Ha De Ron Dah Wilderness

The Ha-De-Ron-Dah Wilderness contains 26,600 acres and is located in the western foothills of the Adirondack Mountains, west of the hamlet of Old Forge and the Fulton Chain of Lakes and east of Independence River Wild Forest. While not the grandeur of a “High Peaks” wilderness experience, Ha-De-Ron-Dah has plenty to offer for those seeking solitude within the Adirondack Forest Preserve.

The Ha-De-Ron-Dah terrain features hilly, rocky, scenic views, with a variety of streams, swamps, meadows, lakes and ponds. It has tranquil, rolling woodland areas and interesting rock-faced shorelines on ponds and lakes. Big Otter Lake, part of the Independence River Wild Forest lies adjacent to the northwest boundary of the area and it is the largest, most scenic of the many lakes in the vicinity. There are no outstanding topographic features in this Wilderness Area. Unit elevations have a total difference of 800 feet and they rise from 1,500 feet in the western portion to the higher hill elevations in the east which do not exceed 2,360 feet. The area appears as gently rounded, rocky hills, interspersed with swamps, beaver meadows, small streams, ponds and lakes.

There are many trails to explore, along with lean-tos along the trails to provide shelter in this remote, rolling country in the Western Adirondacks.

http://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/91261.html

Ha-de-ron-dah Wilderness – Adirondack Wilderness Advocates

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Ha-de-ron-dah Wilderness – Adirondack Wilderness Advocates

The Ha-de-ron-dah Wilderness is a southwestern Adirondack landmark, an old familiar friend to which people return again and again. With an engaging trail system and destinations spaced just far enough away from civilization to serve as backdrops for comfortable weekend hikes, this wilderness is comfort food for the adventurous soul.

As popular and pleasingly wild as it is today, it is easy to forget that today’s Ha-de-ron-dah Wilderness was pieced together from yesterday’s discarded lands; it might not even exist as part of the Forest Preserve had it not been burned to a crisp in 1903, the victim of a stray spark from the nearby Adirondack Division Railroad in Thendara. Its timber value all but destroyed, the state snapped up this acreage in 1909. The forest has since grown back, but not without changes; graceful stands of tall black cherry trees would not exist today had the fire not cleared places for them to flourish as saplings.