Boreas Ponds - September 16, 2026

Portage down to the put-in

My second trip with the RICKA group in the Adirondacks was to Boreas Ponds – perhaps the prettiest lake that I have ever paddled. Pictures don't do it justice.

The Boreas Ponds are an interconnected group of three ponds (First, Second and Third) with striking views of the High Peaks, including Mount Marcy, Mount Haystack, the Gothics and Saddleback Mountain. The lake gets its name from the Boreas River, which was named around 1829 after Boreas, the Greek god of the north wind and winter storms, reflecting the area's notoriously harsh winters.

Scott with the High Peaks in the distance

For over a century, the Boreas Ponds region was owned by paper company Finch, Pruyn & Co. The company built a timber dam at the outlet, which raised the water levels and created interconnected 320-acre lake that you see today.

In 2007, Finch, Pruyn put this historic timberland up for sale. The Nature Conservancy purchased the property to prevent it from being purchased by a private developer. Much of the land was eventually added to the High Peaks Wilderness Area.

Canoes at the lunch stop

We met at 9:00 for the drive out to Gulf Brook Road - a seasonal dirt road located off Blue Ridge Road. We continued up to the Four Corners Parking Area. From there it is a 1-mile portage down a gravel road to the put-in - a high wheeled cart is recommended. We were accompanied on the portage by Scott who was heading down to a near-by lean-to. He took a trail off to the left just before the put-in.

The view from the put-in gives you no sense of the beautiful views that await you on the lake. We paddled up a short inlet and turned north, and there it was - a spectacular view of the High Peaks. We saw Scott paddling out from the lean-to, so we hooked up and he gave us a great tour of the ponds. We stopped for lunch at the northern end before returning to the put-in.

Selfie with the mountains in the distance

On the way back to the cars we took a detour to check out the near-by lean-to. In 1996, Finch, Pruyn built a massive wooden lodge on this site for use by its corporate executives. With the transition to the wilderness area the lodge was demolished and replaced with a simple shelter with a million-dollar view. Not a bad place to spend the night.

After checking out the lean-to, we continued the portage back to the cars and returned to Eaton Lake.

One last view of the mountains as we head back to the put-in

Links:
My Pictures
Boreas Ponds Tract

High Peaks Wilderness Area