Indian Lake, NY

Wilderness Tripping
#1

I going kayaking and camping at Indian Lake. I was hoping for any advice or location to camp





Thanks

Tommy

#2

advice
Indian Lake after Labor Day is a great paddling destination. Still the occasional motor boat but all in all not too bad. I personally like the campsites on the central islands, in John Mack Bay or down the Jessup River arm. Truth be told, they’re all pretty nice and you’re sure to find a decent one since it’s officially “closed” (i.e. revert back to wilderness-style rules). Have fun!



Hope this helps.



Charlie

#3

Good advice

– Last Updated: Sep-18-05 7:18 PM EST –

True, the campsites are closed this time of year. You would normally register with the DEC to camp at these sites. With that said, make sure someone knows where you will be and when to expect you back.

This area is one of my favorite spots for anything outdoors. Indian Lake is a good place to see moose and soon wolves too. Not sure how I feel about the DEC trying to re-introduce wolves in the ADKs.

Have fun, whish I could go.

http://www.dec.state.ny.us/website/do/camping/campgrounds/Indianlake.html

#4

a correction
In the hopes of avoiding any misconceptions, the DEC is NOT trying to re-introduce wolves in the ADK’s. Some community members have suggested attempting to “re-introduce wolves,” but the DEC neither suggested nor supported these ideas.



The topic of wolves in the ADK’s is actually a very interesting topic though. I’ll quote from the Adirondack Atlas briefly, hopefully without breaking any laws (by the way, the Adirondack Atlas, by Jerry Jenkins with Andy Keal, is a must-have for anyone interested in the ADK’s); “Its ancestry clearly included coyotes from the upper Midwest, but it was larger than a western coyote. In some ways it resembled Canadian wolves, but it was smaller and did not seem to form and defend permanent territories the way they did.” (pg. 48)



This becomes even more interesting when you look at the diet of ADK coyotes, which according to the Atlas is more than 50 percent deer, which is quiet different from “pure coyotes.” Additionally, as the atlas hints at, genetic research indicates that our coyotes indeed have wolf genes; some have suggested that the coyotes and our “extirpated red wolves” are/were actually both similar coyote/wolf hybrids, if you will.



SO, the moral of the story is this; it is ANYTHING but clear what exactly our coyotes are, genetically, AND what they are in comparison to the ADK’s “former wolf population.” It would APPEAR that our coyotes already fill a similar niche to that which wolves might, based on their dietary reliance on deer.



Considering this, and the fact that human roads and activity along the St. Lawrence block any southward movement of Canadian populations (ADK Atlas pg. 59), you will not see wolves in the ADK’s anytime soon, and the DEC is by no means trying to re-introduce them.



Keith

(Full disclosure, though I don’t work for the DEC, I have had a couple summer jobs at state campgrounds in the past, and one of my family members works for the DEC)