Squirrel Ponds — one acre, tucked into the Old Forge township's sprawl of named and unnamed water — sits on the quiet end of the town's paddle-and-portage inventory. No fish data on record, no trailhead coordinates that show up on DEC lists, which usually means private access or landlocked by private holdings with no established public easement. The name suggests a surveyor's joke or a local holdover; dozens of small ponds in the Fulton Chain corridor carry names like this — mapped, named, technically public water, but functionally off-limits unless you know a landowner. Worth a call to the Old Forge Visitor Center if you're chasing obscure water; they keep informal notes on what's reachable and what isn't.
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.
+12 more on the map above
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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Write a field note →Wrong elevation, outdated access notes, a coordinate that's drifted.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.
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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.
