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Little Forked Lake

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  • Little Forked Lake

    I recently tried exploring western Forked Lake. I would also like to explore to the North into Little Forked Lake.

    Is it legal to do so? I got as far as the house on the point but had to turn back because of choppiness. I don't want to trespass on private property so any idea as to how far I can go?

    I remember a canoe buddy telling me about a chain across the Lake at some point. That was many moons ago but I don't want to piss anyone off.
    Appreciate any advice.

  • #2
    While it's been some years since I've been that far north, there used to be a fence (with a locked gate?) across a perhaps 20 ft wide section blocking passage into "Little Forked Lake", the dead end bay at the extreme N end. This leads to the Whitney Deerland Camp property.

    Paddling up until there (but not past) is legal - though all the land N of the long E/W section is privately owned and posted. There is no right of passage into the Deerland area.

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    • #3
      I was just up there a few weeks ago and fence is well intact, which means if you try to go around it you'll be trespassing on land. But, the bass were biting!
      Life's short, hunt hard!

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      • #4
        Thanks for the info. I usually stick to the water and haven't fished in 20 years.

        I noticed that Forked Lake is along a West to East line. Is it more choppier than other Lakes? On the way back I slowed down by a third because of the wind. Just wondering if that's typical.

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        • #5
          Prevailing winds are from the West in the park so when you are trip planning, give that some thought.
          We once tried a route starting from Lower Saranac heading West paddling a 20 foot wood and canvas. With winds blowing over 20 miles an hour into our faces my wife and I bailed on our route about halfway up the lake. We could not hold a line worth a bean. We overnighted on an island and spent the night hoping our tent would not get blown away. Since then I have almost always set our routes going the other direction if we plan to be on the bigger lakes. With the kids grown, the 20 footer is also not used as often.....that was one tough boat on the long carries and a mother to paddles into the wing with gear and two kids.

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          • #6
            Originally posted by cityboy View Post
            Thanks for the info. I usually stick to the water and haven't fished in 20 years.

            I noticed that Forked Lake is along a West to East line. Is it more choppier than other Lakes? On the way back I slowed down by a third because of the wind. Just wondering if that's typical.
            I paddled/fished almost the entire lake while camping there a few weeks ago. My trip was over 12 miles It was windy, out of the northwest. If you put in at the west launch where the canoe carry is from Raquette you can get up into the big bay right from there. Or, paddle west to a few campsites near the fen on the west end. A woman I spoke with showed me photos of a sow and cub she saw near those campsites that morning.
            Life's short, hunt hard!

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            • #7
              Buck,
              What about "riparian" rights?
              Can the landowners deny access to Little Forked?
              jim

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              • #8
                N/A & yes the owners are within their rights to deny access. One cannot paddle N thru Little Forked & reach public land on the other side on a navigable waterway. As previously mentioned, this is a dead end waterway surrounded by private land.

                Lots more on this subject in threads related to Shingle Shanty Brook. That case was unusual in that only after the Whitneys sold land by Little Tupper Lake to NY State did SSB become paddeble as a "through trip" - public land on either side of their property.

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                • #9
                  As Bob K says… this body does not fit the Shingle Shanty situation, at least from my understanding... there is no public land reachable by traveling through it, so it isn't a "road way", they own the entire lake shoreline. In fact, almost all of the main Forked lake is privately owned as well. The only pubic land at either end of the man part and along the south shore. This apparently allows you to paddle around Forked lake, but not little forked lake, does not allow you to land on private shoreline though.

                  When we went there, the rope across the outlet was easily passed, there was wire fence, but it was misshapen, rusted and mostly sunk, but i could make out the "no trespassing sign 1.5' below the tannin colored water. We were very disappointed as we were planning on camping at the north end… innocent neophyte naiveté.
                  WE peeked around a point and saw the camp and even though at the time we didn't have a map that designated private/public lands, we left… never got out of the canoe. This was a long time ago now, early 80's. After I got back, I procured a public/private land map to avoid private land in future.


                  MAP:
                  At top right- select "MAP".
                  Green areas are public, white areas are private land.

                  Go up to Shingle Shanty and you can see the portion of the creek in question connects public to public lands.
                  Last edited by RichieC; 08-30-2015, 11:42 AM.

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