CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING & SNOWBOARDING

McGinn Mountain & Elm Island in the Central Adirondacks

by Bill Ingersoll

The path to Elm Island is ideal for cross-country skiing or snowshoeing, and the bushwhack up McGinn Mountain is a wonderful snowshoe trek. In March, there should plenty of snow for all Central Adirondack backcountry routes.

Formerly, the state maintained a snowmobile trail leading north to Elm Island from the nearby Pasley Falls loop. A ski trail branched off of the snowmobile trail to climb McGinn Mountain. Both are now abandoned, existing in various states of disrepair.

The old trail to Elm Island, a scenic bend in the Cedar River, can still be followed as an unmarked path, but the trip up McGinn is best termed a bushwhack.

Getting Started
To access Elm Island and McGinn Mountain, the most direct approach starts on Lake Adirondack Road. From the intersection of NY Routes 28 and 30 in Indian Lake, drive east on Route 28 for 1-mile and turn north onto Lake Adirondack Road.

At a point 1.2 miles along this road, watch for signs indicating a snowmobile trail leading into the woods to the right. There is no formal trailhead and you have to park on the shoulder.

Follow this snowmobile trail for 0.8-mile to a four-way intersection. The trails straight ahead and to the left form the Pasley Falls loop. For Elm and McGinn, turn right onto the abandoned trail. It heads briefly east and uphill, then north along a hillside that slopes off to the right.

The trail winds up and down, taking a relatively dull course for forty minutes when it begins a steep descent. In the midst of this descent, 1.5 miles from the four-way intersection, the abandoned ski trail crosses the abandoned snowmobile trail. You cross a small stream, and then reach an old sign indicating the turn-off to McGinn to the right.

Elm Island
Elm Island is straight ahead. You walk for another mile, about thirty minutes, before heading sharply down, zigzagging, then turning right along the Cedar River for 150 yards to emerge in a snow-covered field beside the bend above Elm Island.

Here, where the lesser purple-fringed orchid blooms at streamside in the summer and where a small brook comes in from Corner Pond to the east, you will find an excellent camping spot.

McGinn Mountain
To reach McGinn Mountain, turn right at the old sign. Few vestiges of the old ski trail are visible, except for some old flagging. The mile-long route forks southwest. The flagging directs you up through a draw, which is ringed on the west by cliffs that gradually increase in height. Tumbled boulders litter their base.

After about fifteen minutes, the route turns sharply away from the cliffs and continues along a hogs back. The slopes to your right become increasingly steep, and in less than ten minutes more you reach the first lookout southwest, with Snowy in view.

The route winds back beneath the steepest ledges, then out to another lookout on a narrow ledge. A third lookout offers views of the Siamese Ponds Wilderness. What follows is a fair scramble through a cleft in the cliffs as you climb west up to the summit, completing the bushwhack in about an hour.

The view from the summit offers a wide panorama to the south and east. At 2,216 feet (681 meters) it provides on of the few lookouts in the area. The most prominent peak is Snowy Mountain, with Burgess Mountain closer to the right and Panther Mountain in the right background. To the right of these you can see Metcalf Mountain with Wakely Mountain in the distance.

To the west you can see Blue Ridge Mountain with the Stark Hills in the foreground. On a clear day you can see the island-dotted ice on Indian Lake fading off to the distant south. The peaks of the Siamese Ponds Wilderness stretch out to the east of it. To the far left the bare rocky face of Moxham rises in the distance.

Bill Ingersoll has joined Barbara McMartin (adirbarb@telenet.net) in revising the Discover series and is now co-author of several books including the recently revised Discover the Central Adirondacks (Lake View Press).

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