Buck Pond Campground Trail - D&H Railroad Bed

Location: Buck Pond Campground, Onchiota, NY
Season Visited: Summer
Trail Length: 2.5 miles there-and-back
Time to Hike: 1.5 hours
Difficulty Level: 1

Buck Pond Campground in the Adirondacks is one of the few campgrounds I truly enjoy.  It's pretty far out there at the top of the Adirondack Park, and is therefore out of the main bustle of activity that surrounds places like Lake George or Placid.  Conveniently, it's still within easy driving distance of Placid, so food and entertainment are never too far away.  The campground itself is pretty much perfect.  It has spacious, wooded sites with relative privacy, it's nestled between two picturesque lakes, it has private trails from most campsites to the water, and it's quiet.  The only negative thing I have to say about it is that the water doesn't get very warm in the shower... or warm at all... brrrrr!

One of the best things about Buck Pond to a hiker, of course, is it's proximity to the trails.  The Adirondacks are a hiker's paradise, and I stayed at Buck Pond when making my epic ascent of Phelps Mountain in 2013.  Sean and I were looking for something much more mild one morning, so we decided to check out the easy trail along the old D&H railroad bed, part of which is housed in the campground.

Maps of the trail are not available beyond the campground map, which doesn't show more than just the beginning of it.  Since it's an easy trail, it didn't much matter to us whether or not we had a map... until we saw a poorly-marked side trail that apparently led to Little Haystack and were very curious if that was true!  We found out later from a campground worker that the trail did indeed lead to Little Haystack.  What I really want to know is whether or not you can get to the high peak Mount Haystack from there... bucket list!

Anyway, the hike begins on a blocked-off road in the campground as marked on the map, and continues in a straight line along Lake Kushaqua for 1.25 miles until hitting Lake Kushaqua/Mud Pond Road.

Start of the trail.

Lake Kushaqua.

The nice thing about this trail (and a real change of pace for me) is that it's nothing more than just a stroll.  There's no real objective here, you're just going for a walk in the woods with a lake view.  There's some nice things to see, and when you're done, you just turn around!

Common merganser and her babies.

Overall, this hike is super easy and is great for a stroll if you're staying in or around Buck Pond Campground.  It was a nice little distraction for me, but I personally can't wait until I hike my next high peak!  Keep on wandering.