Cascade Lake and Cascade Falls

June 15, 2013

On a beautiful Saturday, we embarked on a slightly more ambitious hike around Cascade Lake.  About 1.4 miles after turning on Big Moose Road from Rte 28 on Eagle Bay, we found the trail head for Cascade Lake. This is part of the Pigeon Lake Wilderness Area  which covers about 50,100 acres of state land between four of the larger bodies of water in the Adirondacks--Big Moose Lake, Stillwater Reservoir, Raquette Lake and the Fulton Chain of Lakes.

 After signing the registry, we followed the trail for 0.95 miles until we reached a fork in the road. This is the beginning/end of the loop around the lake.  We ascended the trail on the right as directed by the sign (the left fork, of course would also take one to the lake since this is a loop) following the red markers. The trail was wooded, quite muddy in places, probably because of the rains we've had the previous days.  We had to cross a few small bridges crossing the streams near which the trail appeared even more waterlogged.

Just before the 4th bridge, we heard the sound of water and saw a glimpse of the falls in between the trees.  Although it was just 100 feet off the trail, there was no sign at all and it was hard to find the trail towards it.  Looking more closely, there were a few herd paths but only later did we see the actual trail which was right before you step onto the bridge.  Cascade Falls (not to be confused with Cascade Lake Falls  near Lake Placid) is 40 feet high but quite narrow, therefore classified as a ribbon cascade.  It was a great spot to rest and have a quick picnic.

 

The rest of the trail was more dry than the southern part but there were still parts like this one by the 5th bridge where we really appreciated our waterproof hiking boots.  On this northern part of the loop, parts of the trail went alongside Cascade Lake, making for a very refreshing walk with beautiful views from some of the side trails.

A big waterfront campsite about 100 feet left of the trail shows a more panoramic view of the lake.  How wonderful it would be to be on a solitarty boat in the middle of this lake. The portage however might be a little bit too much.

 Further down and on the right of the trail, we saw some ruins of an old girls camp, the Lake Cascade Camp, which was built in the 1930's and operated until the mid 40's.  Across it is a clearing with more potential waterfront campsites.  I wished we had found the privy that was mentioned at cnyhiking.com supposedly located somewhere near the ruins. Then, camping here would be more inviting.

Completing the loop and returning to the parking lot,  we've walked almost 6 miles (a little longer than the purported 5.45 miles of the trail due to the side trails we've taken). Although there was only a 300 ft elevation gain, we went uphill and downhill a lot and according to my husband's fit bit,  we've climbed the equivalent of 53 flight of stairs.  Maybe that's calorie expenditure to justify a trip to Inlet for 1 or 2 scoops of ice cream or gelato.