Jessup River Wild Forest

The Jessup River Wild Forest (JRWF) area consists of 47,350 acres of State Forest Preserve lands in the towns of Arietta, Indian Lake, Lake Pleasant, and Wells in Hamilton County. The unit is bounded by Route 28 to the north and Route 30 in the southeast, as well as three wilderness areas: West Canada Lakes Wilderness to the west; Siamese Ponds Wilderness to the east, and Silver Lake Wilderness to the south. The state lands in this unit border, or are in close proximity to, the communities of Indian Lake, Piseco, Speculator and Wells. Route 30 bisects the unit and serves as the main access corridor. Many people enjoy hiking to the fire towers on Pillsbury and Snowy mountains, snowmobiling between Piseco Lake and Indian Lake, canoeing on Fall Stream, or camping on Mason Lake. Hunting, fishing, and trapping are also popular activities throughout the unit but particularly in and around Perkins Clearing, the Jessup River and the Miami River.

http://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/22599.html

Vernal Pool

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Walking along the old Dunning Pond Snowmobile trail I stumbled upon this vernal pool full of tad poles.

Taken on Sunday May 3, 2020 at Jessup River Wild Forest.

Old Route 8B

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Old Route 8B is a 1915-era routing of NY 8 and 30 between Wells and Speculator that is now a dead-end after the lower bridge was closed some time ago. It runs between Auger Falls and Speculator, passing closely by Austin Falls. Old Route 8B is most famous for Robert Garrow killing a camper at the Robb Creek Mill and then fleeing up Fly Creek Road. There are several campsites along the road, and Austin Falls is a scenic location where the Sacandaga River runs through a narrow floom. The road, while paved with concrete and letter covered with two layers of asphalt only receives the most minimum of maintenance, and is quite rough and disjointed in locations. Old Route 8A refers to the 1915 routing of NY 8 and 30, which at one time ran closer to Auger Falls and wound into the valley, taking a closer path to the Sacanadaga River.

Viewable from the Pillsbury Mountain Firetower

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Viewable from the Pillsbury Mountain Firetower

Revised map based on some analysis of I've been doing of photos I've taken over the years from the fire tower. Getting the view shed correct is a bit challenging using bare-earth digital elevation models, which do not fully consider the impact of trees blocking part of the viewable landscape.