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sable highlands

Latest Story

Catamount Mountain in the background dominates the view from Fishhole Pond in the foreground

The Loon Lake Challenge

By Phil Brown

Hitting four scenic ponds in the Adirondacks in one day

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biking on a dirt road with a mountain in the distance

Sable Highlands: Almost as cool as a trip to Scotland

By Tom French

Exploring rail history on an 18-mile bike ride through an underused part of the northern Adirondacks

A motor tour of the Sable Highlands

By Phil Brown

Two good logging roads—the D&H Road and Piney Ridge Road—cut through the interior of the Sable Highlands.

Figure 8: A Sable Highlands destination in need of long-planned road improvements

By Phil Brown

In a 2009 interim recreation plan, the state Department of Environmental Conservation said it intended to build a new road and short trails to provide access to Lilypad and Figure 8 ponds.

Sable Highlands

Owls Head: A popular hike in the otherwise lonely Sable Highlands

By Phil Brown

It was a warm, sunny day, and people were out in force. I counted 15 other parties, most of them with young children.

Missed opportunities at the Sable Highlands

By Phil Brown

As part of my investigation of the Sable Highlands, I tried to visit every public use area and linear recreation corridor, racking up about 175 miles on a mountain bike, my primary method of exploring the interior. In my travels, I identified three major problems: a shortage of parking areas, inadequate signage and a lack of trails and other amenities.

grass

Five ways to enjoy the Sable Highlands

By Mike Lynch

Although New York State has yet to build most of the trails and parking areas promised in its recreational plan for the Sable Highlands, hikers, mountain bikers and paddlers still can find plenty to do on the easement lands.

grass pond

An easy paddling escape to a pair of roadside ponds

By Phil Brown

I paddled Grass Pond and its neighbor, Fishhole Pond, on a sunny day in late May. On neither pond did I encounter people. I did see a red-winged blackbird nesting in a dead tree, a spotted sandpiper bobbing its tail on a rock islet, a deer drinking from the wooded shore and a school of fish wriggling upstream.

Barnes Pond

Barnes Pond: An upgraded zone of the Sable Highlands

By Phil Brown

On neither trip did I see anyone else. Judging from the register, nearly all of the visitors are locals who hike, bike or ski on the tract.

Sable Highlands

A sweet day at Sugarloaf, a hidden public use area

By Phil Brown

The Sugarloaf Public Use Area is large enough that you could spend days exploring it, but without trails and better access, it’s likely to be underutilized.

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