24 June 2021
If ever there was a perfect day for over an 11 mile hike, today was it! Anne and I headed up to the Tupper Lake, NY area with the goal of reaching Raquette Falls- one of the mandatory locations for the Adirondack Fifty Falls EXTREME waterfall challenge. The trailhead was not as remote as expected and was easy to find. While the trail itself does not have many markers along the way, it is very well maintained and obvious. Even though it was sunny and warm, we were heavily shaded by all the trees most of the way. While this is a long hike, it didn’t feel that way as there isn’t much change in elevation. It’s a lovely trail with slight ups and downs and plenty to see if you take the time to look and simply enjoy nature.
Along the way, there were a few little creeks (runoff from neighboring Seward Mountain) that were easy to cross either by the existing bridges or by stepping on stones. Before seeing or even hearing the river, we passed multiple clearings where vast wetlands were visible.
This hiking trail is also a horse trail and you will see markers where they diverge. Off to the left on one horse trail, we saw an old rusted tractor, which of course, makes you wonder how it came to be there.
Something we noticed on this hike was that the trail initially started out carpeted in the dead leaves of autumns past but then it switched to soft pine needles. The aroma of pine in the warm sunshine grabs your attention.
At about 4.5 miles in, we came to the DEC Interior Outpost Caretaker’s cabin in a clearing off to the left of the trail before moving on to the falls.
The lower falls were easy to get to from the trail and well marked. The water was definitely flowing with a sensational rush! We were able to spend some time sitting on an outcropping of rocks to take some pictures from the center of the river.
We then continued on the trail that follows along the river right to the upper falls. This section is narrower and a bit more challenging with exposed roots and rocks. This section is not recorded in the All Trails app so be sure to have your paper maps and gps tracker on hand. The view of the upper falls is obscured by the trees but we were able to climb down onto the rocks to get a complete look at the river in both directions. Totally worth it.
The trail continued on from the upper falls so we decided to follow it to see where it brought us. About .2 miles brought us to a small beach- labeled on the map as “canoe carry”. There are warning signs about the falls so if you paddle the river, this is where you would take your boat out of the water and carry it past both falls to another beach to put it back in. For hikers, the trail makes a sharp reverse from this beach, going uphill to loop back to rejoin the main trail. On our way back, after passing the caretakers cabin we accidentally followed a path to the left that took us down to the other canoe beach. We back tracked a little to the main trail that took us back to the parking area.
Interestingly, we saw others review this trail as “having not much to see along the way”. We disagree. The little details of nature were plentiful. We saw a kaleidoscope of butterflies feasting on something unknown or rather, we didn’t want to know, on the beach and other clusters on the side of the trail. Wildflowers were everywhere, huge mushrooms, and some very interesting trees, including one that looked like some kind of alien mammoth with tusks. Plus, Anne just happened to turn and catch site of this beautiful deer.
The hike back went quickly given how long the day was. Our tired legs definitely noticed that the return trip seemed like there was more uphill walking than the hike in. After a total of nearly 12 miles logged, Anne celebrated by giving her back a good stretch before the 2 1/2 hour drive home. I celebrated with a nap in the car (fortunately for me there is no photographic evidence since Anne was driving!) This day was perfect, just how we like it.
