A Winter Cross-Country Ski to St. Regis Pond


I’m not sure how it happened, but I didn’t get to ski as I much as I would have liked this winter. My snowshoes got plenty of use as did my Microspikes, but my skis have been completely neglected. To make up for lost time, we head for a quick ski along the Fish Pond trail to St. Regis Pond in Lake Clear.

Accessing ponds and lakes in summer is sometimes a bit easier than finding a safe pullover to access the same trail in winter. With that in mind, we enter the trail just east of Kempton Rd on Route 30 in Lake Clear. As there is no dedicated parking on Rt. 30, we pull the car over, put on our gear and follow the ski tracks through the woods. We find that there is plenty of snow and the trails are well used.
The Fish Pond trail intersects with a myriad of trail options such as the wooded loop ski to Rat Pond. We aren’t doing that loop so continue to follow the Fish Pond trail for ¼ mile and at the second junction we turn right. The trails are mostly a level easy ski. There is a slight descent and ascent when this trail intersects the Adirondack Railroad tracks, but nothing too challenging. We cross the tracks and continue in the same direction on the Fish Pond trail.  

We sign in at the Little Green Pond register and pass through the yellow barrier gate. At the first junction we turn right, heading north following the yellow ski trail markers. We pass a small pond to our left and stop to hear the call of a Barred owl. There are various herd paths along the way, but we continue on the marked path.  We eventually reach the north end of Little Clear Pond to our right and just beyond that the canoe access to St. Regis Pond to our left. There is a skier in the distance crossing St. Regis Pond, but we only have to time enjoy the setting sun before heading back the way we came.
 
There others accesses along this stretch of Route 3, though the most popular seems to be from Fish Hatchery Rd. To access the same trail from the Fish Hatchery, park and ski the path adjacent to the train tracks west for about 0.5-mile. At the junction turn right to reach the register for Little Green Pond.  Enjoy these last days of snow!




© Diane Chase is the author of the Adirondack Family Activities™ guidebook series, Adirondack Family Time™, which is available online or bookstores/museums/sporting good stores. Diane is currently working on the third guidebook in the four-book series of Adirondack Family Activities™.

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