Silver Lake Wilderness features 106,770 acres of forest preserve lands located in the Towns of Lake Pleasant, Benson, Hope, Wells and Arietta in Hamilton County. It is the fourth largest and southern most wilderness area in the Adirondacks.

The wilderness is roughly bounded on the north by NY 8 and private lands near Piseco Lake, Oxbow Lake, Hamilton Lake, Sand Lake and Lake Pleasant; on the east by NY 30; on the south generally by the Hamilton County line; and on the west by NY 10, the West Branch of the Sacandaga and the Piseco Outlet. Surrounding nearby state lands include the Jessup River Wild Forest to the north; Wilcox Lake Wild Forest to the east; Shaker Mountain Wild Forest to the south; and the Ferris Lake Wild Forest to the west.

The terrain is relatively low with rolling hills and only four mountains that exceed 3,000 feet elevation. There is a considerable area of conifer swamp as well as some beaver meadows along the streams.  The forest cover is chiefly mixed hardwoods and softwoods with some stands of nearly pure hemlock in large diameter size. In the swamp area along streams and at the higher elevations around the mountain tops, the forest cover runs predominantly to spruce and balsam.

The main hiking trail that runs through the heart of Silver Lake Wilderness is the long distance Northville-Placid Trail.    There are three shelters available along the trail in the wilderness.  Silver Lake Lean To, Mud Lake Lean To and Hamilton Lake Stream Lean To are available for overnight shelter for backpackers on the Northville-Placid Trail. 

Another hiking trail is the Hamilton Mountain Trail.  This 2.5 mile trail with a nearly 1500 foot elevation gain, is no longer maintained and we are unsure if it's possible to hike due to problems with private property.  We have read that there are still views from the 3250 foot summit.  The fire tower that was once on top of this mountain was removed in the late 1970's.  I would recommend more research on this "unknown" mountain before undergoing an adventure to it's summit.

Another popular hike was to the fire tower on Cathead Mountain, however that trail has been closed due to a land dispute with the landowner.   

Look below for an old map to Hamilton Mountain and a map of trails in Silver Lake Wilderness.