Chestertown’s Panther Mountain, once a well-kept secret with untouched trails, opens to the public
By Tim Rowland
Despite what the DEC may tell you, the Adirondacks are crawling with panthers. There are Panther mountains in the High Peaks, in Lake George, to the northern, southern and central Adirondacks. And now there’s a new kitty in town with the addition of Panther Mountain to the Chester Challenge, a collection of sneaky good trails in the east-central part of the park.
Cast your eyes toward the heavens from the south side of Chestertown and they will likely fall on a rock slab that any hikers worth their salt will immediately identify as destination-worthy.
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Long-term local secret now open to the public
This Panther has always been well-known and well-hiked by locals. It’s private land, and although its owners were liberal in the granting of hiking permission, it wasn’t officially open to the public until last year.
In 2023, Adirondack trail builder Dan Smith provided a sneak peek of the trail to a gaggle of hiking groupies, which at the time we thought was on the brink of being added to the challenge. I even wrote an Explore More essay on the adventure, but had to shelve it when some standards-and-practices issues delayed public opening of the trail.
Those issues have been resolved, and in mid-February my brother and I hiked Panther to get a sense of the finished product.
Related reading: A thwarted day trip turns into a smokehouse visit and a ‘Chester Challenge’ hike
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Prior to the most recent hike, I was able to catch up with Smith, thanks to a video call arranged by Dan Forbush, whose Stories From Open Space project uses artificial intelligence tools to tell stories of old with great clarity, detail and input of those familiar with local lore.
Smith said Panther is particularly meaningful to him as — looking over Chesterfield as it does — a tribute to the late Fred Monroe, a former supervisor and local-government activist who set the wheels of the Chester Challenge in motion.
A trail designed for quiet hiking
Among its other attributes, Panther is certainly in the running for the trailhead closest to a Northway exit. Taking Exit 25 heading into Chestertown, the trailhead is accessed by turning left just past the Central School on Theriot Road, less than a mile from the Interstate. You’ll stop where the road is walled off with boulders, and the trail is just past the barricade on the left.
An ATV/snowmobile trail leads to the top, but Smith said he wanted to create a hiking path that was less road-like, so while the trail follows the road in spots, it more frequently winds artfully up through a pleasant forest at a grade that is never more than moderately steep.
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At one point, near the top, Smith mirthfully added signage advising hikers they are entering “A Little Bit of Adirondack Wild,” because this section has more in common with rocky parcels of hemlock on more remote trails than it does motorized transport.
From the trailhead, after crossing a wetlands through a stand of white and Scotch pines and young beech, the route begins to ascend on the ATV trail, which it leaves and rejoins at various points on the journey to the summit. In a credit to Smith’s trail building skills, the trail gains a credible 600 feet in elevation over 1.25 miles, but the hike never feels difficult.
A summit steeped in history
An interesting history of Panther Mountain has been penned by Adirondack historian John Sasso, whose Facebook post tells how the mountain got its name, as well as related stories. There are 11 Panther Mountains in the Adirondacks, by Sasso’s count, and this one was so named when, according to an 1878 newspaper article, a hotel owner shot a panther in her den, then returned to town triumphantly carrying a panther kitten under each arm. Why the hotel owner felt he was in a better position to raise a couple of panther cubs than their own mother remains a mystery.
History does indicate that Chestertown of today is in ways similar to what it was 150 years ago. At that time the great influx of greenhorn visitors known as Murray’s Fools was tumbling off the train at North Creek and stampeding off to seed future population centers in Long Lake, Schroon Lake and North Elba — leaving some of these beautiful little east-central communities in Warren County largely unmolested.
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It is much the same today, as spots like Schroon and Gore Mountain attract all the attention, while the trails around the sweet little community of Chestertown (don’t tell anyone, but it has restaurants and nice ones at that) remain lightly trafficked.
Plan for Panther
Back on Panther, after about a half mile the trail takes a bit of a different cast, with more hemlock and birch, showing a buttery yellow in the February sun. After piercing a little stand of beech whips — still holding onto their leaves like the South holds onto Elvis — the trail rejoins the woods road for the final jaunt to the top.
It was where, Smith said, he was able to drive his aging mother for one last look at the view.
The summit looks down over Chestertown and the distinctive yellow former schoolhouse now Main Street Ice Cream Parlor. Dominating the distance is Gore Mountain, its ski trails looking like a blue and white zebra. Further to the south is stocky Crane Mountain, and to the north is the shark fin of Moxham.
The panthers are gone, but the views that locals have remarked upon for a century and a half endure, and can now be enjoyed by the rest of the public at large — cubs not included.
Top image: From the summit of Panther Mountain: the North Route 8 corridor, hamlet of Chestertown and Gore Ski area. Photo by Tim Rowland
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