Every named pond in the Adirondack Park — quiet waters, lean-to destinations, swimming holes. Browse by region or jump to a name.
Calfhead Pond is a two-acre pocket water in the Old Forge township — small enough that it likely holds more interest as a bushwhack destination or a named dot on the map than as a fishing or paddling objective. No fish stocking records on file, no formal trail access, no nearby campsite infrastructure — the kind of water that shows up in the DEC inventory but doesn't generate its own trip reports. If you're already in the area with a topo map and a tolerance for wet feet, it's there; otherwise, the nearby Fulton Chain and the bigger ponds south of Old Forge offer clearer reasons to stop. Worth confirming access and ownership before heading in.
Canal Basin Park is a two-acre pond tucked into the heart of Old Forge village — more of a municipal quiet-water feature than a backcountry destination, but part of the Fulton Chain watershed that defines the western edge of the park. The basin serves as a low-key put-in for paddlers testing gear before committing to the bigger lakes, and it's rimmed by groomed parkland that makes it one of the few named waters in the region where you can launch a kayak without a trail approach. No fish data on record, which likely means it's treated more as ornamental water than fishable habitat. If you're overnighting in Old Forge and need an hour of flat water before breakfast, this is the answer.
Chub Pond is a 103-acre water in the Old Forge area — mid-sized by town-of-Webb standards, where the ponds run small and the lakes run long. The name suggests native fallfish (*Semotilus corporalis*), a creek chub that thrives in Adirondack stillwaters, though no recent fish survey data is on file. Access and ownership details are unclear — many ponds in this drainage sit behind private shoreline or require local knowledge to reach by bushwhack or unmarked logging road. If you're looking to fish it, check with an Old Forge tackle shop or the DEC Ray Brook office for current status.
Clear Pond is an eight-acre pocket water in the Old Forge area — small enough that it doesn't pull a crowd, large enough that it holds its own as a destination if you're in the neighborhood. No fish stocking records on file, which usually means brookies if anything, or nothing at all. The name shows up on the DEC inventory but not much else — one of those ponds that exists more as a map dot than a known quantity, which in the Old Forge lake district means it's either tucked behind private land or just far enough off the main drags that paddlers stick to Fourth Lake instead.
Cliff Pond is a 7-acre pocket water in the Old Forge area — small enough that it doesn't show up on most planning maps, and quiet enough that it stays that way. No fish stocking records on file, which usually means either natural brook trout populations or nothing at all; local knowledge is the only reliable intel here. The name suggests rock ledges at the shoreline or a bluff somewhere in the drainage — common enough in this part of the western Adirondacks, where the topography shifts from flat pine flats to abrupt granite ridges without much warning. Worth a look if you're already in the area and chasing small water; don't plan a weekend around it.
Cranberry Pond is a 21-acre water tucked into the Old Forge working forest — one of those ponds named for what grows at the shoreline rather than what swims beneath it. No fish survey data on file with DEC, which typically means minimal stocking history and a pond that's either too shallow, too acidic, or periodically winterkills. Access details are thin: likely reached by seasonal logging road or unmaintained trail, and the kind of place you find by asking at a local outfitter rather than following a trailhead sign. Worth the scout if you're looking for solitude and don't need the promise of brookies.
Cross Pond is a five-acre pocket water in the Old Forge township — small enough that it doesn't pull day-trippers off the Fulton Chain corridor, quiet enough that it holds the kind of stillness the bigger lakes traded away decades ago. No formal access or maintained trail on record, which usually means private shoreline or a bushwhack approach through working forestland — worth confirming ownership and access rights before heading in. The pond sits in the working forest between the tourist infrastructure of Old Forge and the true backcountry to the north and west, a category of water that exists more on old survey maps than in contemporary paddling guides. No fish species data on file, which isn't uncommon for small ponds outside the stocked rotation.
