Bear Mountain

Hiking in Adirondack Park

Bear Mountain

The Cranberry Lake region is one of the largest remote areas remaining in the state. There has been only a minimum of civilized encroachment on the lake itself. Just to the south of the lake, lie thousands of acres of rolling hills, numerous lakes and ponds, and unbroken forest lands showing little or no marks of civilization.

Bear Mountain Trail (red, 2.4 miles)
This is a loop trail, beginning at a parking lot adjacent to Campsite 27 in the Cranberry Lake campground and ending in Loop IV. Several vistas overlook the lake from the mountain; a lean-to is located .6 mile from the parking lot.

Campground Trail (yellow, 2.2 miles)
This trail connects Bear Mountain Trail with Burntbridge Pond Snowmobile Trail. It was constructed in 1987 to provide campers at the Cranberry Lake Campground with more access to this parcel. It also provides hikers with access to Bear Mountain from Route 3. The crew that built this trail refers to it as "the boardwalk" because two 250-foot bridges cross portions of Bear Mountain Swamp.

Burntbridge Pond Snowmobile Trail (6.8 miles)
Beginning at a parking lot on Route 3, this trail is the roadbed of a spur of the Grasse River Railroad, which was probably constructed between 1913 and 1916; the tracks were removed prior to state acquisition in 1933.

The Campground Trail joins this trail 1.4 miles from Route 3. It shortly enters a clearing that was the former site of a logging camp. A 1916 Conservation Department map shows this camp serviced by a telephone line. The trail leaves this railroad bed .8 mile later and follows old logging roads to Brandy Brook and a grassy area beyond known as the "Potato Patch." From here, the trail branches easterly to Burntbridge Pond and private lands, while a southerly branch leads to Brandy Brook Flow on Cranberry Lake. A lean-to was constructed at Burntbridge Pond in 1986.

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