Nick's Lake Loop

Nick'a Lake Campground has over 20 miles of trails for hiking and biking.  On our first visit, we kayaked around Nick's Lake. This time. we decided to do Nick's Lake Loop, a 4.5mile hike that circles the lake.

From the parking lot, we followed the footpath towards the far end of the beach where a small sign marked the trailhead. We signed the registry at the foot of a nice bridge over the inlet then proceeded on the boardwalk over the wetland. We continued onward, taking note of landmarks provided by CNY Hiking.

boardwalk after bridge

.1mi - trail register

0.3 mi- small bridge over stream

The trail with it's yellow markers followed the southern shore of the lake.  The lake can be seen through the tall stands of spruces and hemlocks with a nice expansive view seen after crossing a small bridge over a stream.

.06mi - view of lake

.8mi - bridge over Nick's Creek

There was a longer bridge over Nick's Creek, the outlet of the lake, soon followed by a steep ascent of about 100 feet.






After passing the junction to the Remsen Falls Trail, the trail descended, and became muddy.  We were surprised to find tire marks on the trail for it  crossed a small stream strewn with large boulders and no bridge.

0.9mi- junction to Remsen Falls Trail

The junction to the Nelson Lake Loop was clearly marked but the foot trail was barely visible under the dense overgrowth suggesting little traffic going that way. At the junction to Bixby Road, the main trail becomes a narrower foot path.  If we did not want to pay the $10 campground day use fee, we could have started our hike from the Bixby Road parking lot.  But that's an extra 2 miles of hiking which was longer than what we were prepared to tackle.

1.8mi - Junction to Nelson Lake Loop

2.55mi-Junction to Bixby Road

We saw an unmarked but well-travelled trail and walked 0.1 mile to the shore of the lake.

2.8mi- Unmarked junction to shore

After crossing a small bridge, there was a small sandy beach on the right.

3.1mi

After crossing another slightly longer and nicer bridge, we started to ascend again to a map kiosk and the junction to Loop A parking.

3.2 mi

Map Kiosk, Junction to Loop A parking

 The trail continued along the ridge below towering white pines and some other hardwoods and evergreens with the lake below us.  Although tougher than the others, this is probably the prettiest section of the trail.  We started to see campsites on our left side.  Up to this point, the trail was clearly marked.  Somehow, we lost the markers.  When we saw campsites to our right, we knew for sure we lost the trail.  We decided to leave and trail and found ourselves on Loop B road when we should ended up on Loop E.  We made our way to the park road and back to the beach area parking lot. Next time, we would like to go back to the section of the trail that we missed.




 References:
1. Nick's Lake Campground. CNY Hiking
2. Herkimer County TrailsMap/Guide pg. 40
3. Nicks Lake. Department of Environmental Conservation
4. Black River Forest CNY Hiking.