Check out these recent outings from our team of Explorers
By Isabella Susino
Happy first day of spring! The season’s weather is upon us, with warmer temperatures during the day and below-freezing at night. These five hikes offer secluded trails at a range of ability levels. Don’t forget to pack the 10 essentials with you, and proper winter footwear like microspikes and snowshoes for higher elevation trails.
Looking for a challenge?
With a few places named Panther Mountain in the Adirondacks, it can be difficult to choose just one to climb. If you choose the closest Panther to Chestertown, a southern Adirondack town, you can make your start on the Chester Challenge. Panther Mountain offers a great summit view over the town (pictured above) after a relatively relaxed climb.
The Adirondack Explorer thanks its advertising partners. Become one of them.
A snowscape haven filled with wildlife
The 10,000-acre Debar Mountain Game Refuge was established circa 1930 as an attempt to restock elk to the Adirondacks. After the program was suspended, the elk succumbed to illegal hunting and were gone by the 1960s. Now what’s left are overgrown and untended trails. This quiet place is great for wildlife watching and walking in a place that offers solitude.
Secluded snowshoeing
Located between Blue Mountain Lake and Indian Lake, this trail doesn’t get nearly the same amount of visitors as a similar trail near Lake Placid or Keene might. Sawyer Mountain is part of the 47,177-acre Blue Ridge Wilderness, and is one of only a few trails that offer significant elevation gain.
How many brothers?
This First Brother, of three, is a challenging winter hike. Although similarly named to the Brothers on the trail to Big Slide Mt., these Brothers are located near Brant Lake in the southeast part of the Adirondack Park. You can make your way up the mountain by bushwhacking, following creatively made trail markers and using rope to ascend the steep pitches.
Rewilding trails
The 257-acre Little River Preserve is a new addition to the Northeast Wilderness Trust (NEWT) properties. Their focus is on restoring land to its natural state, and that includes fostering old-growth and improving biodiversity without human intervention. The Little River Preserve is near Star Lake and sits on the northern side of the Five Ponds Wilderness.
The Adirondack Explorer thanks its advertising partners. Become one of them.
Top photo: From the summit of Panther Mountain: the North Route 8 corridor, hamlet of Chestertown and Gore Ski area. Photo by Tim Rowland.
Leave a Reply