The Blue Ridge
Wilderness Area
Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plural) are Earth's natural environments that have not been significantly modified by human activity, or any nonurbanized land not under extensive agricultural cultivation. The term has traditionally ...
, a unit of New York's
Forest Preserve
A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...
in the
Adirondack Park
The Adirondack Park is a park in northeastern New York (state), New York protecting the Adirondack Mountains. The park was established in 1892 for "the free use of all the people for their health and pleasure", and for watershed protection. At , ...
, is located in the towns of
Arietta,
Lake Pleasant and
Indian Lake in
Hamilton County. It is roughly bounded on the north by
NY 28; on the east by Route 28 and private lands immediately west of this route; on the south by private lands immediately north and west of
Cedar River Flow; and on the west by the Lake Kora and
Sagamore Lake properties and the South Inlet of
Raquette Lake
Raquette Lake is the Source (river or stream), source of the Raquette River in the Adirondack Mountains of New York (state), New York U.S. state, State. It is near the community of Raquette Lake, New York. The lake has of shoreline with pines ...
. It contains 19 bodies of water covering 275 acres (1.1 km
2) and features 15 miles (24 km) of foot trails and three
lean-to
A lean-to is a type of simple structure originally added to an existing building with the rafters "leaning" against another wall. Free-standing structures open on one or more sides (colloquially referred to as lean-tos in spite of being unattac ...
s.
Geography
It is dominated by Blue Ridge, a height of land ranging from 2,700 to 3,497 feet (823 to 1,066 m) in elevation and running in a general east-west direction for a distance of more than six miles. On the lower north slopes of the ridge there are a number of attractive little trout ponds with foot trails leading to them from Route 28. The forest cover is typical mixed hardwood-softwood types with the higher elevations predominantly covered with spruce and balsam. Most of the old growth spruce and hemlock suffered heavy damage in the 1950 blow down, which affects the character of the area even to this day.
Recreation
The Blue Ridge Wilderness is easily accessible along most of its perimeter. A portion of the
Northville-Placid Trail runs from the south boundary northward to the vicinity of Stephens Pond and
Lake Durant. Campers from the Lake Durant public campground make use of the trails in that vicinity while the chief use of the foot trails in the Wilson Pond section appears to be by fishermen, hunters and summer visitors to the community of
Blue Mountain Lake Blue Mountain Lake may refer to:
* Blue Mountain Lake (Arkansas), a reservoir in Arkansas
* Blue Mountain Lake (New York lake), a lake in Hamilton County in the central Adirondacks, New York
* Blue Mountain Lake (hamlet), New York, a hamlet in the T ...
.
[Adirondack Park Agency]
"Adirondack State Land Master Plan"
Updated 2001.
See also
*
List of Wilderness Areas in the Adirondack Park
The Adirondack Park is a park in northeastern New York protecting the Adirondack Mountains. The park was established in 1892 for "the free use of all the people for their health and pleasure", and for watershed protection. At , it is the largest ...
References
{{reflist2.https://www.ny.gov/agencies/adirondack-park-agency Retrieved 26 February 2024
Wilderness areas in Adirondack Park
Protected areas of Hamilton County, New York