A Paddler's Wilderness Dream in the Adirondacks - William Whitney Wilderness Area
Written: Aug 16 '07
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Extensive paddling opportunities, Wilderness, Wildlife, Fishing, Extended trips possible
Cons: Hiking trails could use some work
The Bottom Line: If you’re looking for a wilderness paddling experience, check out the William C. Whitney Wilderness Area, you won’t be disappointed
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| jps246's Full Review: William C. Whitney Willderness Area, NY |
The William C. Whitney Wilderness Area is one of the newest wilderness areas in the Adirondacks, having been opened to the public in 1998 following the purchase of the land the year before by the State of New York. The area contains three major lakes along with numerous smaller ponds and streams. Not only that there are miles of trails and through connections with other adjacent State lands, longer and more extensive trips throughout the region are possible.
Where is it?
The Whitney Wilderness Area is located in the central region of the Adirondack Mountains in New York State. Access is provided by County Route 10A (Sabbattis Road) off of Route 30. The area is about 20 minutes from the Village of Long Lake and about an hour and a half from the Town of Warrensburg and Interstate 87.
The main access for the area is located at what is called the Whitney Headquarters. This was a former camp of the Whitney Estate that the State now uses as a headquarters to monitor and maintain the wilderness area. This area includes the only official boat launch (which includes a handicapped accessible launch area) for the lake and also includes a small visitors’ center where you can get brochures and learn about the area. You are also likely to come across a Forest Ranger who can provide you with more detailed information.
Other access to the area include trailheads off of Route 10A and the Lake Lila Road, which provides access to a parking area near Lake Lila (you’ll have to carry your boat about three tenths of a mile to the lake).
What’s there?
The Whitney Wilderness area encompasses just over 20,000 acres of land that includes two major lakes, several smaller ponds, streams and rivers, along with a gently rolling terrain that includes several hills and a few smaller mountains. Little Tupper Lake, the largest lake in the area, followed by Lake Lila and then by Rock Pond.
The lakes, ponds and streams provide the best route of exploration of this wilderness area. They are the highways of the region – providing access deep into the Whitney Wilderness and offering up opportunities for some very extensive trips both within the Whitney Area and into adjoining State lands.
For the adventuresome paddlers the most arduous trip in the Whitney Wilderness would be a trip up Little Tupper Lake into Rock Pond followed by a series of carries between smaller ponds and streams before finally coming out in Lake Lila. The boat carries are cleared but not marked and in general, this kind of trip is only for experienced paddlers who are good at navigating.
There are also a number of hiking trails that circle around both Little Tupper Lake and Lake Lila and access a number of smaller ponds and mountains in the area. The trails generally follow old logging roads and therefore the grades are fairly gentle and the trails are easy to walk. The only real problems that I came across on these trails were a general lack of maintenance and a lack of marking and trail signs. I think that they were clear and well marked when the area first opened in 1998, but little follow-up work has been done, allowing the roadways to become overgrown, markers to disappear and trail signs to fall down. On our few short walks on the trails it was hard at times to tell if we were really on the right trail and there were a number of intersections with other old logging roads that were unmarked, so it was hard to tell which direction the trail was going. If you are planning on hiking the trails, have a good map and either a GPS unit or a compass so that you make sure you are heading in the right direction.
Camping
There are no campgrounds in the Whitney Wilderness. You have to carry your own gear and either camp in a site you find or in a maintained site, depending on where you are located.
There are also maintained campsites along the shores of the lakes and ponds and a few on the waterways in between. These sites are first-come, first-serve and are open to parties of fewer than eight people. Most are some distance from the shorelines and some are definitely better than others. While it’s not likely they will all fill up – you’ll have the hardest time finding a site on weekends and the easiest time during the week.
Camping regulations vary a bit throughout the wilderness area. In the area surrounding Little Tupper Lake you can only camp at the official campsites, which are all numbered and marked with “camp here” signs. In the area surrounding Lake Lila, you can camp at any designated site plus you can camp anywhere else so long as you are more than 150 feet away from any water, trail, parking lot or roadway.
Paddling
Paddling, whether it is by canoe or kayak is the main reason that most people come to visit the Whitney Wilderness Area. Being home to one of the largest unspoiled lakes in the Adirondacks that also serves as an access deeper into the wilderness, The Whitney Wilderness is a paddler’s paradise.
You can paddle all along the shores of Little Tupper Lake, travel up the Rock Pond Outlet to Rock Pond, explore the outlet to Charlie Pond and if you are really adventuresome, you can carry your boat between a number of smaller ponds and streams that will allow you to eventually reach the shores of Lake Lila where you can continue your explorations. Not only that, now that area surrounding Round Lake has been purchased by the State, you can paddle into that lake and make connections to the adjoining wilderness area to the north through a series of carries.
Besides beaver dams and a few rocky areas in the streams and outlets, it’s unlikely you’ll come across anything very difficult to paddle in. The worst thing that happens is that on Little Tupper Lake, even a small wind can get the waves up and that makes it hard to paddle across the lake. We ran into this problem several times and we ended up having to strike out along the shore instead of being able to cross the lake because the waves got so big.
Fishing
I’m not a fisherman, but I’m told that this area has some great fishing. Not only that, Little Tupper Lake is one of the few lakes where non-native species haven’t been introduced. It’s home to one of the original stocks of fish that populated the Adirondacks’ rivers and lakes following the retreat of the glaciers. Because of that, special regulations apply when fishing there.
Hiking
While the majority of our trip to the Whitney Wilderness Area was a canoe and kayak trip, we did take some time to try to explore some of the trails in the surrounding areas. Our experience was that while the trails are easy to walk (gentle grades, good footpath), the lack of maintenance and signage along the trails make it somewhat difficult to follow them. If the trails were cleared out a bit – the hikes would be that much more enjoyable. We also came across places where beavers had built their dams across the trail which made it hard to get around and stay dry.
Another thing to consider is that the forests in the area were logged fairly recently (probably just before the land was sold to the State) and thus when hiking through the area, you are hiking through a fairly homogenous forest that’s frankly, kind of boring until you come across bogs, streams and ponds.
Wildlife
We actually didn’t see as much wildlife as I expected we would, however we saw and heard more loons than I expected. From dusk until the morning, you could hear the calls of the loons all along Little Tupper Lake and it was nice to be sitting in your campsite and listening. We also saw plenty of different birds, some chipmunks and some very loud red squirrels. There were a few beavers making their way through their ponds and in the lake. What we didn’t see were any moose or bears – which I didn’t really expect, but there’s a chance you’ll run into them.
Swimming
I'd suggest going later in July or in August since by then the water of the lakes and ponds has warmed up enough that almost any time is a good time to jump in and go for a swim.
We literally spent half the time on the trip in the water - whenever we'd get too hot we'd find a nice spot, get out of the boats and go swimming.
Experiences
We went on a several day trip to explore the Whitney Wilderness Area and made our way around Little Tupper Lake and then up into Rock Lake. We also spent some time exploring Lake Lila and the other paddling opportunities there. I think its safe to say that all three of us who were there had a great time and we were all surprised at how much variety there was in the area.
My favorite experiences were paddling up the Charlie Pond Outlet and the Rock Pond Outlet. In both you traveled up a fairly narrow waterway without much current and you were surrounded by extensive wetland and bog systems on either side of the streams which eventually worked their way into forests. This is where we saw the most wildlife and I think had the best views
It was also great that the vast majority of the paddling opportunities are easily accessible. Once you are in Little Tupper Lake, you can paddle almost anywhere and even the trip to Rock Pond only requires a short carry around a washed out bridge and a short rocky area. There are a few beaver dams here and there, but you only had to hop out of the boat, pull it over the dam and you’d be on your way again.
I was slightly disappointed with the camping opportunities on Little Tupper Lake. The best sites filled up quickly and the remaining sites seemed mediocre. The State seemed more concerned in making sure they were some distance from the shore instead of finding areas where it would be easy to set up a tent or two. In the site we used it was tough to find two areas that were level enough for our tents.
I didn’t like the big waves on Little Tupper Lake, but that’s something that’s outside of anyone’s control. You just have to be aware of it and start your cross-lake paddling early in the morning or late in the evening, before or after the worst of the winds.
The trip to Lake Lila was an adventure by itself. From the Sabbattis Road you travel almost 6 miles down a narrow gravel road through fairly unspoiled forest until you reach the parking area for Lake Lila. From here, you have to carry the boat down to the lake. The lake itself was larger than I expected and quite nice and thankfully didn’t quite have the waves that Little Tupper had.
The swimming everywhere was good - we found everything from beaches to craggy rocks you could jump off of into the water.
Final Thoughts
I can’t really recommend that William C. Whitney Wilderness Area in the Adirondacks for hiking trips, but if you are a paddler, it definitely should be on your list of must see places. You can paddle for the day in Lake Lila or Little Tupper Lake, or if you are more adventuresome you can spend days on the lakes exploring their various nooks and crannies. Not only that – for the truly adventurous, there are ample opportunities within the Whitney Wilderness Area for longer trips by carrying your boat between waterbodies. In addition – you can use the public land connections with the other neighboring areas to take even more extensive trips.
If you’re looking for a wilderness paddling experience, check out the William C. Whitney Wilderness Area, you won’t be disappointed.
Recommended:
Yes
Best Time to Travel Here: Jun - Aug
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