New Trails at Lake Bonita, Moreau Lake State Park

In many parts of the U.S., Moreau Lake State Park would be a premier destination for hikers (those of us who live near the Adirondacks are totally spoiled). The park contains an extensive network of trails that pass over a varied and surprisingly rugged terrain. There are options for everything from short walks to ten mile mountain grinders. And those options just got better; much better. Two new trails have been built that integrate the 800 acres transferred to the park following the closing of the Mt. McGregor Correctional Facility and these new routes are particularly appealing.

Overview map of the new trails. from the parking area on Wilton Mountain Road it's 1.5 miles to Lake Anne. From there another mile of walking takes you to the main park trail system at junction 3. 

The new routes include a well designed trail that circles Lake Bonita --a lovely and distinctive small lake that was previously inaccessible to the public-- and a connection from the new trailhead on Wilton Mountain Road to the parks' existing trail system at Lake Anne. You can find the details of what is planned in the Office of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation (OPRHP) addendum the Moreau Lake State Park Master Plan. I'll probably have more to say about the newly added areas in the future but, for now, a few photos will have to suffice.

Lake Bonita from one of the spur trails that provide access to the waters edge. The shoreline of Lake Bonita is mostly undisturbed and OPRHP states that the lake is free of aquatic invasives; a rarity these days. The master plan details the agency's intent to protect these attributes of the lake. Boats of any kind are prohibited and no live baits are allowed for fishing.

Lake Anne: This lovely small "bog lake" boast floating bog mats that are uncommon this far south. No fishing is allowed in Lake Anne and, given that the lake is shallow and has a measured pH of 4.3, it's doubtful that any fish could survive in its' waters. 

Extensive swamps surround Lake Anne. If you like swamps as both I and biting insects do, these are wondrous places. 

The connection from Lake Anne to the parks existing trail system opens the potential for long loop hikes along Palmertown ridge. The southern Adirondacks from one of the many viewpoints along the West Ridge Trail.

Looping back over the East Ridge trail you'll pass through some of the most rugged and wildest sections of the park.

Back at Lake Anne. There is a pretty decent lean-to near Lake Anne. The spot is attractive and the parks' plans call for allowing backcountry camping at this site. You would probably not want to do that in June however. Just trust me on that point. 

Lake Bonita

Lake Bonita

Lake Bonita from the dam.

Lake Bonita - Moreau Lake State Park

It's not every day that a favorite local State Park has a good sized chunk of land added on. Especially when that addition includes an attractive lake that was previously off limits. But this is exactly what has happened at Moreau Lake State park. It was announced last week (May 2015) that 750 acres formerly controlled by the Mount McGregor Correctional Facility have been added to the park (official press release here).

A rough map of the area added to Moreau Lake State Park. The light blue outline shows the approximate boundary of the addition. Lake Bonita lies entirely inside the newly added parcel as does the Grant Cottage historic site. The red line represents the previous Park boundary and the colored lines inside that boundary show existing trails. Wilton Road passes through the addition and the prominent forest cut that intersects with Lake Bonita (from the top of the map) is an abandoned power line right of way. The even more prominent straight cut (gap in the forest) is a current power line ROW.  The buildings and infrastructure of the former correctional facility were not added to the park pending possible redevelopment. Note that the new parcel outline shown in this map was drawn by hand and is only approximate. The map is from Google Earth.

The minimum security Mount McGregor facility was closed in 2014 by New York State in a cost cutting move. Given that the 1100 acre Corrections property is mostly forested --and that it shared a 1.5 mile long boundary with Moreau Lake State Park-- the possibility that some portion might be added to the park received immediate local interest and support. Best of all, the corrections property included all of Lake Bonita. Lake Bonita is a 50 acre reservoir backed up by 150 foot long earth and rock fill dam across the headwaters of Beaver Brook (information on the dam). The lake is quite attractive and during a short visit on May 10th (2015) we saw a variety of water loving birds and what appeared to be Rock Bass spawning near the shore.

But the lake's most appealing characteristic is that it is undeveloped. A well maintained gravel road reaches the dam from Wilton Road and a second road reaches the east end of the lake from the former McGregor facility. The lake was the water supply for the prison and a pump house at that point is the only building visible on the entire lake shoreline.

The press release announcing the land transfer from Corrections to the State Park system noted that access is currently limited by a lack of parking and the absence of trails. We took that to mean that it's OK to visit if you can get there. Which is not to difficult if you are willing to hike and do a little bushwhacking. Probably the easiest way to visit right now is to hike the existing trail from Spier Falls Road to Lake Anne. Lake Anne sits right on the old property line between the Park and the Corrections department lands. From Lake Anne it is about 3/4 of a mile cross country to Lake Bonita. The only challenging part was getting around the extensive marsh found at the southeast end of Lake Anne. You could walk for a ways and then turn towards the lake, but it's been so dry that we went straight through it. We managed to keep our feet dry but we picked up a few hitchhikers while beating through the underbrush. Tick precautions are required if you go off trail anywhere in Moreau State Park.

Looking down the lake from near the east end. The dam is out of sight around the corner to the right.

Lake Bonita from near the dam. The lake is approximately half a mile long and 300 yards across at the widest point.

The dam on the northwest end of Lake Bonita.

History of Mount McGregor Part 1
History of Mount McGregor Part 2