road from big moose to lowville

[Adk_dib]

I want to take this road during the fall,I think its called Number 4?
has anyone taken this road, and how is it? I dont want to get in there and take a rock to the oil pan in the middle of no where.
I thought it would be a great ride in the fall.

 

[Grumpy]

Great road, great ride from Big Moose to Number 4 over near Lowville. It can be rough in places but should be easily passable with a regular car. Go slow and enjoy the trip. Give yourself time to sashay down to the little hamlet of Stillwater and enjoy a burger and brewski at the Stillwater Inn (I think that’s the name of the place). Good eats. Or stoke up at Big Moose Station before you start out.

Complete a loop by dropping down south on Rte 12 to Port Leyden and over along the Moose River to Rte 28 at McKeever via back roads, then back up to Eagle Bay and Inlet through Old Forge.

Another great back road ride in the Adirondacks is the one through the Moose River recreation area from Cedar Lake to Limekiln Lake. Take time to explore. Mrs. G and I also enjoyed a back road trip through some pretty wild country from Paul Smiths to Santa Clara this last summer.

G.

 

[ADackR]

Great road, great ride from Big Moose to Number 4 over near Lowville. It can be rough in places but should be easily passable with a regular car. Go slow and enjoy the trip. Give yourself time to sashay down to the little hamlet of Stillwater and enjoy a burger and brewski at the Stillwater Inn (I think that’s the name of the place). Good eats. Or stoke up at Big Moose Station before you start out.

Complete a loop by dropping down south on Rte 12 to Port Leyden and over along the Moose River to Rte 28 at McKeever via back roads, then back up to Eagle Bay and Inlet through Old Forge.

Another great back road ride in the Adirondacks is the one through the Moose River recreation area from Cedar Lake to Limekiln Lake. Take time to explore. Mrs. G and I also enjoyed a back road trip through some pretty wild country from Paul Smiths to Santa Clara this last summer.

G.

i agree with everything posted here...

start in Inlet and head towards Croghan...after Stillwater you'll be driving along the Beaver River Caone route. you'll also pass some water falls....stop in Croghan for some Croghan Bolognia and some river rat cheese curd!!!

the road is passable by any car and is a real treat. i think it's about 40mi one way from Inlet to Croghan..

have fun. and yes the route from Limkiln to Wakely Dam is another great route....

grumpy where exactly were you at when you explored the Santa Clara area??

 

[Grumpy]

grumpy where exactly were you at when you explored the Santa Clara area??

Mrs. G. and I had some time on our hands and were looking for a more scenic route from Lake Placid over to the Thousand Islands district near Clayton.

The road we took starts immediately N of the Paul Smiths College campus and heads W from Rte 30 along a branch of the St. Regis River. It is paved for a while, then becomes gravel as it meanders NW and then N past Azure Mountain and on to the village of Santa Clara, which is on Rte 458. I believe this is called Blue Mountain Road, at least for part of its length. We found it readily passable. Did not take time to stop and explore, though. This looks like interesting country and we are likely to spend more time poking around there in the future.

G.

 

[ADackR]

Mrs. G. and I had some time on our hands and were looking for a more scenic route from Lake Placid over to the Thousand Islands district near Clayton.

The road we took starts immediately N of the Paul Smiths College campus and heads W from Rte 30 along a branch of the St. Regis River. It is paved for a while, then becomes gravel as it meanders NW and then N past Azure Mountain and on to the village of Santa Clara, which is on Rte 458. I believe this is called Blue Mountain Road, at least for part of its length. We found it readily passable. Did not take time to stop and explore, though. This looks like interesting country and we are likely to spend more time poking around there in the future.

G.

nice trip, that is what it expected you to say.

that road is pretty cool and you should check it out sometime. if you haven't done Azure mtn, yet do it. the views are really cool and the fire tower has been recently restored. also, down the road a bit is an entrance for canoeing on the St. Regis river. i guess it has some great oxbows and offers great exploration both ways...;

and yes, the road is Blue mtn. road...

check out the picts from Azure, they are from earlier this spring...
http://community.webshots.com/user/adackr

 

[Grumpy]

We passed the Azure Mountain trailhead along Blue Mountain Road last summer. What's the hike like? Distance? Climb? Trail conditions?

BTW, apologies to Adk_dib for highjacking this thread. It wasn't intentional. That road trip from Inlet to Lowville just got me thinking about others that are worth taking in the Adirondack region.

Anybody ever taken the road into Perkins Clearing, off Rte 30 between Speculator and Indisan Lake? Conditions? Advisories? Hiking opportunities thereabouts?

G.

 

[ADackR]

We passed the Azure Mountain trailhead along Blue Mountain Road last summer. What's the hike like? Distance? Climb? Trail conditions?

BTW, apologies to Adk_dib for highjacking this thread. It wasn't intentional. That road trip from Inlet to Lowville just got me thinking about others that are worth taking in the Adirondack region.

Anybody ever taken the road into Perkins Clearing, off Rte 30 between Speculator and Indisan Lake? Conditions? Advisories? Hiking opportunities thereabouts?

G.

yes sorry ADK_dib

the trail to Azure is a quick 1 mile the elevation gain is decent but i can't remember the exact rise, it is good though...

the road into Perkins CLearing offers great access to the Spruce lake region(NPT). it also gives great access to the Cedar lakes via Pilsbury mtn. (fire tower). sara and i made a loop from Pilsbury to West/south lake and then down to Spruce lake. awesome 10 mile loop.. it should be noted that we had friends pick us up at the trail head (spruce lake) and drive us back to our car at Pilsbury..

the roads are all logging roads BUT are all well taken care of. if you look on a map and see Mason lake, on the northern end there are car camping areas and also spots on the lake to camp at...

this road does close officially on dec. 1 but the snows' usually do that well before hand. then, the roads become snowmobile trails after that...

hope this helps.. this is a great area to get to, very very nice hiking opportunities...

 

[Adk_dib]

No problem, I got my answer. I did Azure mtn 2 years ago and I remember it was about 1200 feet. No real steep spots with a real nice bald summit.

 

[Rik]

I also did Azure a couple of years ago and highly recommend it as a short climb with great views. When we did this we also drove Blue Mt. Road which was passable with a regular car and quite beautiful. (I did this in spring and the road conditions were good).
The road next to Mason lake and up to the Pillsbury trailhead was good except for the last short section. We found a place to park less than a quarter mile from the trailhead and added it to our hike. Other cars had made it all the way to the trailhead. Nice little car camping spots along the way and Pillsbury is also a nice climb.

 

[Adk_dib]

I stand corrected, azure mtn is only 700 feet climb. I got it mixed up with st.regis mtn. I did st.regid as a warm up the day before I did marcy ( it is 1200 feet). Then I did azure as a cool down the day after i did marcy (it still has a bald summit).

 

[Grumpy]

Thanks for the additional info, guys.

G.