Silver Lake Wilderness

The Silver Lake Wilderness Area, an Adirondack Park unit of the Forest Preserve, is located in the towns of Lake Pleasant, Benson, Wells and Arietta in Hamilton County and is roughly bounded on the north by NY 8 and private lands near Piseco Lake, Oxbow Lake, Hamilton Lake, Sand Lake and Lake Pleasant; on the east by NY 30; on the south generally by the Hamilton County line; and on the west by NY 10, the West Branch of the Sacandaga River and the Piseco Outlet.

The area contains 48 bodies of water covering 569 acres (2.3 km2), 26.5 miles (42.6 km) of foot trails, and 2 lean-tos.

Chub And Trout Lake

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Chub And Trout Lake

Chub Pond and Trout Lake in principle should be relatively easy to access, they as they are just a little ways from the put in used to access Good Luck Lake. Unfortunately, the West Branch of the Sacanadaga River has numerous strainers and down trees, and streams that flow out out of both Chub Pond and Trout Lake are narrow, shallow, and often impassable in times of low water. They also are very marshy along the shoreline, which can make it challenging to portage around the shallow water.

Second Pond Trail

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Second Pond Trail

The Second Pond Trail is a 2.5 mile hike back from Chatiemac Lake Road in Bakers Mills. While the trail can be muddy, especially in the spring, this remote lake is good for solitude and brookies.

Sacandaga Primitive Area – Whitehouse Campsites

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Sacandaga Primitive Area - Whitehouse Campsites

The DEC recently GPS'd the various designated campsites at Whitehouse area of the Sacanadaga Primitive Area along West River Road in Wells. This provides a pretty accurate map of the various campsite locations. West River Road isn't open to motor vehicles yet, but will open later in May once the frost is out of the ground and the dirt road isn't too soft.