Every named river in the Adirondack Park — the Hudson, the Moose, the Raquette, the Sacandaga, and the rivers that drain the High Peaks.
Ampersand Brook drains the northern slopes of Ampersand Mountain and feeds into the Saranac River system near Tupper Lake — a cold, steep-gradient stream that runs through mixed hardwood and hemlock corridors. The brook takes its name from the mountain it drains, which itself was named for a surveyor's mark that looked like an ampersand (&) on early maps. Most paddlers and anglers encounter it as a feeder or crossing rather than a destination — it's shallow, fast, and overhung with alders in its lower reaches. The upper headwaters are accessible only via the Ampersand Mountain trailhead, where the brook runs audibly through the woods on the approach hike.
The Ausable River splits into two major branches — the East and West — that drain most of the High Peaks before converging near Au Sable Forks and running north to Lake Champlain. The East Branch cuts through Keene and Keene Valley, shadowing NY-73 past Chapel Pond and the Roaring Brook trailhead; the West Branch runs parallel through Wilmington and drops over High Falls Gorge before meeting the main stem. Both branches hold wild brook trout in their upper reaches and stocked trout downstream, and both are catch-and-release fly-fishing destinations with seasonal hatches that pull anglers from downstate and Vermont. The river's two faces — whitewater in spring, wading-depth pocket water by August — make it a year-round corridor through the range.
The Ausable River is the drainage spine of the northeast High Peaks — two main branches (East and West) that converge in the hamlet of Ausable Forks before emptying into Lake Champlain. The West Branch cuts through Wilmington Notch and Lake Placid; the East Branch runs the length of Keene Valley, passing trailheads for most of the major peaks between Chapel Pond and Johns Brook Lodge. Both branches are classic Adirondack freestone streams — pocket water, cold gradient flows, wild brookies in the headwaters, and occasional browns lower down. The river corridor doubles as the region's recreational artery: every paddler, angler, and hiker in the northeast quarter of the Park crosses it eventually.
The Ausable River is actually two rivers — the East Branch and the West Branch — both rising in the High Peaks and merging near Au Sable Forks before emptying into Lake Champlain. The West Branch drains the Lake Placid corridor and drops through Wilmington Notch; the East Branch cuts through the heart of the Keene Valley climbing and hiking zone, paralleling NY-73 past Chapel Pond and the Garden trailhead. Both branches are cold, fast, and boulder-strewn — classic Adirondack freestone streams with wild brook trout in the headwaters and stocked browns and rainbows in the lower accessible stretches. The river is as much a landmark as a fishery: if you're hiking Giant, Gothics, or any peak launching from the Keene Valley, you've crossed it.
The Ausable River is one of the Adirondack Park's defining waterways — splitting into the East and West branches above Keene and converging at Ausable Forks before draining north toward Lake Champlain. The West Branch runs through the heart of High Peaks country alongside NY-73, threading past Chapel Pond, the Cascade Lakes, and Lake Placid; the East Branch drains the slopes of Giant, Noonmark, and the Great Range. Both branches hold wild brook trout and occasional browns; fly fishing pressure is steady but manageable outside the Wilmington Notch corridor. Public road access is scattered — pull-offs along 73, bridges in Keene and Keene Valley, put-ins for paddlers willing to read water and portage around ledges.
