Discover this 2.9-mile round trip trail near Keene Valley, New York of NY 9N, offering a moderately challenging hike. With its popularity, expect to encounter fellow hikers along the way. The trail is generally smooth with gentle slopes, but the upper section gets steeper, featuring rocks and some easier scrambling. Keep an eye out for blue trail markers, especially where side trails diverge. Near the summit, the blue trail transitions to yellow. This trail traverses through an easement on private property. It's crucial to stick to the designated path and heed any posted instructions to respect the landowner's rights.
There is a fire tower on the mountain overlooking Blue Mountain Lake. It has some interesting views, and can be checked out by driving just north of Blue Mountain Lake on NY 30. It is one of the most popular hikes in the Adirondacks, and many people also visit Moose River Plains or the Adirondack Museum after hiking the tower.
Here is Blue Mountain heading North on NY 28.
The registration box at the bottom of the mountain.
The trail is well maintained, despite it’s extensive use, with board walks across muddy locations.
The first part of the trail is relatively flat for a while, then gets steep for a bit.
A lot of the lower part of the mountain was rocky with lots little rocks to step over.
About halfway up the mountain you get partial views down the mountain.
Eventually the mountain opens up a little, and your walking on exposed granite, steep, but not too steep.
Once your almost to the top, you can look back and see Blue Mountain Lake through the trees.
You reach the top of the mountain, and there is a gradual ascent, as you cross to the eastern side of the mountain, where the summit and the tower is located. Finally, you see the tower through the trees.
The tower is a relatively short 50 or 60 foot, but it’s plenty high to get good views of the surrounding landscape.
Looking out to the Tower windows.
Blue Mountain Lake from the fire tower.
Moose River Plains to the south-west of the tower.
On the eastern side of the mountain, there is a radio tower and the old ranger’s cabin.
From the eastern side, their is a ledge, where you can see and look down towards like Lake Durant and Moose River Plains.
The radio tower up close, with the fence broken down around it. I didn’t hear radio signals in my ears, despite being so close to this big radio tower.
Flowers on the top of the mountain.
To the north-east there are views of the High Peaks Mountains. They probably woudln’t be as clear on a hazy day.
Tirnell Mountain is privately owned to the east, and you can see some active logging on it.
Seventh and Eight Lake as seen from Blue Mountain.
On Sunday I went for a hike a top of Twin Mountain. After getting up early on a Saturday morning, it was an interesting drive up Platte Clove Road in the morning. Everything was still wet in the woods from the previous night’s rain, it made some rather pretty god rays coming through the trees.
As you continue up the trail, there is a set of stone chairs in an old query.
Following the Blue Trail.
As you reach the the top of Pecoy’s notch there is a pretty Beaver Swamp between Twin and Sugar Loaf Mountains.
The sign to Twin Mountain says .7 miles remaining, but it’s a steep .7 miles to reach the top.
The views climbing the mountain show TriMount in the background and Sugar Loaf in the foreground.
Finally you reach 3,500 feet elevation, and shortly there after the top of the western most peak of Twin Mountain.
The trail is certainly steep at times. You have to climb up this wet rock face, with limited handholds for about 20 feet. Scratched up my radio doing this, and somewhat took my breath/sense of fear of heights when doing it.
The views of South Hunter Mountain, Platteau from the western peak of Twin are great. Also, don’t forget to continue on for another 1/2 mile down a dip and back up to the other peak of Twin Mountain.
A couple of weeks ago I hiked up Goodnow Mountain, on a beautiful clear afternoon, that by the time I reached the mountain it started to cloud up and the humidity started to increase. I had previously in the morning attempted to hike up Giant Mountain in the High Peaks, and wanted to do something easier for the afternoon.
Goodnow Mountain is located at the SUNY ESF (Environmental Science-Forestry) College, just south of the Adirondack High Peaks on NY 28, just to the west of Newcomb. It’s a bit of a drive from the Adirondack Northway from the east or even a little ways from Long Lake to the west, but well worth it for the views.
About a quarter mile up the trail you pass an interesting tree grown over a rock. This is not as uncommon as you might think in the Adirondacks where the soils are poor and the ground is rocky, and trees seek to put down more roots to pick up nuetrants.
At about 1/2 mile you reach the old woods road that at one time, decades ago, provide vehicular access to the tower for forest rangers. Part of the trail is flat, but then it keeps steeper and erosion is noticable on the old road bed, no longer passable by anything then ATV in an emergency.
Further up the mountain, the trail follows a series of boardwalks that keeps most of the trail out of the mud and the muck.
Then you reach an old abandoned barn, a well, and some interesting old debris like what appears to be a tank from a hot water heater storage unit.
You ascend a ledge, with some limited views to the south.
Then their is a thick planation of White Pines along the trail as you make one relatively short ascent to the firetower.
Eventually at the last possible moment, you break through the White Pines to see the Goodnow Firetower, and almost instantly want to start climbing it for the views, unless your suffering from heat exhaustion, then you might want to look for the relatively limited shaded but open sections on the mountain.
SUNY ESF has restored to the Ranger’s cabin, and the porch is a farely popular place to sit, enjoy the view, beat the heat for a few moments.
There are many interesting views from the firetower. Here are the High Peaks looking North, the Vanderwhacker Wild Forest to the east, Kempshall Mountain / Long Lake to the west, and Blue Mountain / Blue Ridge to the South.
I’m a big of farmers who are essentially Living Off the Earth and think Rednecks are Noble Savages. Dairy Farming are key to our rural landscape. I’d trust a farmer or a hunter in a pile of guts he’s butchered over any ivory-tower scientist.
Discover a wealth of information on this page about fire towers situated on state lands, accessible through invigorating hikes that lead to panoramic vistas. Interactive maps guide your exploration, offering insights into the locations and trails leading to these towering viewpoints. Additionally, find convenient links to other pages that delve deeper into fire towers across the entirety of New York State. Embark on a journey that combines outdoor adventure with breathtaking scenery, as you navigate the trails and pathways leading to these historic landmarks that have stood as guardians of the landscape. This resource opens doors to captivating experiences that allow you to savor the beauty of nature from elevated perspectives while providing avenues for further exploration of New York’s fire tower heritage.
Here is a list of Fire Towers on NYS DEC lands. You can get this also on Google Sheets. Does not include the Dickinson Hill Fire Tower in Grafton, which is part of the Grafton Lakes State Park. You might also be interested in nearby camping opportunities.
This past week, I decided to re-do the Moose River Plains Maps I had previously rendered in QGIS. I got some new data from the DEC, and wanted to simply the existing maps by taking off Wilderness Boundaries, and other details not of particular interest to hikers, campers, and kayakers. I also removed campsites that are in process of being removed or relocated under the finalized Unit Plan for the area. Be aware that the elevation on these maps is metric, as that’s what the NYSDOT Topographic Maps use in this region.
Click on any of the maps to display the high resolution version, that you can download and save, or print. Laser printers are great, especially for the Cedar River Flow Maps, as they’ll keep the ink from the running. All of these maps are free for you to use and distribute as they are based on public data. If you have ideas on how to improve these maps or seek similar maps of the area of other trails or locations, please feel free to contact me at andy@andyarthur.org.
There is no charge to camp here, however if you plan on staying more then 3 nights, you will have to a get a free permit from the forest ranger. Most campsites offer picnic tables, fireplaces or rings, and outhouses. Moose River Plains are all back country dirt roads, with a speed limit of 15 MPH, and there are some rough sections on the roads. As of September 2011, all of the roads shown on these maps are open.
Moose River Plains Camping Area.
Roads are red, hiking trails are black dotted lines on the map. All of the campsites in pink shaded area (“Moose River Plains Camping Area”) offer vehicle accessible camping including RVs and other tow-behind campers. The campsites outside of the “Camping Area” — specifically those on Otter Brook Road — will in the future be reserved for tent camping (most with vehicle accessability) except during Big Game Season when campers will be allowed at all sites. Most of the other trails with campsites on them offer wheelchair or mountain bike accessiability, as they tend to be gravel paths.
Moose River Plains Campsites.
Note: Campsites are numbered starting from the east, as you are coming from Cedar River Flow, heading towards Limekiln Lake. Many campsites have been closed or added over the year, and that’s why there are many gaps in the numbering system.
Cedar River Flow and Wakely Dam.
Cedar River Flow is a popular destination at Moose River Plains. In many ways it’s the gateway to Moose River Plains, as you reach Wakely Dam, which holds back the waters of Cedar River Flow as one of your first destinations heading West on Cedar River-Limekiln Lake Road from Indian Lake.
The Cedar River Flow is a popular lake for canoeing and kayaking. There are several designated and undesignated campsites along Cedar River Flow, with the designated ones shown on the map. There are also a handful of campsites, closely grouped together at Wakely Dam. The Cedar River is navigable for several miles upstream, and some people will paddle to the Lean-To on Sucker Brook Trail.
Wakely Pond and Wakely Dam Areas.
Along the Northville-Placid Trail near Wakely Pond there are several designated tent campsites. A map of Wakely Pond-Wakely Dam Areas, and the rapids downstream of the Cedar River Flow.
Wakely Mountain Firetower.
By far one of the most popular destinations in the area is the Wakely Mountain Fire Tower. It offers truly spectular views of Moose River Plains, Blue Ridge Wilderness, West Canada Wilderness, Fulton Chain of Lakes, and even the High Peaks.
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