Big Five sits in the dense forest south of Raquette Lake village — a sixteen-acre pond with no formal public access and no fish stocking records in the DEC system. The name suggests either a surveyor's grid designation or an old hunting camp reference, but no historical marker survives in the record. Ponds this size in the Raquette drainage often hold wild brookies or perch that wandered in during high water, but without maintained trails or documented put-ins, Big Five stays off most paddlers' lists. Best known to locals with property access or hunters working the surrounding hardwood ridges in October.
Closest parking lots within range, ranked by walking distance. Accessibility flags come from Google verified-data; surface and capacity from OpenStreetMap. Confirm hours and seasonal closures before you go.
+3 more on the map above
Free, takes thirty seconds. Yours forever.
Every page on this site gets better when readers contribute. Mark a peak you’ve climbed, drop a photo, file a field note, or flag a correction — every addition makes the next visitor’s page better.
Sunrise on the dock, a cairn at the summit, a bend on the trail. Your camera roll, our archive.
Add a photo →Trail conditions, water level, bug pressure, blowdown. The kind of detail that helps the next person plan.
Write a field note →Wrong elevation, outdated access notes, a coordinate that's drifted. We'd rather hear it than miss it.
Suggest an edit →
What to do, where to stay, and what's reopening across the Park as the snow melts and the calendar fills.
A complete planning guide: difficulty by peak, common combo days, seasonal realities, and a sortable, filterable table of every summit.
Overnight, day, and trip camps in the Park — the camp belt, choosing the right fit, costs and financial aid, ACA accreditation, and the questions every parent should ask before they commit.