Rollins Pond area paddle suggestions

[Crash]

The weather forecast for Syracuse tonight is for the coldest night of this winter – 5 to 10 below. But tomorrow the weather will start to break and a warming trend will begin. Time to dust of my maps!

Every summer my family and I spend two weeks at Rollins Pond. We use Rollins Pond as our base camp for day paddles. We will be back there this year starting July 6th – just in time to enjoy the last week of black-flies.

In this area, in the past we’ve paddled:
1) Fish Creek Loop
2) Follensby Clear Pond
3) Middle Saranac Lake (Route 3 bridge over inlet stream to Ampersand Beach)
4) Lower Saranac Lake (DEC campground booth to Bluff Island)
5) Lower Saranac Lake (Ampersand Bay to Sisters Islands)
6) Polliwog Pond

I am looking for new suggestions for this area. I have some candidates and I’d be interested in comments from others:
1) Raquette River (Route 3/30 boat launch, paddle upriver then turn around)
2) Raquette River (Axton, paddle upriver then turn around)
3) Hoel Pond
4) Long Pond in SRCA (requires a short carry)
5) Moose Pond (north of Saranac Lake)

What my family (boys ages 7, 7 and 9) enjoys most is paddling on quiet waters (occasional boat, although unpleasant, is tolerable). Our favorite part is stopping at places to swim (from rocks or sandy bottomed shore) – usually at wilderness campsites we find along the way. We may consider an overnight, but probably not this year.

I can’t paddle too far – because the boys, while ambitious, are only starting to have a productive paddle. And my wife – Cleopatra – doesn’t touch a paddle.

I’m also a bit concerned about the carry to Long Pond – is it a long distance? Is the carry trail in good shape? Are there any other paddles to consider? I don’t want to drive too far from the area (I’ve been intrigued by Carry Falls Reservoir – but I’ll do that next time I camp at Cranberry Lake.

[redhawk]

The weather forecast for Syracuse tonight is for the coldest night of this winter – 5 to 10 below. But tomorrow the weather will start to break and a warming trend will begin. Time to dust of my maps!

Every summer my family and I spend two weeks at Rollins Pond. We use Rollins Pond as our base camp for day paddles. We will be back there this year starting July 6th – just in time to enjoy the last week of black-flies.

In this area, in the past we’ve paddled:
1) Fish Creek Loop
2) Follensby Clear Pond
3) Middle Saranac Lake (Route 3 bridge over inlet stream to Ampersand Beach)
4) Lower Saranac Lake (DEC campground booth to Bluff Island)
5) Lower Saranac Lake (Ampersand Bay to Sisters Islands)
6) Polliwog Pond

I am looking for new suggestions for this area. I have some candidates and I’d be interested in comments from others:
1) Raquette River (Route 3/30 boat launch, paddle upriver then turn around)
2) Raquette River (Axton, paddle upriver then turn around)
3) Hoel Pond
4) Long Pond in SRCA (requires a short carry)
5) Moose Pond (north of Saranac Lake)

What my family (boys ages 7, 7 and 9) enjoys most is paddling on quiet waters (occasional boat, although unpleasant, is tolerable). Our favorite part is stopping at places to swim (from rocks or sandy bottomed shore) – usually at wilderness campsites we find along the way. We may consider an overnight, but probably not this year.

I can’t paddle too far – because the boys, while ambitious, are only starting to have a productive paddle. And my wife – Cleopatra – doesn’t touch a paddle.

I’m also a bit concerned about the carry to Long Pond – is it a long distance? Is the carry trail in good shape? Are there any other paddles to consider? I don’t want to drive too far from the area (I’ve been intrigued by Carry Falls Reservoir – but I’ll do that next time I camp at Cranberry Lake.

Bunch of us here do the Axton's to Raquette Falls a lot. Some nice lean-to's and great places to swim. we also ride the flume at the Lower falls.

I usually go to the Raquette at least twice a year, so it's high on my list. You can also paddle up to the Stony creek Ponds from the Raquette and there are some nice sites at the far end of the uppermost pond.

And it's nice to explore all three of the falls as well as some of the smaller lakes in the area.

[St.Regis]

I am looking for new suggestions for this area. I have some candidates and I’d be interested in comments from others:
1) Raquette River (Route 3/30 boat launch, paddle upriver then turn around)
2) Raquette River (Axton, paddle upriver then turn around)
3) Hoel Pond
4) Long Pond in SRCA (requires a short carry)
5) Moose Pond (north of Saranac Lake)

Never paddled the Raquette, but it looks great. Hoel, Moose, and Long I have done, and are all very nice. Hoel and Moose might allow motors though (Moose might have a h.p. restriction on the motor size). Hoel has some private camps/homes on its south end, but I've never seen too many people on the water. Moose is a gorgeous pond...beautiful views of mountains to the south. Long Pond is also nice - no motors - but an east/west orientation can make paddling tough on windy days.

[Wldrns]

I’m also a bit concerned about the carry to Long Pond – is it a long distance? Is the carry trail in good shape? Are there any other paddles to consider? I don’t want to drive too far from the area (I’ve been intrigued by Carry Falls Reservoir – but I’ll do that next time I camp at Cranberry Lake.

Long Pond is gorgeous, but is becoming as crowded as your other selections. Choose a weekday trip if you can. It's still worth the trip at any rate. There are a number of outstanding campsites on Long Pond and the fishing is good. If you can, take the hike past Mountain Pond up Long Pond Mountain. The well marked trail begins off the northwestern arm. From the summit here is a good, though annually diminishing view (due to increasing tree height) of lakes to the south, well worth the trip up.

There are 2 ways to get there. The first is from Hoel. You first have to hop over the railroad tracks on the west side of Hoel to get to Turtle Pond. In high water you may be able to walk your canoe through the culvert instead. The passage through to Slang Pond is shallow and you may or may not have to walk your canoe over the gravel bottom, but you shouldn't have to carry. The carry into Long Pond is short and easy over flat ground. The other way to access Long Pond is from the parking lot on the SW side off Floodwood Road. It's a bit longer of a carry on a wide trail, but for some reason always seems longer than it really is. There's actually a third way to carry to LP from the St Regis Outfitter shop, but you probably don't want to do that one.

I highly recommend getting a copy of Paul Jamieson's Adirondack Canoe Waters, North Flow. This book is considered by many the "bible" canoe route guidebook of the region.

[Keithk]

funfun

Moose pond is really beautiful, I couldn't agree more with the above posters. I've seen some wonderfull wildlife there, and it's very easy to access.

I really love Long Pond, well anything and everything in the SRCA for that manner. Hoel Pond doesn't strike me as being in any way special, and the development makes it a less desirable choice imho. The 2 ponds that you can access from it (turtle? slang? something like that, I'm too lazy to go dig out my map) are nice.

If you'll have 2 vehicles with you, you can do a very nice afternoon trip down the Saranac River to the rapids at Franklin Falls.

[Crash]

Thanks for the replies!