Cranberry Lake 50 Backpacking Challenge: Adventure and Nature at Its Best
Cranberry Lake 50 Mile Backpacking Challenge
Cranberry Lake is located in the North-Western most corner of New York State. Cranberry Lake sits at a whopping size of 19.1 square miles, with a diverse ecosystem and georgraphy and offers camping, boating, fishing, and so much more!
Isolated away from most of the major cities and town, the lake is a quiet place to get away from much of the hustle and bustle of the city life, an opportunity to return to nature. Surrounded by animals, and beautiful spots decorated around the lake and along trails.
Elevation: 1,485 feet
Area: 6,995 acres
Shoreline Length: 71.4 miles
Max Depth: 38 feet
Mean Depth: 5.9 feet
County and Town: St. Lawrence County, Town of Clifton
| Category | Animals |
|---|---|
| Mammals | White-tailed deer, black bear, moose |
| Birds | Loons, bald eagles, osprey, great blue heron |
| Fish | Trout, bass, pickerel, northern pike |
| Insects | Mosquitoes, black flies, butterflies |
| Reptiles | Snakes, turtles, frogs, salamanders |
| Others | Beaver, otter, mink, bobcat |
| Category | Plants |
|---|---|
| Trees | Towering eastern white pines, eastern hemlocks, mature yellow birch, red maple, sugar maple |
| Herbaceous | Wildflowers, ferns, club mosses, saprophytic plants, carnivorous plants |
| Edible | Raspberry, blackberry, blueberry |
| Caution | Be cautious of inedible or poisonous plant fruits |
What is the Cranberry Lake 50?
Relaxing wasn’t what brought us to Cranberry Lake, instead, it was the adventure and challenge. Cranberry Lake features over 50 miles of connecting trails around the lake, making the Cranberry Lake 50 a popular challenge for beginning backpackers. Completing the CL50 earns you a patch, and a spot on the Cranberry Lake 50 official website list of completion.
The entire 50 Miles can be done in a single day if you packed the right amount, and are prepaired to go the distance. However, for most people it is recommended to do a 2-3 night trip for intermediate, and 3-4 maybe even 5 for more beginner hikers.
The entire path is marked by blue CL50 markers the entire way around, giving you clear direction where to go. The biggest obstacles you’re going to face are packing light, having the correct calories, and planning to stop at appropriate times for both mid day rest and setting up camp.
Day One on the Cranberry Lake 50, Off to High Rock to See the Bretons!
The Cranberry Lake 50 mile or CL50 as we will refer to it several times, has several entrances and places to park, however, if you have someone close by, getting dropped off is also an option.
We entered from the “High Rock” entrance on South Shore Road in Wanakena, New York, due to impending weather that would have made hiking difficult later in the trip.
You can enter or exit from these locations, but be advised many of these are longer trails and proceed with caution before going too far if you do not intend on sleeping in the woods.
The following seven trailheads can be found on the Cranberry Lake 50 Trail Map:
- High Rock ‘truck trail’ trailhead on South Shore Road in Wanakena, NY
- Dead Creek Flow trailhead on South Shore Road in Wanakena, NY
- Peavine Swamp trailhead, located on NYS Route 3 west of Cranberry Lake, NY
- DEC Boat Launch trailhead on Columbian Road in Cranberry Lake, NY
- Cranberry Lake Community Center in Cranberry Lake, NY (behind center)
- Gilbert Tract trailhead, located on NYS Route 3 just east of Cranberry Lake, NY
- Burntbridge Pond/Brandy Brook trailhead, located on NYS Route 3 about two
miles east of Cranberry Lake, NY
Our first day starting from the High Falls Loop Trail was met with beaver dam after beaver dam, some of them easier to traverse than others.
I was extremely thankful to have my Trekking poles on hand, using it to vault over submerged sections of the path. My rockadia shoes also managed to resist most the water, and breathe the rest, for the most part. This was the biggest challenge for the first day.
We went roughly 10-11 miles the first day making a pit stop at High Rock and later taking a short off-shoot to High Falls Loop Trail to camp for the night. On the way down the trail to camp you’ll see some extremely old logging machines, a rare and fun find while in the middle of nowhere.
High falls had 3 sites that I could find marked, a lean-to and two privative sites, one isolated and the other a little over grown. The site provided flowing water at the falls, plenty of fallen wood for fires, a privy behind the lean-to and plenty of space for hikers.
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Day Two of the CL50, Making it to East Inlet Flow
The second day was much rougher on us and probably cost us the hike. We pushed roughly 20 miles or so from high falls to the east inlet flow. This day was crazy starting with a a nice steady elevation, before turning into rolling hills, and a few beaver dams.
Before passing around Cat Mountain, there is a turn off to go back to Wanakeena if you’re worried about going further. While passing around Cat Mountain, no cats were to be found. However, it is said the occasional mountain lion can be seen, though experts say they’re extinct in the region.
The next junction offers off-shoots to various trails and campsites. We continued following CL50 markers down “Six Mile Creek Trail” to Olmstead Pond, where we took the more direct route past the falls. There wasn’t anything too notable along this section, however, the falls are worth the detour if you’re looking to take a quick dip or want some flowing water.
The rolling hills really started hitting about this point onward and continued until we passed dog pond. By that point we had switched on to the Otter Brook Trail and were a few miles off from east inlet flow where we ended up tenting. Looking back, I wish we had stayed at Dog Pond or Curtis, and saved the energy and damage to our feet.
East inlet flow has plenty of spaces for camping, and was actually where we camped the first night the first time we did the CL50. With roughly 4 spots, all with quality space and views of the lake, East inlet flow is probably my favorite place to camp on this trail. No privy at the further end, but I believe one of the sites does have one.
Day Three on Our Way to Route 3
Walking out of here down Burnbridge Pond Trail and the East Connector Trail was fairly level. However, beavers had again shifted the trail and forced us to walk around another dam. This was the only major obstacle before finally reaching Route 3.
From Rt 3 you’ll follow the road into the town of Cranberry Lake, until you reach the Peavine Swamp.
While we cut out the Peavine Swamp section this time, we hiked it during a prior trip. it didn’t provide too much of a challenge, Sections of this trail are open to dirt bikers, so it is well maintained. If you decide to camp out this way, the lean-to and camp site near the SUNY E&F Range School provides a great look at the lake but doesn’t have immediate access to the lake.
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