High Falls Loop

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. READ MORE

Best Supported Fall Rides

By Darryl Caron

Whether you’ve done Tour de Cure, CycleADK, Pat Stratton Ride, or MHCC’s Century Weekend, you know the perks and benefits of doing organized bike rides. The good news is that there’s more quality events to come this fall! READ MORE

Reward Yourself with a Fall Trail Race

By Laura Clark

Dappled light on colorful leaves, no bugs, cool temperatures, no bugs… who can resist the siren call of the woods on a sharp-edged fall morning? This is your reward season. Your compensation for all those July and August hours spent battling heat, blackflies, and the urge to holler “Uncle.” For a few weeks, you have the opportunity to dance in the woods in the best shape you have been in all year. To satisfy this primal urge, the race calendar offers a harvest of autumn races – from cross-country to gnarly trail races. READ MORE

Massawepie - Paddling into the Mire

By Rich Macha.

In a park full of mundane names – such as Round, Mud and Long – Massawepie stands out, and the words Massawepie Mire introduce connotations that are unique and certainly not mundane. Massawepie is Iroquois for “the beaver’s lake” and a mire can be a bog, fen, marsh or swamp – in this case it is a large 900-acre boreal peatland bog or what is known as a “poor fen.” I had known about Massawepie Lake, and the nearby South Branch of the Grass River for many years, but did not get to visit for the first time until 2013. READ MORE

Catskills Visitors Center - Happy 50th Anniversary!

By Tom O’Grady

Located in Mount Tremper, the Congressman Maurice D. Hinchey Catskills Visitor Center is about 60 miles south of Albany. The 2019 season is a big one for the CVC as it celebrates the 50th anniversary of a partnership between both the Catskill Center and the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation.

The reason behind creating such a center and collaboration is evident in one of the quotes from former Congressman Hinchey, “For too long the Catskill Park was one of the only major state or national parks in the county without an interpretive center. I was determined to change that. It’s critically important to have a place where residents and visitors can learn about our unique natural, historical and cultural resources.” READ MORE

Bryna Blanchard

By Skip Holmes

So how does a nationally ranked endurance mountain bike racer get started? How about starting out riding horses as a teenager. Riding on a horse with a saddle on trails is not that much different than riding a mountain bike other than having more ‘horse’ power. READ MORE