Every named pond in the Adirondack Park — quiet waters, lean-to destinations, swimming holes. Browse by region or jump to a name.
Mahan Pond is a one-acre pocket water in the Old Forge town sprawl — small enough that it barely registers on most recreation maps, but it's there, tucked into the working landscape between Route 28 corridor development and the larger Fulton Chain system to the north. No fish stocking records, no formal access points, no reason to paddle it unless you're cataloging every named water in Herkimer County or you live within sight of it. This is filler habitat — the kind of pond that exists because the glaciers left a depression and the alders filled in around it.
Massawepie Pond — 19 acres tucked into the Bog River / Limekiln Lake corner of the western Adirondacks — is a working pond in the old sense: it's part of a cluster of waters (Massawepie Lake to the north, the Bog River flow system to the east) that saw serious logging traffic in the early 20th century and still carries the scars and access traces of that era. The name is Abenaki — "place of much water" — and the pond itself sits in low, marshy country where wetland fingers connect one basin to the next. No fish data on record, which usually means either unstocked brookies or nothing at all. Access from the Old Forge / Thendara corridor runs through a maze of seasonal roads and private inholdings — confirm access and parking before committing to the drive.
McCabe Pond is a three-acre pocket water in the Old Forge area — small enough that it doesn't appear on most recreational maps, which usually means either private land or a seasonal wetland tucked into working forest. No fish species on record, no marked trail access, no public camping infrastructure. Waters this size in the Old Forge corridor tend to be headwater feeders or beaver-modified drainages rather than destinations — worth noting if you're studying watershed connections or doing wetland survey work, but not a place you'll find a put-in or a campsite.
Meister Pond is a seven-acre water in the Old Forge township — small enough that it doesn't show up on most recreational radar, but mapped and named, which usually means private access or a local put-in known to year-round residents more than seasonal visitors. No fish data on file with DEC, which tracks with ponds this size in working forest or residential zones where stocking and surveys don't justify the effort. Old Forge proper sits in a web of interconnected waters — the Fulton Chain, Nick's Lake, the Moose River — so a pond this size typically lives in the margins, either a backwater arm of a larger system or a landlocked basin tucked into second-growth pine and hardwood between camps.
Middle South Pond is a 44-acre water tucked into the Old Forge tract — part of the sprawling state forest mosaic west of the Fulton Chain, where ponds outnumber trails and most access is by old logging road or bushwhack. No fish stocking records on file, which usually means native brookies or nothing at all; worth a scouting trip if you're already working the area. The name suggests it's one of several South Ponds in the vicinity — a common naming pattern in this corner of the park, where survey crews ran out of imagination before they ran out of water. Expect quiet, expect solitude, and bring a GPS unit.
Mikes Pond is a three-acre pocket water in the Old Forge township — small enough that it likely sees more use from whoever owns the nearest camp than from the paddling public. No fish species on record, no nearby peaks, no formal access noted in state records — the kind of named water that exists more as a property landmark than a recreation destination. In a region dense with larger, road-accessible ponds (Fourth Lake is two miles west, the Fulton Chain stretches north), Mikes Pond holds its obscurity honestly. If you're on it, you either own shoreline or you bushwhacked in with a reason.
Moose Pond is a 24-acre pocket water in the Old Forge township — small enough to paddle in an hour, large enough to feel like you've left the main corridor. No fish species data on file with DEC, which usually means it's either stocked intermittently or not managed for angling at all; locals might know otherwise. The Old Forge area runs dense with named ponds and unmaintained connectors, so if access isn't obvious from a boat launch or a marked trailhead, assume it's a bushwhack or a local's route. Worth a knock on the door at an outfitter in town — they'll know if it's swimmable, fishable, or just a quiet paddle with a thermos.
Moshier Ponds — a 67-acre pond system in the Old Forge township — sits in the middle ground between the region's heavily trafficked reservoir chains and the true backcountry ponds of the West Canada Lakes. The name suggests multiple basins, likely connected by channels or beaver-modified wetland, but the ponds don't appear on most tourist loop itineraries and lack the DEC pressure of nearby waters like Rondaxe or Moss Lake. No fish species data on file, which usually means limited stocking history and minimal angling traffic. Worth investigating if you're mapping the less-documented corners of the Fulton Chain watershed.
Mouldy Pond is a 23-acre water in the Old Forge area — the name alone tells you it's likely tucked in a low, boggy basin where drainage moves slow and the shoreline runs soft. No fish stocking records on file, which usually means either nobody's looking or the pond runs too shallow and warm in summer to hold trout year-round. Old Forge sits at the southwestern edge of the park where the terrain flattens out and the ponds multiply — Mouldy is one of dozens of small waters in that network, most of them better known to locals with canoes than to through-hikers. If you're hunting it down, expect wetland access and bring boots that can take mud.
Mountain Pond is a 14-acre water in the Old Forge area — small enough that it doesn't appear on most regional shortlists, but that's often the point in a town where the larger lakes pull the weekend traffic. No fish species data on record, which typically means it's either marginal habitat or simply under-surveyed; either way, it's not a destination for anglers. The pond sits in the working forest and recreation patchwork west of the core Wild Forest blocks, where access and use patterns vary widely depending on adjacent landowner agreements. If you're looking for it, confirm current public access and parking before you make the drive.
Mountain Pond is a 15-acre backcountry water tucked into the Old Forge township — small enough to feel private, large enough to paddle a loop worth the carry. No formal fish stocking records on file, which typically means wild brook trout or nothing at all; local anglers will know which. Access details are sparse in the official record, but ponds of this size in the Old Forge corridor are usually reached by unmarked woods roads or old logging trails rather than maintained DEC routes. Bring a compass, a good topo, and low expectations for signage.
Mud Pond is a nine-acre water in the Old Forge township — small enough that it rarely shows up on regional recreation lists, and common enough as a name (there are at least a dozen Mud Ponds across the Adirondack Park) that it tends to blend into the background noise of the local hydrography. No fish data on record, which usually means either unstocked and surveyed cold, or simply too small and shallow to hold a year-round population. Worth checking DEC town parcel maps if you're looking for access — ponds this size in the Old Forge area are a mix of private shoreline, paper-company legacy parcels, and the occasional state easement or trail connection that doesn't make it onto the standard recreational maps.
Mud Pond is an 18-acre water in the Old Forge area — a working name that shows up on the topo and likely sees more moose traffic than human traffic in a typical summer. No fish stocking records on file, which usually means either native brookies that never got surveyed or a pond that doesn't hold oxygen through winter drawdown. Access details aren't documented in the standard trail inventories, so this is either private-access or bushwhack-only — worth a closer look at the DEC land classifications and a conversation with someone at the Old Forge visitor center before you plan a trip in. The Old Forge corridor has dozens of small ponds like this one: named, mapped, and mostly left alone.
Mud Pond sits in the Old Forge area — a 46-acre water with no public record of fish stocking or surveyed species, which usually means it's either beaver-maintained shallow water or strictly catch-and-release brook trout habitat that hasn't made it onto DEC lists. The name tells you what to expect: soft bottom, probable wetland margins, and the kind of paddling that's more about watching herons work the shallows than about making miles. Access and launch details aren't widely documented, so if you're heading out, expect to ask locally or scout from a topo map. Old Forge waters without maintained trails tend to reward the curious but punish the unprepared.
Mud Pond — four acres tucked somewhere in the Old Forge township — is one of those small, un-storied waters that dot the working Adirondack landscape between the bigger lakes and the trail systems. No fish data on file, no nearby peaks worth naming, no formal access that pulls it into the recreation economy. It's the kind of pond that exists on the USGS quad but not in the guidebooks — a scrap of open water in second-growth forest, visible from a logging road or a neighbor's back forty, more landmark than destination. If you know where it is, you already know why you're there.
Mud Pond is one of dozens of small ponds scattered through the Old Forge township — at 10 acres, it's the kind of water that shows up on topographic maps but rarely in guidebooks. No fish stocking records on file, no trail register, no lean-to — which means it's either a bushwhack destination for someone with a compass and a reason, or it's a put-in for a local who knows the logging road. The name tells you what you need to know about the bottom. If you're looking for a pond to paddle in the Old Forge area, start with the Fulton Chain or the ponds off the Moose River Plains — this one earns its obscurity.
Muir Pond is an 11-acre pond in the Old Forge area — small enough to slip past most maps, large enough to hold water worth finding. No fish stocking records on file, which usually means either legacy brookies or nothing at all; the pond's size and remoteness suggest the former is possible but not guaranteed. Access details are sparse in the DEC records, which in the Old Forge region often means seasonal logging roads, private inholdings, or a put-in that depends on knowing which turn to take. Worth a reconnaissance trip if you're working through the deeper Old Forge inventory — but confirm access before you commit the afternoon.
Muskrat Pond is an 18-acre water tucked into the Old Forge township — small enough to slip past most maps, large enough to hold its own character. No fish records on file, no maintained trail markers leading in, no DEC campsites flagged on the shore — which means it's either privately held, lightly documented, or both. The Old Forge area is dense with small ponds like this: some are legacy hunting-camp waters, some are remnants of the town-lot survey grid, and most reward the kind of local knowledge that doesn't make it into guidebooks. Worth asking at the town office or a local outfitter before bushwhacking in.
Muskrat Pond is a 15-acre water tucked into the Old Forge township — small enough that it doesn't pull the crowds but big enough to paddle if you can get a boat in. No fish species data on file with DEC, which usually means either marginal habitat or a pond that doesn't get stocked and doesn't get sampled. The Old Forge area is webbed with old logging roads and informal access points, so local knowledge tends to trump the guidebook here. Worth a knock on doors or a question at the town office if you're curious — ponds this size often have a story that lives in a pickup truck, not on a trail register.
