Every named stream in the Adirondack Park — the feeder waters that line the High Peaks valleys and fill the ponds.
Hammond Brook drains the northern slopes above Keene, working its way through hardwood and hemlock before joining the Ausable system — one of dozens of named tributaries that feed the East Branch watershed but rarely get fished or followed on foot. No formal trail tracks the brook, and the stretch above the valley floor stays wild enough that most locals know it only as a blue line on the map or a culvert under Adirondack Street. The brook runs cold in spring and early summer, holds native brookies in its upper pockets, and goes quiet by August. If you're poking around Keene Valley and see a pull-off near a stone bridge, that's likely Hammond — worth a look if you're killing time before dinner at the Noon Mark.
Haystack Brook drains the northern slopes of the Great Range, running northeast through the Keene Valley backcountry before joining Johns Brook near the Garden parking area. The stream picks up volume in spring melt and after heavy rain — by midsummer it's a series of shallow pools and moss-covered cascades, the kind of cold-water trickle you cross on boot stones rather than wade. It's not a fishing destination and there's no formal trail that follows it end-to-end, but it shows up on USGS quads and you'll hear it before you see it if you're bushwhacking the ridges between Gothics and Haystack. The name likely references Haystack Mountain to the south, though the brook itself stays low in the drainage.
Hoisington Brook runs through the Keene valley floor — one of several cold, clear tributary streams that feed the East Branch of the Ausable River as it drops through town. The brook is small-scale water: shallow runs over gravel and bedrock, pocket pools under cut banks, the kind of stream you cross on a hike rather than fish for an afternoon. No formal access points or designated campsites, but the brook's headwaters push into the backcountry northwest of town, and its lower reaches pass through private land and working valley farmsteads. If you're poking around Keene proper, you'll see it — cold, fast, ankle-deep in most seasons.
Hopkins Brook runs through the Keene Valley corridor — one of dozens of named tributaries that feed the East Branch of the Ausable River as it drains the High Peaks watershed. The stream appears on older USGS quads but lacks the kind of formal access or angler attention that drives current fish survey data; it's a connector drainage, not a destination. If you're fishing the Ausable system, Hopkins Brook is the kind of feeder that holds brookies in the spring but dries to pocket water by August. Worth a look if you're already working upstream from Johns Brook or the East Branch confluence, but not a detour on its own.
