Raquette Falls and Calkins Brook

Where: Raquette Falls

Length: 10 miles (round trip)

Difficulty: Moderate. Less difficult than the length implies because the route follows a horse trail with a relatively smooth surface. A few ups and downs along the way will test your legs on the way out. A side trip to Calkins Brook extends this route, but it is separate.

Access: The parking area is on the Coreys Road. This intersection is from Route 3, three miles north of where Routes 30 and 3 split, north of Tupper Lake. Follow the Coreys road for three miles to the large parking area on the right (south side). This is the parking for the Raquette Falls Horse Trail. 

Two Videos on YouTube:
Water and Light
The Sound of the River

There is no real connection between the hikes to Raquette Falls and Calkins Brook, except that they start at the same trail-head. And, it is probably safe to say that not many people visit both in a single outing, the combined route covers over 19 miles. However, most of that is on old truck trails that make for fast walking, and, a perfect October day in the Adirondacks can lead one to get carried away.

Raquette Falls is very familiar to canoeists paddling the popular route from Long Lake to the Saranac Lakes. The river narrows and passes over a series of rapids and falls, dropping about 60 feet in a mile. Canoeists carry around this section along a well-worn carry trail.

The Raquette River near Lower Raquette Falls

But, the hiking trail to the falls is little used, probably because it is a nine mile round trip. And that does not include walking along the river to see the cascades. If you go, expect to do around ten miles in total. That's a long walk, but this hike is made easier by the easy walking along the old truck-trail  (now designated as a horse trail) and by the scenery you pass along the way. The river, or the flood plain along the river, are in sight for most of the second half of the route. On a nice fall day this makes for a spectacularly colorful landscape to pass through.

The river below the falls.

The gorge below the lower falls.

Along Palmer Brook, near where it crosses the Raquette Falls Trail.

Along the trail, the flood plain of the Raquette River is broad resulting in large, open, meadows. Seen here in late afternoon light.

The Ranger cabin at Raquette Falls. Canoeists on the Raquette river fill the lean-tos and camping areas near the falls, leading DEC to maintain the Interior Outpost nearby. This is one of the last of the Interior Outposts still in use. Most were removed when the wilderness designation came into use.

Calkins Brook
The destination for a day-hike to Calkins Brook is the camping area sited along the brook, seven miles south of the Coreys Road trail-head. This spot is about five mils north of Shattuck Clearing, in a remote area of the High Peak Wilderness. The brook is pretty, but the main appeal of this route is that it leads into a remote and raw wilderness. This spot is far away from the peak bagging hordes seen elsewhere in the High Peaks. The trail continues past the lean-tos to Shattuck Clearing, and the Northville-Lake Placid Trail, making it a good entry point for backpacking trips into a remote area.

Like the trail to Raquette Falls, the route to Calkins Brook follows a route designated as a horse trail. And, with the exception of a very wet, one-mile stretch over the well-named "Mud Mountain", it is smooth and easy walking.  The Calkins Brook trail joins a a second horse trail one mile north of the lean-tos. This route comes down from the main Seward Range parking area, also located on the Coreys Road and this is probably the more popular approach. But, popular is relative, and there was little evidence of usage seen in either the trails or the camping area.

The bridge over Calkins Brook has partially collapsed into the stream. This heavy-duty bridge was probably designed to carry truck traffic when this old road was a "truck-trail". In more recent years it would have provided passage for horses. However, the downed bridge is clearly slated for repair, as evidenced by the large pile of new lumber sitting nearby.

Fallen trees partially block the crossing but, with care, hikers can still cross.  

Arriving at Calkins Brook without a fishing pool is just poor planning. I don't know if the brook has good fishing, but it looks like it should.

The crystal clear waters of Calkins Brook.

The lean-tos at Calkins Brook are in very good shape. You can tell that this location sees very little use. Two Paper Birch trees, situated between the lean-tos, have large flaps of lose bark hanging off. You don't see that at heavily used sites.

Much or the route passes through mature second growth forests, but even the younger stands are pretty on a sunny October day.

Along Palmer Brook, passed along the way.