Fore2right, my "fear of crowds, no-vacancy signs, and street lights" near camp sites is flairing up!

[Keithk]

Not many motor boats...

Any insight as to motor boat traffic, if any, on Rainbow or Kuashaqua?

There is very limited boat traffic on these waters, particularly Kushaqua. When I was younger my family and I boated there often, and if we had any company out there at all, it was usually only 1 or 2 other boats.

[fore2right]

KeithK - thanks again for chiming in. If you were going to pick a campsite in this area to use as a base camp for 3 nights, where would you recommend?

Again, arriving on Friday night, day trip paddling Saturday and Sunday, and then wrapping up and heading home on Monday.

[Glen L]

Osgood River mid-section

Here's a copy of my post from P.net re a daytrip down Osgood's mid-section in '05
"Yea, Gordon & I took my 16 Penobscot down the mid section on April 26. It was a difficult trip requiring almost 6 hrs even in hi water. Wouldn't even consider it otherwise & it's been dry hereabouts. Some shorts raps, lots of alders, beaver dams, & blowdown. Carried around one 150yd section of shallows. Glad to have seen it but doubt I'll return anytime soom. Both the upper & lower sections offer much better paddling w/ much less work"

Think Jamieson's pal Bill F. was using a bit of poetic license when he quipped "Osgood goes down a hole like last water from a tub"

[fore2right]

Thanks GlenL. I'm still looking for recommendations as to the best place to camp in the Osgood Pond / Jones Pond / Rainbow Lake area.

[ForeverWild]

Camping Rainbow Lake/Jones Pond

fore2right,

The carry from Jones Pond to Rainbow Lake crosses a dirt road off Rte 31 that leads to private homes further up. At that crossing is a small DEC parking area. Across the road is a DEC put-in, which is at the very southwestern tip of Rainbow Lake.

The last time my husband and I were there, which was maybe 5-6 years ago, the whole southwestern lobe of Rainbow Lake was choked with blowdown, and picking our way through it was an adventure, to say the least -- fortunately we had very lightweight, very shallow draft canoes. In fact, I've been meaning to ask GlenL on paddling.net -- or register here and ask him, which I've finally done (Hi, GlenL!) if the DEC ever clears it out if the brushpile leading from the put-in gets completely impenetrable.

Anyway, assuming you CAN get through... Rainbow Lake has a long, narrow esker running down the length of it. There are 2 openings in the esker, 1 of them not terribly far up from the DEC put-in. Go through this first opening and you're in an area called "Inlet," which has private camps off to the left. Ignore that and head to your right. You'll come to another sort of narrow opening, which -- if you continue bearing right and through yet another narrow opening -- leads to Clear Pond, a long, narrow pond on the back (north) side of the Rainbow Lake esker. There are something like 6-12 campsites on Clear Pond. If you continue up Clear Pond on the esker side (your right), you'll come to a very small walled (I forget if it's stonework or concrete) opening in the esker, which is passable in a canoe. Adjacent to that opening is a large campsite on the esker which would afford you a view of both Rainbow Lake and Clear Pond.

Another possibility might be to arrange to park your vehicle at the Buck's Pond Campground (assuming they allow that) and paddle down to this small opening.

From a campsite on Clear Pond, you'd have access to The Flow, an area to the north of the western end of Clear Pond, or Rainbow Narrows and onward at the eastern end of Rainbow Lake. Or you could take the carry to Jones Pond, and from there proceed to Osgood Pond and the Osgood River up to the impassable point.

There are big boats and fast boats on Rainbow Lake. The fast boats will venture into Clear Pond as well, but not quite as much. I'm guessing before Memorial Day or after Labor Day things calm down a lot, as they do everywhere else.

[fore2right]

Thanx !!!

Many thanks to ForeverWild, KeithK, and GlenL for helping me out with info on this area.
We are looking forward to a nice trip.