Middle Saranac Lake and Weller Pond 

By Rich Macha

Of the three Saranac lakes – Lower, Middle, and Upper – Middle Saranac Lake offers the paddler a quieter and more relaxed experience. It also adds bonus excursions into Weller and Little Weller ponds which are quite likely to end up being the highlights of the trip. Day-trippers will find much to explore, and overnighters can savor the beauty of dawn, dusk, and darkness from a primitive campsite.

While motorboats are allowed on these bodies of water, their use is minimal since access is limited to a car-top boat launch on South Creek or travel up the Saranac River from Lower Saranac Lake which includes passing through a lock.

There are 25 boat-access campsites on Middle Saranac and Weller, including two lean-tos on Middle and one lean-to on Weller – all part of the state’s Saranac Lake Islands Campground system which also covers Lower Saranac Lake. Campsites can be reserved with a fee through the usual Reserve America channels. In 2024, the fee/reservation season goes through September 8th.

The South Creek access is located on the south side of NY Route 3, about 10 miles west of the village of Saranac Lake. It is a short but interesting paddle on the creek north to the lake. Boggy sphagnum shores are covered with pitcher plants, sundews, leatherleaf, sheep laurel, and bog rosemary.

Middle Saranac is over two miles in length and about a mile wide. Lying in an east-west direction, the lake can get quite choppy, especially whenever the wind is from the west or east – it is best to pick a relatively calm day for your outing.

Continuing north on the lake, staying to the left of Ship Island, I highly recommend turning around to note what things look like so that you can easily find the mouth of the creek when you return at the end of your paddle. The west end of the lake has some private land with camps and a channel leads to the Bartlett Carry for those who are heading over to Upper Saranac Lake. The rest of the area is state land. To the east, you can make out Whiteface and McKenzie mountains in the distance.

Looking ahead, a little east of north, Boot Bay Mountain is seen rising 1,000 feet above the water. After crossing the width of the lake, paddlers can then enter Hungry Bay and look in its northeast corner for the channel to Weller Pond. Once again, the shores are boggy. Just before reaching Weller, you should notice a lesser channel on the right that soon leads into Little Weller Pond. Little Weller is roundish in shape, and a small but delightfully wild water body.

Weller Pond is much bigger and has an attractive wild feeling to it. Tick and Tock (maps incorrectly name it Tot) islands add to the interest. In the northwest bay, you can find a lean-to and a one-mile hiking trail that leads to Saginaw Bay on Upper Saranac Lake. The newish lean-to has a pleasant thru-the-trees view of the pond.

For the adventurous folks who would like to stretch their legs, as well as test their orienteering skills, it is about a 1.5-mile bushwhack to a rocky area on the south side of Boot Bay Mountain that has a magnificent view south looking across Weller and Middle Saranac to the mountains beyond.

Paddling back through Hungry Bay, paddlers get a magnificent view of Ampersand and Stony Creek mountains with the Sewards, within the High Peaks Wilderness, peeking out in the distance.

Back on the main lake, you can paddle east between Umbrella Point and Halfway Island then pass more islands. The lake’s outlet, the Saranac River, flows out of marshy Bull Rush Bay and turns north while meandering for about a mile to the Upper Locks. Buoys are a reminder that motorboats are allowed here although they are restricted to a speed of 5 mph. You can turn around here unless you plan to paddle on to Lower Saranac Lake. Going through the lock, or just watching it in operation, can be entertaining.

On the way back to South Creek, you will find a sandy beach in Middle’s southeast corner – non-paddlers often hike a 0.5-mile trail from Route 3 to hang out at this beach. You can then follow the lake’s south shore past Shaw Island and back to the start.

For reference, the Adirondack Paddlers Map: The Saranac Lakes (2nd edition, 2018) offers a detailed view of the Saranac Lake Chain, Fish Creek Ponds area, and Raquette River to Tupper Lake. It shows private, state, and wilderness lands, mountains, portages, trails and numbered campsites. 

On Monday, September 18, 2023, a friend and I paddled out from the South Creek access and generally followed the above-described route. We observed loons on Middle and Weller, as well as two small motorboats and a handful of canoes on Middle – we had Weller and Little Weller to ourselves. We paddled 12 miles in 4.8 hours – your results may differ, but I am sure it will be a pleasurable experience. 

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. For more of Rich’s adventures, visit: northeastwild.blogspot.com.