Perkins Clearing And Speculator Tree Farm Conservation Easement Tracts

General information on hiking includes how-to and safety tips and links to rules & regulations.

Hikers can use any of the roadways open to public. The roads within these easement lands provide access to trailheads and parking areas for hiking trails on adjacent forest preserve lands.

Perkins Clearing Tract

• The Pillsbury Mountain Trailhead provides parking and access to the Pillsbury Mountain Trail in the Jessup River Wild Forest.
• The Little Moose Pond Trailhead provides access to Little Moose Pond in the West Canada Lake Wilderness via a 2-mile trail that climbs 460 feet, dropping just 60 feet at the end of trail to the pond. There is a small pull-off area for parking.
• The Otter Lake Trailhead provides parking and access to Otter Lake in the West Canada Lake Wilderness via a 1.75-mile trail that climbs 290 feet to the shore of the lake.
• The Spruce Lake Trailhead provides parking and access to the Northville-Placid Trail (NPT) in the West Canada Lake Wilderness via a 1-mile spur trail which climbs 170 feet before connecting with the NPT. The NPT reaches Spruce Lake 2 miles beyond the junction climbing another 370 feet in the first mile and then dropping 190 feet to the lake shore in the last mile.

Speculator Tree Farm Tract

• The Cisco Creek Trailhead provides parking and access from the south to the Rock Pond/Long Pond Trail and the Kunjamuk Trail in the Siamese Ponds Wilderness.
• The Kunjamuk Cave Trail can be accessed via the Speculator Loop Mountain Bike trail. The Kunjamuk Cave Trail is open to hikers, cyclists and motor vehicles in the summer and fall. An informal parking area is located just east of the trail to the shallow but historic Kunjamuk Cave.

General information on backcountry camping includes how-to and safety tips and links to rules & regulations.

Camping is allowed only in 14 designated camp sites. Small trailered campers can be used in the designated roadside sites.

There are also a number of designated campsites on nearby Forest Preserve lands.

Perkins Clearing Tract

• Two designated campsites are located along the Perkins Clearing Road.
• There are two designated campsites south of Old Military Road that are accessed by short access road.
• There are ten designated campsites on the shores of Mason Lake at the northern end of the Perkins Clearing Road in the adjacent Jessup River Wild Forest.
• A tent site is located is located on the Otter Lake Trail in the West Canada Lakes Wilderness.
• There are two designated drive-up campsites along Jessup River Road.

Speculator Tree Farm Tract

Five campsites are located along Old Route 8. Two are located between Kunjamuk Cave Trail and Fly Creek Road, two are located between Fly Creek Road and Robb's Creek Road, and one is on Jessup River Wild Forest lands along the Sacandaga River.

• Two designated campsites along Fly Creek Road are located between the intersection with Pine Creek Road and the intersection with Elm Lake Road.
• Two designated campsites are located along Robbs Creek Road.
• A designated campsite is located off Pine Creek Road just above the intersection with Fly Creek Road.

Campers who prefer more amenities can camp at DEC's nearby Indian Lake Islands Campground, Lewey Lake Campground, and Moffitt Beach Campground.

General information on paddling includes safety tips with links to rules & regulations and lists of DEC boat launches by county.

The village of Speculator hand launch site on the Sacandaga River is located at the Speculator Ball Field Parking Area. Paddlers can access paddle routes on both the Sacandaga River and Kunjamuk River.

It is approximately 1.5 miles down the Sacandaga River to the mouth of the Kunjamuk River. Almost 4 miles up the Kunjamuk is Elm Lake. A paddle to the north side of Elm Lake and back to the launch site makes this a 12-mile round trip. Paddlers will need to portage over or around beaver dams and other obstacles.

Paddlers can also stay on the Sacandaga River and paddle the length of Duck Bay to a picnic spot and hand launch site. This provides an almost 5-mile round trip flatwater experience. Beyond the hydropower dam which creates Duck Bay, the river flows through a series of rapids, cascades and waterfalls.

The Kunjamuk Hand Launch on the Pine Lakes Road provides paddlers direct access to the Kunjamuk River.

General information on fishing includes fishing tips with links to seasons, rules & regulations. You can ensure of continued good fishing opportunities in the future by fishing responsibly. If you have never been fishing but want to try, it's easy to learn how to fish.

The Perkins Clearing Tract provides a number of opportunities for cold water angling, while warm water angling opportunities exist in waters on the Speculator Tree Farm Tract.

On the Perkins Clearing Tract, the Jessup River is stocked with brook trout and brown trout. The Miami River has a naturally sustained population of brook trout.

Little Moose Pond, Otter Lake, and Spruce Lake contain brook trout. They are located in the West Canada Lakes Wilderness but are accessed from the Perkins Clearing Tract.

On the Speculator Tree Farm Tract, Kunjamuk Creek, Elm Lake and the section of the Sacandaga River between Lake Pleasant and Christine Falls contain smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, and chain pickerel.

The Sacandaga River below the dam is stocked with brown trout.

Anglers can access waters using any of the hand launches used by paddlers.

Adirondack/Lake Champlain Fishing provides information on fishing in the Adirondacks and links to top fishing waters, stocking lists, public fishing access and waters open to ice fishing listed by county.

Help Protect Native Adirondack Fish: populations of brook trout, round whitefish and other native Adirondack fish species have severely declined due to introduced fish.

General information on hunting includes how-to and safety tips with links to seasons, rules & regulations.

Big game hunting is popular on the easement lands, but habitat for grouse and woodcock is also present. Hunting is allowed on the conservation easement lands that are open to the public, except for the one acre envelope around the numerous leased camps. The public is prohibited from entering the camps and the one acre of land around the camp.

Hunters may use the parking areas, roads, seasonal access roads, and trails used by hikers and other recreationists to access the lands and waters in this area.

General information on trapping includes how-to and safety tips with links to seasons, rules & regulations.

Big game hunting is popular on the easement lands, but habitat for grouse and woodcock is also present. Trapping is allowed on the conservation easement lands that are open to the public, except for the one acre envelope around the numerous leased camps. The public is prohibited from entering the camps and the one acre of land around the camp.

Hunters may use the parking areas, roads, seasonal access roads, and trails used by hikers and other recreationists to access the lands and waters in this area.

General information on biking includes how-to and safety tips with links to rules & regulations.

Bicycles are permitted on all roads and trails open to the public within the conservation easement lands. Bicycles are not allowed in the nearby wilderness forest preserve lands.

The Town of Lake Pleasant has designated an all-terrain bicycle (ATB) trail system on a portion of the Speculator Tree Farm Tract. The trail system can be accessed from the parking area at the Speculator Ball Field Parking Area.

The trail system consists of two bike loops which are wide, hard-packed logging roads that vary in terrain. The outer loop is 13.7 miles long, and the inner Kunjamuk Cave loop is 7.2 miles long.

On the Perkins Clearing Tract, the Town of Lake Pleasant has designated and signed the Perkins Clearing Road as an ATB route.

Parking lots used to access the trail system have kiosks with information about the trails, including detailed trail maps.

General information on horseback riding includes safety tips and links to rules & regulations.

Horses are permitted on all roads and trails on the easement lands. Horses are prohibited on designated foot trails and on snowmobile or cross-country ski trails with snow cover.

Horse trailers can be parked and unloaded at the Brister Brook, Sled Harbor and Perkins Clearing parking areas.

Be sure to review the general information on horseback riding prior to arriving at the tracts.

General information on cross-country skiing includes how-to and safety tips and links to rules & regulations.

Cross-country skiing is permitted on all hiking trails.

Approximately 3.5 miles of groomed cross-country ski trails are designated on the Speculator Tree Farm Tract. The trail begins in the Village of Speculator at the Ball Field parking area and follows the designated bike trails. There is a 7.2-mile short loop and a 13.7-mile loop; both include portions of the Elm Lake Road and are ungroomed.

All roadways open to the public are open to skiers, however, most of these roads are designated snowmobile trails. People skiing should be aware of snowmobiles and move to the side to let them pass.

The roadways are not plowed, so accessing nearby forest preserve lands through the conservation easement lands must be done by starting at exterior parking areas or by using a snowmobile to get to interior start points. Snowmobiles can only travel on designated snowmobile trails.

General information on snowshoeing includes how-to and safety tips and links to rules & regulations.

Snowshoeing is permitted on all hiking trails.

Approximately 3.5 miles of groomed cross-country ski trails are designated on the Speculator Tree Farm Tract. The trail begins in the Village of Speculator at the Ball Field parking area and follows the designated bike trails. There is a 7.2-mile short loop and a 13.7-mile loop; both include portions of the Elm Lake Road and are ungroomed.

All roadways open to the public are open to snowshoers, however, most of these roads are designated snowmobile trails. People snowshoeing should be aware of snowmobiles and move to the side to let them pass.

The roadways are not plowed, so accessing nearby forest preserve lands through the conservation easement lands must be done by starting at exterior parking areas or by using a snowmobile to get to interior start points. Snowmobiles can only travel on designated snowmobile trails.

General information on snowmobiling includes how-to and safety tips and links to rules & regulations.

Snowmobiling is a popular activity on and around the conservation easement lands. Designated and groomed snowmobile trails on these lands connect with snowmobile trails on forest preserve and private lands that are part of the trail system connecting the communities of Piseco Lake, Lake Pleasant, Speculator, Indian Lake and Wells.

Almost 35 miles of designated snowmobile trails are located on the Perkins Clearing/Speculator Tree Farm Conservation Easement Lands, including sections of two corridor snowmobile trails, C4 and C8, and all or part of four secondary snowmobile trails.

There are a number of locations to park vehicles with snowmobile trailers and access the trails on the conservation easement lands:

• Oak Mountain Ski Center Parking Area provides access to the village of Speculator Snowmobile Trail System which accesses the Speculator Tree Farm snowmobile trail system.
• Speculator Ball Field Parking Area provides access to Kunjamuk Snowmobile Trail and the Speculator Tree Farm snowmobile trail system.
• Perkin Clearings Road Snowmobile Trailer Parking Area is a small parking area that provides access to the Perkins Clearing Snowmobile Trail System.
• Mason Lake Pull-Off provides access to the Mason Lake Road which is a designated snowmobile trail.
• Brister Brook Snowmobile Trailer Parking Area provides access to the extensive snowmobile trail network on Speculator Tree Farm.

Be aware of that cross country skiers and snowshoers may use some of the trails. Slow down when passing them.

General information on animals includes links to information about birds, mammals, fish, reptiles, amphibians and insects that inhabit or migrate through the state.

The Adirondacks contain large tracts of wildlife habitat with some boreal, bog, alpine and other unique habitats. Many species of birds and mammals are unique to the Adirondacks or are mainly found here. More than 50 species of mammals and hundreds of species of birds inhabit or pass through the Adirondacks at one time of the year or another so it is not unlikely to catch site of wildlife during your trip. One of the largest concentrations of moose in New York can be found on these lands.

More information on Adirondack Flora and Fauna (leaves DEC Website) from the SUNY ESF Adirondack Ecological Center.

You can protect wildlife and wildlife habitat when viewing them.

Wildlife Found in the Adirondacks

• Mammals
  • Moose
  • Black Bear
  • Beaver
  • Eastern Coyote
  • River Otter
  • White-Tailed Deer
  • Little Brown Bat
• Birds
  • Bald Eagle
  • Common Loon
  • Peregrine Falcon
  • Osprey
  • Great Horned Owl
  • Great Blue Heron
  • Wild Turkey
  • Eastern Bluebird