Fish Creek/Rollins Pond Loop and More

By Rich Macha

The area of the Adirondack Park to the north and west of the Village of Saranac Lake offers a great assortment of paddling opportunities. Some of the more popular destinations include Fish Creek and the ponds that surround it. A loop can be made that incorporates Fish Creek with five ponds entailing less than a half-mile of relatively easy, by Adirondack standards, carries. Adventurous paddlers can add a side trip to another pond along the way.

In September of 2023, at the tail end of summer, I joined two friends, Bob Brand and Dave Pisaneschi, and set out to paddle the loop clockwise and to add a more remote pond on the route if we were making good time. We started on Floodwood Pond – from NY Route 30, the put-in is a 4.1-mile drive west on Floodwood Road, a good dirt road. Work was being done on the Adirondack Rail Trail and there was a lot of equipment just past the put-in near the usual parking area across the road. The work should be continuing through fall 2024.

A few camps are located on the west shore of Floodwood Pond but most of the pond consists of undeveloped state land. After a short carry down to the water, we paddled southeast and to the left of a large island with designated campsites among tall red pines and hemlocks, then proceeded toward Fish Creek, the pond’s outlet.

Aided by a light current, we soon passed under a bridge. You might find a need to maneuver around some rocks and tree debris in the relatively shallow water. After traveling 0.7 miles of wooded shoreline the creek passes through the east end of Little Square Pond. A few backcountry campsites are located here. There used to be an obvious osprey nest on a branch overhanging the pond but, unfortunately, there is no longer any sign of it.

Below Little Square Pond, Fish Creek widens and the current slackens. Some boggy shores line the west side and lily pads grow in the shallower areas. About a half-mile below Little Square, a short channel on the right leads into Copperas Pond. A couple of black ducks were resting here and a loon was out patrolling the pond as we passed through – loons can be seen and/or heard on most of the ponds in the area. A short paddle leads to a carry trail at the pond’s southwest end – white signs at water’s edge mark the locations of carry trails and yellow trail markers are found along the trails.

After exiting the pond, a trail to the left leads to Black Pond, but for the loop trip you must make sure to take a right on the 0.3-mile carry trail to Whey Pond. The trail is a little rough but can be wheeled if you have a cart. Just before reaching Whey Pond, the trail forks – the left fork is the continuation of the carry and soon leads to a small beach at the pond – the right, and misleadingly more obvious, fork can tempt you to stray off-course and take the long way back to Little Square.

It’s less than a mile to the other end of Whey Pond and the start of the easy 0.1-mile carry to the boat launch on Rollins Pond within the Rollins Ponds Campground – the state campground usually closes for camping shortly after Labor Day so was not open during our trip. We decided to stop for lunch here and it was then that I realized that my water bottle was missing and was likely back at the other end of Whey Pond. Luckily, two other kayakers soon followed us and one of them had my water bottle in his hand, saving me the trouble of doubling back. While we were eating lunch, a pontoon boat arrived at the launch – I presumed that it had come over from one of the private camps on the north side of the peninsula that juts out from this large pond’s west side. About 290 campsites stretch out along the east shore.

There was a west wind, so Dave and I decided to paddle closer to the west shore, while Bob opted to head to the north end of the pond in a more direct line. We reconnected near a culvert that carries the outlet of Rock Pond under the old railroad bed – now the Adirondack Rail Trail – and into Rollins Pond. Our goal was to paddle up to Rock Pond. I had done it twice before but in May when water levels are usually higher due to snow melt and spring showers. The best landing spot is north of the culvert. You can then carry over the rail trail and pick up a short path on the other side that leads to the brook. I am not sure if rail trail construction in 2024 will affect this brief crossing.

Paddling upstream, we were soon feeling somewhat discouraged while pushing through dense patches of pickerelweed – now past its prime and no longer displaying those attractive purple flowers often seen in August – and hitting some tree debris hidden below the surface of the water. Perhaps this was not going to be the best idea on this day! We pushed on regardless. After going 0.2 miles, the water was a bit deeper and there was hope. I had to get out and pull over two small beaver dams (this is considered normal when paddling Adirondack streams) and I slid over a few others. The shores were mainly marshy. Then there was a crude footbridge across the brook which required a very short carry. From there it was relatively easy getting to the pond. 

We did a circuit of Rock Pond where there was a view of Floodwood Mountain to the west (two of us hiked it on the following day). A loon hung out on the water and I discovered its empty nest. There were cranberries to be found too – September is the right month for that. It was quite a bit faster paddling the 1.25 miles back to Rollins and I was able to slide over all beaver dams in that direction.

The narrow rocky outlet of Rollins Pond leaves its north end and tests your paddle maneuvering skills for about 0.1 miles before flowing into the southwest corner of Floodwood Pond. There is a carry trail on the left – I have paddled through here several times and have never needed to carry but I have read reports of others who did. You can then follow the pond’s west shore back to the put-in to complete the loop. Our trip distance for the day was 12.5 miles and it took us over seven hours – a satisfying day of paddling! The loop minus the Rock Pond side-trip would amount to a trip length of about nine miles including 0.4 miles of carries.

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