Despite longtime public use, Oseetah Lake property owners close access to portage trail

Adirondack paddlers lose access to remote Pine Pond

By Brenne Sheehan 

At the southern tip of Oseetah Lake, outside of Saranac Lake, paddlers were accustomed to taking a 0.6-mile portage route as a way to head to the more remote Pine Pond.  Located within the High Peaks Wilderness Area, Pine Pond features 46.5 acres of clear waters and a sandy beach. A small stretch of the initial route crosses over a private parcel of land, before reaching the boundary of the state-owned Saranac Lakes Wild Forest. 

For decades, the trek has been a “secret spot” among locals. Former Adirondack Explorer Editor Phil Brown included the destination in his paddling guidebooks. Employees at St. Regis Canoe Outfitters and Adirondack Lakes and Trails Outfitters would recommend the spot to clients.

But that changed when the current owner of the stretch of land known locally as “Pine Pond Landing,” started refusing access.

Owners close access

Local resident Lemuel Hegwood, who lives across Oseetah Lake, describes being threatened with trespassing charges.

“He has told me directly and emphatically that I am not allowed to do it, and if I go across, he’s going to call the police and have me arrested for trespassing,” Hegwood said. Similar encounters described by canoe outfitters have also occurred.

The property owners, listed as David and Mary Grebe on Franklin County tax parcel maps, did not respond to phone or email requests for comment. On July 30, two Adirondack Explorer reporters paddled to Pine Pond Landing via Oseetah Lake, where a man identifying himself as David Grebe declined to comment.

“We don’t want to talk to you,” he said. “You see the signs? Stay out.” 

Pine Pond can still be reached via Averyville Road—a rocky, approximately 7-mile dirt path from Lake Placid that passes near the pond.

A history of public use

The portage trail from Oseetah Lake is included in the latest edition of the Adirondack Paddler’s map. The DEC notes the portage trail in its 1999 High Peaks Wilderness Area unit management plan, along with its access from Averyville Road. 

“It is accessible via a trail originating in Ray Brook or by trail from Oseetah Lake,” the plan states in its description of Big Pine Pond, also referred to as Pine Pond.

But that access point from Oseetah Lake has been at the discretion of the property owner, the DEC confirmed in an email. “There were, and continue to be, many informal access points to the Forest Preserve over private lands that have been allowed at the right of the landowners,” the email reads. “The state of New York has no rights of access over these private lands, but where individual landowners have allowed public access, the public has continued to benefit from access to state lands that would not otherwise be available.”  

Owners in their right to close access, DEC confirms

While the long history of unhindered public access has raised questions about a potential right-of-way, the new property owners are legally within their rights to deny entry. That’s because there’s no easement—a legal agreement granting public access to private land—on the property, according to the Department of Environmental Conservation. 

Same goes with prescriptive rights to the parcel, according to the DEC. “Since there is no prescriptive right, that access can be rescinded by the landowner at any time,” the DEC said in an emailed statement. 

Photo at top: Kayakers paddle near the former Pine Pond Landing access point along the shore of Oseetah Lake. Photo by David Escobar