Three separate marked trails reach the Pine Orchard east of Wells. The route from the north starts on Route 8 and leads initially to the site of a long abandoned maple sugaring operation. This is known as the Girards Sugarbush trail (Note: There are two possible starting points for this route; I'm describing the shorter one. See the notes at the end for details on the shortcut).
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| Route to the Pine Orchard starting at the Girards' Sugarbush trailhead on Rte 8, northeast of Wells. |
This northern route to the Pine Orchard follows an abandoned woods road through the heart of the Wilcox Lake Wild Forest. The route has its' own unique appeal but it's a tough walk. The entire 5.5 mile route is marked as a snowmobile trail and for much of the way it is wet and rough. Not surprising really; in the Adirondacks snowmobile trails tend to be wetter, rockier and more in-grown than well-used hiking trails. On the plus side snowmobile trails generally have good bridges and the two major brooks you encounter along this route are crossed by solid bridges. Adding to the fun is that whomever originally picked this route somehow managed to cover the entire distance without crossing any level ground. My GPS recorded the total elevation gain for the round trip as over 3000 feet. And trust me; that's an underestimate. This is a tough route.
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| In mid-march I wrote that Spring had arrived in the southern Adirondacks. In mid April, following a stretch of unusually cold weather it's fair to say that Winter has made a last stand. On April 12th, ponds and swamps were frozen over and a dusting of snow remained in shaded areas. Spring is coming, but not quite yet. |
So why walk this trail? For starters, the Pine Orchard never fails to impress. If not for the existence of the easy route to the orchard from Flatters road this trail would see a lot more traffic. But that route does exist; so why walk this trail? The main appeal is that this is wild county with forests that are rapidly approaching what we imprecisely refer to as 'old growth'. Some of the best stands of old growth forest in the Adirondacks are located in the the southern third of the Park and the forests you pass through along this route are representative of that.
Barbara McMartin offers an explanation for why these forests exist in her The Great Forest Of the Adirondacks. And it starts with the timing. The first settlers and loggers who headed north in the decades following the revolutionary war were naturally drawn to the more accessible areas in what is now the southern portion of the Adirondack Park. Some land was logged or cleared for farming during that first wave of settlement but the rough terrain limited the extent. On top of that, areas logged before 1850 have now had over 150 years for the second growth to reach full size and for the forests to assume characteristics that we associate with old growth. There is no definitive point at which a forest becomes "old growth" but, in the southern Adirondacks, areas mostly undisturbed for more than 150 years exhibit many old-growth characteristics. There are additional successional steps between 'old growth' and a climax forest, but forests left to their own devices for 150 to 200 years are getting there.
The second reason that old growth is found in the southeast is that the industrial loggers of the 19th century were primarily interested in softwoods; spruce and pine for pulp and lumber and hemlock for the tanning industry. Much of the southern portion of the great Adirondack forest was dominated by hardwoods: Maple, Beech, Ash and Yellow Birch with a half dozen other species mixed in.There were softwoods in the southern Adirondacks but those stands tended to be smaller and more scattered. McMartin states that while selective logging for softwoods did take place in the south the hardwoods were commonly skipped over. This helps to accounts for the mature hardwoods seen all along the route described here.
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| This route lies entirely in the Wilcox Lake Wild Forest. Wild Forest is a land use designation that permits some uses not allowed in Wilderness areas including limited motorized access. Still, coming upon the fireplace and outhouse pictured above was surprising and amusing. The fireplace is of the style commonly seen at DEC campgrounds, so maybe there was some easier access to this spot in the past. As it stands today these "facilities" sit idly in the middle of nowhere. |
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| Forest scene just north of the Pine Orchard. |
Notes:
There is a marked trailhead for Girards' Sugarbush on NY Route 8 two miles north of the intersection of Routes 8 and 30 (on trail signs this is referred to as 'Griffens'. From this spot the trail passes over rough terrains for over a mile to the point where it intersects the route I've described less than 100 yards from Rte. 8. To bypass this section, pass the formal trailhead (assuming you are approaching from Wells), and drive an additional 1.5 miles (approximately) and watch for an overgrown woods road on the right. It can be hard to spot but there is a sign announcing Sacandaga River Access Parking at the point where the trail enters the woods. If you reach that parking area (also on the right) you have gone to far. There is plenty of parking alongside the road right at the trailhead or you can pull into the parking area and walk back the .2 miles to the start of the trail. There is a trail register 100 yards in so you'll know for sure that you are the right spot.
