Photo by Susie Runyon
Tucked into the Sargent Ponds Wild Forest, Canoe Carry East, a former Whitney family holding, was purchased by the Adirondack Land Trust (ALT) in the early 1990s. ALT added the 377 acres to the New York State Forest Preserve in 1995 to flank a Forked Lake boat launch and a portage trail linking Raquette Lake to Forked Lake. This preserved a key linkage on the Northern Forest Canoe Trail, 1.5 miles of unbroken shoreline on the south shore of Forked Lake, and 1,200 feet of the Raquette River.
If you go: Most paddlers put in at the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Campground and Day Use Area at the east end of Forked Lake (there is a day-use fee). Accessible off Routes 28/30 between Long Lake and Blue Mountain Lake, the Forked Lake Campground offers mostly boat-access-only campsites.
