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Whitney Park, biggest private property in Adirondacks, readies to sell

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Whitney Park, biggest private property in Adirondacks, readies to sell

Whitney Park, the vast private territory of Adirondack forestland and waters bodies in Long Lake destined to be sold to benefit the town, will be listed with a real estate agent soon with the goal of selling at the maximum value, the man handling the matter said.

In an interview, Edward Hendrickson, the co-executor of his brother John’s will, said the 36,600-acre property could potentially be acquired by the public.

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“I’m sure if the state is interested, they’ll reach out, these land trusts will reach out,” said the older brother of the late owner of the property. “I’m open to talk to them. If they’re not interested in the price tag it’ll be a quick conversation. We’ll list the property and then we’ll engage.”

Whitney Park, promoted as woodlands with 32 lakes and ponds, more than 100 miles of roads and trails and unmatched visual splendor, is bigger than what was advertised for sale in 2022 for $180 million. It’s long been on environmental groups and the state’s conservation wish lists.

Adirondack Park – Distance To Buildings

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The Adirondack Park may have remote wildernesses, but you still never that far from human residences and businesses. Only a few remote corners of state wilderness areas in the Adirondacks are more then 1 mile from a building, even fewer areas are more then 2 or 3 miles from a building.

Data Source: Microsoft Building Footprints.

Thematic Adirondack Park - Distance To Buildings

Is the Adirondack Park Really All That Unique?

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I often hear that the Adirondack Park is unique, unlike any other park in the United States. Maybe it is different in the sense it’s called a park, but in many ways it’s not that unique or special compared to other mountainous areas in the Eastern United States.

How much different is the Adirondack Park from the Pennsylvania Wild Region or the Green Mountains or West Virginia’s Monongahela National Forest? Well not that different. Some of the hills have ascents greater over their valleys than the mountains in the Adirondacks.

Each one of these areas has a great deal of public land open to the public for free use for hunting, fishing and camping. Each is a mix of public and private lands. They have mountains and streams, high points and low ones. None of them charge an admission fee for accessing the bulk of the land.

One thing that is unique about the Adirondack Park is that all of the public land is managed as wilderness. They may not call all of it wilderness but within the park the state can’t cut any of the trees above 3 inches with narrow exceptions a tree that poses a public safety hazard by hanging over a road. But other than that, the Adirondack Park is quite similar to other mountainess region on the east coast.