The 168,920 acre West Canada Lakes Wilderness is located in the west central section of Adirondack Park. This wilderness is the second largest in Adirondack Park and has some of the most remote locations in the park. There are nearly 70 miles of hiking trails in West Canada Lakes Wilderness including nearly 28 miles of the Northville-Placid Trail. There will be almost 30 miles of the future North Country Trail that will travel through the wilderness.

West Canada Lakes Wilderness Area features many lakes and ponds, including Spruce Lake, Whitney Lake, the Cedar Lakes and the West Canada Lakes. The terrain ranges from swamp flats and rolling hills to steep mountains. The peaks of Pillsbury and Snowy Mountains lie just outside the area, but views from their fire towers take in the West Canada Lakes Wilderness Area. There has been discussions by the DEC about constructing a trail between Pillsbury Mountain and Snowy Mountain, called the Little Great Range Trail.

There are few trailheads that lead directly into this rugged and remote wilderness.  One of the trailheads is off of a dirt road inside of Moose River Plains Wild Forest.  To reach this trailhead to the West Canada Lakes Trail you must drive nearly 15 miles on dirt roads. This trailhead will also feature the future North Country National Scenic Trail.

There will be nearly 30 miles of the North Country National Scenic Trail that will pass through West Canada Lakes Wilderness. This will give future backpackers of the NCT some of the most remote and rugged hiking located anywhere along the whole 4600 mile trail.  The future crossing of the Indian River will be challenging for all backpackers on the NCT. Almost 28 miles of the Adirondack Park long distance Northville-Placid Trail also passes through this wilderness.  The Northville-Placid Trail and North Country Trail will actually coincide briefly between West Canada Creek and West Lake.

There are 16 overnight shelters in this huge wilderness.  Theses shelters include T Lake, Spruce Lake #1, Spruce Lake #2, Spruce Lake #3, South Lake Lean To, Sampson Lake Lean To, Pillsbury Lake Lean To, West Canada Creek Lean To, West Lake #1, West Lake #2, Brooktrout Lake Lean To, Cedar Lake Lean To #1, #2, #3, and Colvin Brook Lean To.

Destinations in West Canada Lakes Wilderness

Brooktrout Lake	Falls Pond	Wolf Lake
Deep Lake	Horn Lake	Balsam Lake
Stink Lake	Muskrat Pond	Monument Lake
Mountain Lake-Snyder Lake	Yale Brook Falls	Frenchs Fly
Gid Lake	Beaudry Brook Clearing	South Branch West Canada Creek
T Lake Falls	T Lake	Twin Lakes
Spruce Lake	Metcalf Lake	Cold Stream Waterfalls
Little Moose Pond	Otter Lake	Pillsbury Lake
French Louie Trail	Whitney Lake	Sampson Lake
South Lake	West Lake	West Lake Mountain Cliffs
Cedar Lakes	Lost Pond	Blue Ridge Mountain
Sucker-Colvin Brook Trail	Falls Brook	Griffin Brook Slide