Places to hike this weekend

The DEC has released the following list of places that are still open for hiking.

Mountain Hikes

Hurricane Mountain from US-9N only, not from the Hurricane Road/The Crows

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Whiteface Mountain from Whiteface Landing/Connery Pond or Marble Hill/Wilmington

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Baxter Mountain from US-9N or Beede Road (off Route 73)

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Pitchoff Mountain from Route 73

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McKenzie Mountain from Route 86

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Haystack Mountain from Route 86

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Scarface Mountain from the Old Ray Brook Road off Route 86

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Mt. Baker from Moody Pond Road in the Village of Saranac Lake

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Ampersand Mountain off Route 3.

... Panther Mountain from Route 3

... Jenkins Mountain from VIC at Paul Smiths off Route 30

... Floodwood Mountain from the Floodwood Road off Route 30

... St.Regis Mountain from Keese Mills Road off Route 30

... Vanderwhacker Mountain from Route 28N

... Goodnow Mountain from 28N

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Non-mountain Hikes

Brewster Peninsula Nature Trails in the Village of Lake Placid ...

Bloomingdale Bog from Route 86 ... Raquette Falls from Corey’s Road off Route 3 ... Deer Pond Loop from Route 30 or Route 3/30 ... Fernow Forest-Wawbeek Plantation from Route 30 ... VIC at Paul Smiths Trails on Route 30 ... Hoffman Notch from the Boreas Road ... Great Camp Sanatanoni from Route 28N ... Adirondack Interpretive Center Trail System on Route 28N

Visit the Adirondack Trail Information web page for current weather forecasts, regulations, safety tips, trail conditions, and more: HYPERLINK http://www.dec.state.ny.us/website/reg5/r5adktrails.html HYPERLINK http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/7865.htmlwww.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/7865.html

Below is a list of places that have been closed to hiking because of damage sustained by Tropical Storm Irene. It was released by DEC today.

AREA CLOSURES: The EASTERN ZONE of the HIGH PEAKS WILDERNESS, GIANT MOUNTAIN WILDERNESS and DIX MOUNTAIN WILDERNESS are closed through Labor Day Weekend and beyond due to dangerous conditions and extensive damage to trails and interior infrastructure. DEC intends to fully enforce this closure. Over the next several weeks DEC will be evaluating the conditions of all trails in the closed areas, prioritize work to rehabilitate trails and determine what trails may be reopened for public use.

There are too numerous to count new landslides on the mountains in these areas including slides on Mt. Colden, Trap Dike, Wright Peak, Skylight, Basin, Armstrong, Upper and Lower Wolf Jaws, Dix, Macomb, Giant and Cascade Mountains and many existing slides widened and/or lengthened. The threat of additional slides exists on these and other mountains which creates a very dangerous situation. Other damage in these areas includes trails buried by landslides; heavily eroded trails (1-3 feet deep in some places); numerous washed away or damaged footbridges, bog bridging and ladders; blowdown and flooding.

TRAIL ADVISORIES: Hurricane Irene has created dangerous conditions across most of the Eastern Adirondacks including flooding, bridge wash outs, trail wash outs and blow down of trees and other debris. Back country travel is difficult, if not impossible, throughout much of the backcountry of the Eastern Adirondacks. Hikers and campers should expect to encounter flooding, bridge wash outs, trail wash outs and blowdown when entering the backcountry. Plan accordingly and be prepared to turn back when conditions warrant. 

The Central and Western Adirondacks had minimal impacts, check the DEC Trail Information web pages ( HYPERLINK "http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/7865.html" www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/7865.html) for details, including information on areas in the Northern and Western Adirondacks that were not heavily impacted.

CAMPGROUND CLOSURES: The following campgrounds remain closed at this time: AuSable Point Putnam Pond Little Sand Point Point Comfort Poplar Point Lake Durant

DEC staff are working hard to open the campgrounds before Labor Day. It is suggested that you phone either the campground or Regional Office to confirm that the facility is open. A list of phone numbers for all campgrounds and their associated Regional Offices can be found at: HYPERLINK "http://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/permits_ej_operations_pdf/2011facilityinfo.pdf" http://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/permits_ej_operations_pdf/2011facilityinfo.pdf

Visit the Adirondack Trail Information web page for current weather forecasts, regulations, safety tips, trail conditions, and more: HYPERLINK http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/7865.htmlwww.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/7865.html