Rock River and Rock Lake

By Rich Macha

Located in the central Adirondacks, halfway between Indian Lake and Blue Mountain Lake, the trails to Rock Lake and the Rock River can provide for some rewarding sights and explorations for intermediate-level skiers and snowshoers. Additional rewards are available to the adventurous snow travelers who are comfortable with off-trail travel.

The Rock River tumbles out of Lake Durant, then enters and exits Rock Lake at its northwest corner. The river then picks up the outflow from the Essex Chain of Lakes before its confluence with the Cedar River.

There are two trailheads on NY Route 28/30 that are 1.5 miles apart – the western one is the Rock Lake Trail and the eastern one is the Rock River Trail – the latter is located 0.1 miles west of the trailhead for Sawyer Mountain.

Rock River Trail – After a short uphill section, the three-mile-long Rock River Trail drops 300 feet in 0.5 miles through open hardwoods – this is a fun run on skis when conditions are optimal. A well-used snowmobile trail is reached at the 0.9-mile mark. Our route makes a left turn on this snowmobile trail for about a hundred yards then makes a right, leaving the snowmobile trail and heading north while following red markers. The Rock River Trail is technically also a snowmobile trail, but it seems that snowmobilers have better choices in the area, and I have never seen any evidence of the trail’s use for this purpose.

Rock Lake is soon seen on the left and you can choose to go out onto the lake if the ice looks safe – always remember to avoid areas near inlets and outlets where the ice is always thinner and potentially unsafe. This winter, for some reason, slush has been more prevalent on Adirondack ponds and lakes when compared with past seasons. The lake offers fine views of Sawyer Mountain to the south, Blue Mountain to the northwest, and Dun Brook Mountain to the north.

Continuing on the Rock River Trail, our route travels over rolling terrain west of the Stark Hills – in itself, a potentially interesting bushwhack destination on snowshoes – then makes a steep drop before reaching the river. Before this steep section, if you are looking carefully, you may notice an old snowmobile trail that heads east then south over to Unknown Pond. The trail is shown on the 1997 USGS Blue Mountain Lake map (store.usgs.gov/map-locator). If you have the time and energy, you may want to see if you can follow this abandoned route – there may still be some old snowmobile trail markers, reflective markers, and flagging along the way to keep you on track. The nice thing about snow travel, barring blizzard conditions, is that if you get lost you can always follow your tracks back to the start.

At the north end of the trail, the Rock River is relatively calm and is likely to be iced over in winter. A number of years ago, I skied off-trail alongside the river past hidden rapids and a scenic waterfall, and then bushwhacked back over to the marked trail. There were thick, snow-topped ice shelves to ski on but there was also some open water at times so some wise judgment was needed.  

Last winter, on a rare February 29 ski trip, and remembering the excitement of following the river upstream, a few friends and I decided to follow the river from the end of the Rock River Trail all the way back to Rock Lake. On the way in, we had skied a short distance on the lake so we knew that conditions were fine there.

Sometimes we skied on snowy ice shelves and sometimes on land, whatever looked the best. Some time was spent pushing through small softwoods but most of the way was fairly clear and the anticipation of what was around the next bend in the river added to the excitement. Finally, Rock Lake could be seen over a wide, bouldery section of river with some open water – luckily there was an open marshy area that allowed us to easily get around that section and get us out onto the lake. After a short break at a campsite on the north shore of the lake, we headed east across the lake, passed a small island, and picked up our tracks from earlier in the day.

The final climb back up to the trailhead was a small price to pay for the memories.

Rock Lake Trail – The relatively short Rock Lake Trail passes through piney woods and then follows Johnny Mack Brook, soon reaching the well-used snowmobile trail – crossing the trail and following the brook through the marshes gets you to the lakeshore, just 0.7 miles from the trailhead. 

You can enjoy the sights while skiing or snowshoeing to the lake’s east end where you can pick up the Rock River Trail and continue on with your journey.

The Transition into Spring – As we make the transition from winter into spring and temperatures warm to above freezing, note that many areas of the Adirondacks will still hold a fair amount of snow, so the use of snowshoes or skis is still necessary. Over the winter, some popular trails that had become hard-packed allowed users to get away with just using winter traction devices such as MICROspikes. 

As temperatures warm to above freezing, the snow will soften and without the use of snowshoes or skis, hikers’ feet are more likely to punch through the snowpack to create what are known as postholes, which can create problems for other travelers – especially when refrozen. Be a considerate hiker and use snowshoes or skis whenever there’s more than a few inches of snow on the ground.  

A lover of wild places, Rich Macha has led many trips for the Adirondack Mountain Club, and has spent 20 years in the paddlesport/snowsport business. More of Rich’s adventures can be found at northeastwild.blogspot.com.