Hiking

Getting Back to Groff Creek

A Spring Trek in the Southern Adirondacks

by Bill Ingersoll

Let me say right off the top that there is nothing awe-inspiring or spectacular about this walk. There are no dazzling views, and for that matter there is not really even a specific destination. This article is about a path in the woods that just dead-ends at a beaver pond. That’s it. That’s all there is to it, nothing more.

If you are not interested in a trek through a quiet section of wilderness for its own sake, then I am certainly not going to try and sell you on Groff Creek. Nevertheless, this little corner of the southern Adirondacks, which is so easy to get to but so little known, has managed to draw me back a number of times — especially at this time of year, when the creek is running loudly through its deep gorge and sunlight is struggling to melt the snow in the shadow of the hemlocks. Several times now have I made that hour-long trek up the valley with my backpack, with no other intent than to experience the arrival of spring in its most mesmerizing form, the waterfall.

Groff Creek is a minor tributary of the Sacandaga River, draining the southeastern corner of the Silver Lake Wilderness Area. The path that follows its valley is an old logging road that has been abandoned for more than a century. In fact, it was once a major point of entrance into the wilderness interior. It led west from Groff Creek to a logging dam and camp at Devorse Creek, from which other roads radiated outward to Jack Green Creek and The Notch. The forest has so thoroughly made a comeback that only vestiges of these manmade features survive.

The section of road along Groff Creek survives only because it was constructed into the side of Groff Mountain, forming a “bench” clinging precariously to what is at times a rather steep slope. Once the old road leaves the mountainside, it quickly fades into obscurity. Even with knowledge of the continuing route from an old-time map, I was not able to trace any further sections of the road. The forest had simply blotted it out like it had never existed.

Groff Creek can be a springboard for more involved wilderness treks. I have used it to reach the open ledges on Southerland Mountain, the marshy expanses of Kings Vly, and the lower slopes of Wallace Mountain. The area is accessible year-round, but spring is a particularly good time on account of the four small waterfalls found here. If like me your appreciation of wild places is not keyed only to scenic grandeur, but is open to subtler observations as well, there is a good chance you will find much to admire in this little valley.

How to Get There
The unmarked path along the creek begins as an extension of River Road, on the west side of the Sacandaga River in Hamilton County. As you drive north on NY Route 30 from Northville, turn left onto Benson Road just before the bridge over the river. River Road then turns right almost immediately. Follow it to its end, where it narrows into a rough track. The hike begins here.

However, the last couple miles of River Road are subject to closure during the spring thaw. Ice jams on the river can temporarily back water up over certain low sections. If you do arrive to find the road barricaded (but not flooded), the extra walking distance does not make the hike any more difficult. In fact, some stretches are quite close to the Sacandaga, making this an even more ideal spring hike.

The Trail
From the end of the town-maintained road, follow its rougher continuation northwest, dropping down to pass a hunting camp beside Petes Creek. Shortly beyond you reach a major fork, with a more developed road veering left into the Petes Creek drainage. The road to Groff Creek bears right, continuing as a rough jeep trail up to the state land boundary. Beyond, it narrows into an attractive footpath.

The road arcs westward through the hardwood flats to the foot of Groff Mountain, and then ascends a corner of the hillside to peer for the first time into the deep valley. Tall hemlocks shade the trail, sheltering patches of ice and old snow. The first waterfall appears roughly midway up the valley, far below the level of the path. The second is a small ledge not far upstream. The steepness of the valley walls makes it difficult to appreciate these cascades from a closer perspective.

The trail itself, however, is anything but steep. Beyond the waterfalls, the valley begins to open up, allowing the stream and the trail to approach the same level. The path never does reach the streamside, though, because Groff Creek makes a major bend to the northwest here. Rather, the path pulls beside its smaller tributary, leading you to a small beaver flow from which it is possible to see Wallace Mountain. The roadbed, which had been so clear to this point, then fades into the hemlocks. (My old map shows it bending with the creek westward toward the Devorse Creek camp.)

The other two waterfalls are located just upstream from the elbow bend on Groff Creek. You will need to cross the beaver dam to get to them. A beautiful mixed stand of red spruce and hemlock shades this section of the stream, competing with the beauty of the falls themselves. The taller of the two cascades is only eight feet high, but the secluded setting is perfect. A narrow, rocky trough connects the two falls.

As for the trees, it is places like this that remind me what a devastation it would be to the region’s forests if the insect infestation that is defoliating hemlocks in the Appalachians ever got a foothold in the Adirondacks. The Groff Creek basin would be altered forever.

Bill Ingersoll lives in Barneveld. He has joined Barbara McMartin in revising the Discover series and is co-author of several books. For more information about this region consult Discover the Southern Adirondacks (Lake View Press).

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