High Falls Loop

A Fine Hike to Landmarks on the Oswegatchie River

By Bill Ingersoll

The Five Ponds Wilderness is the largest of the protected areas in the western Adirondacks, accessible by a combination of canoe routes and hiking trails. Of the latter, the 15.8-mile High Falls Loop is one of the finer options. This trail begins and ends at the hamlet of Wanakena, leading to several of the same landmarks enjoyed by paddlers on the Oswegatchie River.

Of course, the focal point of the loop is High Falls on the Oswegatchie. “High” in this case is a relative term, since the 15-foot-tall waterfall is hardly superlative, but it is a distinctive landmark as well as a traditional campsite. There are two lean-tos – only one of which is accessible by trail – and several campsites at High Falls.

The state acquired the land in 1919, after a forest fire had devastated much of the area. The former two logging railroad corridors became truck trails, managed for emergency access to the interior, but also used by the public for recreation. The eastern railroad ended at Dead Creek Flow, but the western railroad extended most of the way to High Falls. When the state designated the area as wilderness in the 1970s, both routes became closed to motor vehicles.

Today, the High Falls Loop is a key part of the Cranberry Lake 50, a long-distance backpacking trail that circumnavigates Cranberry Lake. For those who are not prepared to devote the better part of a week to a hike, the High Falls Loop is a very good alternative.

Getting There

The trailheads for the High Falls Loop are located in Wanakena, near Cranberry Lake. To find them, follow County Road 61 south from NY Route 3, bearing right at two intersections onto South Shore Road. At 1.2 miles you cross the bridge over the Oswegatchie River, and at 1.3 miles you should look for a road turning off to the right. The western half of the trail begins here, but you cannot park here because a nearby residence requires it for access to a driveway. Parking has traditionally been accommodated at a small turnoff about 100 feet further along South Shore Road, just past a tennis court.

The eastern leg begins another 0.4-mile down the road, 1.7 miles south of Route 3. There is a formal parking area here, which can hold about ten cars. For the purposes of this loop, either parking area works equally well.

The Trail

The two halves of this loop are not equal in length, in terms of the distance between Wanakena and High Falls. The western route is 8.9 miles long, whereas the eastern leg is 6.7 miles. Although it is longer, the western side of the loop is nearly all level; the east side is shorter but contains the most hills (none of which are particularly large).

From the western trailhead (a 0.5-mile walk from the parking area at the eastern trailhead) the trail heads southwest past a wetland that occupies the site of an old Rich Lumber Company millpond. It swings west and passes an enormous wetland, then continues southwest to a junction at 3.8 miles. The way is so flat and easy that it should take about 90 minutes to cover this distance.

The trail to the right is a must-see detour. It leads in 0.1-mile to High Rock, the first designated campsite along the loop. The name derives from the giant ledge that rises out of the Oswegatchie River, providing one of the best overlooks of the river’s vast floodplain.

The old rail corridor detours away from the river, skirting the extensive wetlands that surround the Oswegatchie. Beavers have become quite good at flooding certain low-lying sections of the trail; sometimes you can skirt around the ponds or cross on top of the dam itself, and at other times the beaver flows turn out not to be an issue. However, anyone hiking this area should come prepared for wet conditions.

Your next good look at the Oswegatchie comes at 6.9 miles, where the old railroad grade draws near a straight section of the river. You glimpse one more bend in the river before veering inland to meet a junction with the Five Ponds Trail at 7.5 miles. That route heads south across the river into the heart of the wilderness.

From the junction it is just a 45-minute walk to High Falls, with another look at the river at a site known historically as Carter Landing. The trail cuts through the wetlands surrounding Glasby Creek at this point, where some amount of wetness is almost guaranteed.

After crossing a bridge over Glasby Creek, the trail climbs just a few feet and leaves the wetland behind. It passes through a pine-filled forest, with glimpses of the Oswegatchie Plains to the north. The plains are a heath-filled area where trees have struggled to take hold, except for pockets of tamarack and black spruce.

At 8.7 miles, just a short distance beyond the Oswegatchie Plains, you reach a junction with the eastern half of the loop trail, which leads northeast (left). High Falls is located 0.4-mile away on the trail to the right. You pass the rusted frame of an old log skidder on the right, before emerging at a well-used campsite at High Falls, 9.1 miles from Wanakena.

A canoe carry trail leads left and right. The way right leads to the part of the river below the falls. Rocks on the riverbank nearby offer the best views of High Falls, which in the grand scheme of the Adirondack Park are not that tall, but are definitely noteworthy as a landmark on the otherwise-placid Oswegatchie.

The top half of the canoe carry trail provides easy access to the massive rock ledges that comprise the waterfall, with a side trail leading into the woods to one of the two lean-tos at High Falls.

To begin the return journey to Wanakena, you will first need to backtrack to the junction near the Oswegatchie Plains. This time take the right fork, which leads northeast. The trail makes a serpentine course through a blowdown area, caused by a July 1995 windstorm that flattened thousands of acres throughout the Five Ponds Wilderness.

The trail meanders to the base of Threemile Mountain, where three small waterfalls at various points tumble down from the mountain’s shoulder on the right, their streams disappearing westward toward Glasby Creek.

Relatively new bridges simplify what used to be a tricky crossing of Glasby Creek, and then you ascend slightly to an intersection called Sand Hill Junction at 12.2 miles. It may take you two hours to cover the 2.7 miles from the Oswegatchie Plains. Right leads to Glasby Pond, Cat Mountain, and other points along the Cranberry Lake 50. 

What follows is an enjoyable descent along an old roadway as the High Falls Loop continues north toward Dead Creek Flow. At 13 miles you reach the side trail to Janacks Landing, a lean-to about 0.2-mile away on the shoreline of the flow. The main trail veers west to begin a 0.9-mile-long detour around the tip of the flow. This section leads to a nice camping area at 13.9 miles, where the Rich Lumber Company’s eastern railroad once ended beside the flow.

The final 1.9 miles of the loop are very similar in character to the entire western half, in that it follows a level railroad corridor. It takes only about 40 minutes to cover this distance, bringing you back to Wanakena, and closing the loop after 15.8 miles in the backcountry.

Bill Ingersoll of Barneveld is publisher of the Discover the Adirondacks guidebook series (hiketheadirondacks.com). For more information on this region, consult Discover the Northwestern Adirondacks or his recently-published 50 Hikes in the Adirondack Mountains (Countryman Press).