Every named pond in the Adirondack Park — quiet waters, lean-to destinations, swimming holes. Browse by region or jump to a name.
Deer Pond is a 21-acre water in the Old Forge area — small enough to miss on a map, but part of the dense pond-and-stream network that defines this corner of the western Adirondacks. No fish species data on file, which typically means light fishing pressure and no regular stocking; it's the kind of pond that gets visited by paddlers threading between bigger waters or by hunters who know it from October. Access details are sparse in the official record — common for ponds this size in Old Forge's backcountry, where informal carry-in routes and old logging roads dominate. If you're planning a trip, confirm access and conditions locally before heading in.
Deer Pond sits off the Old Forge grid — a 24-acre pond in the middle of the Moose River Plains that doesn't appear on many paddler itineraries but holds its place in the network of quiet waters west of the main tourist corridor. No formal fisheries data on file, which often means intermittent brookies or seasonal warmwater catch depending on connectivity and winter kill cycles. Access depends on whether you're coming by foot or boat from adjacent ponds — this is working wilderness, not trailhead country, and the appeal is in the silence more than the amenities. Bring a map; cell service is theoretical at best.
Desert Pond is a six-acre pocket water in the Old Forge corridor — small enough to miss on a map, tucked into the working forest south of the Moose River Recreation Area. No fish records on file, no formal trail infrastructure, no campsite register — this is the kind of place locals know by way of a logging road and a short bushwhack, not by an ADK trail sign. The name likely references the sandy, nutrient-poor soil common to glacial outwash zones in this part of the park, not any lack of water. If you're looking for it, you already know why.
Diana Pond is a 30-acre water in the Old Forge area — small enough to feel tucked away, large enough to paddle without circling every ten minutes. No fish stocking records on file, which usually means it's either too shallow for trout or it's holding populations nobody's bothered to survey and report. The pond sits in the working recreation zone west of the High Peaks, where the landscape opens up into bigger stretches of softwood lowland and the access questions tend to sort themselves by vehicle clearance and local knowledge. If you're headed that direction, confirm access and parking with the local ranger station or a nearby outfitter — Old Forge waters can be deceptively private or deceptively easy depending on which turn you take.
Dismal Pond sits northeast of Old Forge in the central Adirondack plateau — 65 acres of quiet water with a name that undersells the setting. The pond occupies a low basin in working forest country, accessible by informal roads and bushwhack routes rather than marked state trails, which keeps most casual traffic pointed toward the bigger Old Forge chain lakes to the west. No fish stocking records on file, and no lean-tos or designated campsites — this is ground better suited to paddlers comfortable reading contour lines and navigating by USGS quad. Bring a compass and leave the crowds at First Lake.
Doe Pond is a nine-acre pocket water in the Old Forge area — small enough that it doesn't pull traffic from the bigger tourist draws but large enough to hold a canoe for an hour or two of quiet paddling. No fish species data on record, which usually means either unstocked native brookies or functionally fishless; local knowledge wins here. Access details are thin, which in the Old Forge region often means private land or informal shore access through a seasonal camp corridor — confirm access before you go. Worth a look if you're already in the area and mapping the smaller waters, but not a destination pond on its own.
Doe Pond is a five-acre pocket water in the Old Forge township — small enough that it sits below the threshold where most anglers and paddlers register a mental bookmark. No fish stocking records on file, no formal trail designation, no lean-to — the kind of water that shows up on the USGS quad but rarely in trip reports. It's either private, hard-access, or both, which in the Old Forge corridor usually means logging-road approaches or a put-in that requires asking permission. If you're counting named waters for completeness, it's here; if you're planning a weekend, look elsewhere.
Drunkard Pond sits off the Moose River Road corridor south of Old Forge — 12 acres of backcountry water in the low country west of the main tourist flow. The name alone marks it as one of the old logging-era ponds that dot this stretch of state land, where the forest history runs deeper than the recreation infrastructure. No fish stocking records on file, which usually means wild brookies or nothing at all — worth a cast if you're already in the area, but not a destination fishery. Access details are sparse; if you're hunting it down, start with the Moose River Plains Wild Forest maps and plan for bushwhacking or old jeep roads that may or may not still be passable.
Duck Pond is a nine-acre pond in the Old Forge area — small enough that it doesn't pull crowds, large enough that it holds water through a dry August. No fish data on record, which usually means it's either too shallow to winter over trout or it's simply unstocked and overlooked. The name suggests it was likely a local hunting or trapping spot a century back, when every modest pond had a canoe stashed in the alders and a purpose. Worth a look if you're working through the back roads around Old Forge and want to see what a working Adirondack pond looks like without the DEC signs.
Dwight Pond is a five-acre pocket water in the Old Forge area — small enough that most paddlers blow past it on their way to bigger destinations, which is precisely its appeal. No official fish data on record, but ponds this size in the Fulton Chain corridor tend to hold panfish or the occasional stocked brook trout from years past. Access details are sparse, and without nearby trail listings or lean-tos it's likely tucked into private or semi-private land — worth a local inquiry at an Old Forge outfitter before loading the canoe. If you can get on it, you'll have it to yourself.
