A young bull moose lingering near the summit of Goodman Mountain has led state officials to close the trail, citing safety concerns for both hikers and the animal
By Brenne Sheehan
Last month, Marta Quilliam and a few friends took to the Goodman Mountain trail in Tupper Lake to look for wildflowers. While there were flowers galore, they ran into something much more colossal.
A young bull moose walked on the paved trails towards the bottom of the mountain.
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“He didn’t bother anybody,” Quilliam said. “He was curious, more than anything.”
When she returned to the mountain two weeks later on May 30, she found that the animal was still there, and this time it was close to the summit.
But Quilliam wasn’t the only one to encounter this native Adirondack animal. In fact, many sightings of the same bull shared on social media prompted the New York Department of Environmental Conservation to close the Goodman Mountain trail starting June 6.
In a press release sent Friday, the DEC said the trail, located in the Horseshoe Lake Wild Forest, will remain closed until it determines it safe to reopen. Rangers are at the trail’s entrance to enforce the closure.
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“Wild animals can be unpredictable and potentially dangerous when approached,” the release states. “The closure is a precautionary measure to protect public safety and minimize disturbances to the animal.”
DEC wildlife biologist Jim Stickles says moose sightings in the Adirondack Park are common this time of year, but one staying in the same area for a month is unusual. Because many have encountered the moose at the summit of the mountain, which is surrounded by uneven terrain and thick vegetation, the DEC has ruled the trail to be unsafe for hikers.
“By the time hikers see the moose, they are often in the immediate vicinity of, and potentially too close to, the animal,” Stickles said.
Moose that linger in public areas—like the Goodman Mountain bull—often draw large crowds that can overwhelm the animal and provoke it to charge, Stickles says.
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“Adult moose are large, wild animals, and they do not always show fear of people,” Stickles said. “People often mistake this behavior as the animal being tame, and approach too closely.”
Sickles says that while encountering one in the wild, it is important to create space between yourself and the moose, which can be hard to do on the steep terrain of Goodman Mountain.
“Try to create space by backing away slowly, and try to put an object between you and the moose – for example, a large tree or rock,” Stickles said. “If the moose is trying to create space by walking away, then let it. Do not continue to pursue or chase it, and never surround a moose.”
The DEC welcomes photos and videos of moose sightings as long as hikers maintain this necessary distance, Stickles says. You can submit a sighting to the DEC’s Moose Sighting Report Form, which helps inform research.
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In 2018, The DEC reported that there were roughly 600-700 moose throughout the Adirondack region, and is “currently working to develop a standard procedure for estimating and monitoring the moose population,” according to their website.
Stickles says that moose sightings are most common during May and June, when many young moose enter sub-adulthood, and in September and early October, during their mating season.
Other moose have been near Whiteface Mountain in Wilmington, and captured on trail cams.
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