Eagle Mountain Wilderness Preserve

Chesterfield, NY 2,445 acres Visitor Guidelines Directions Download Map

Trail Notice

A half-mile from the trailhead Benny’s Trail may be flooded with up to 3.5 feet of water spanning up to 300 feet of the trail. Water levels are variable and unpredictable, rising and falling with rain events and beaver activity. The flooded trail is traversable, and you may cross at your own risk. The Wilderness Trust will continue to monitor its conditions and is working toward a solution.

Northeast Wilderness Trust does not manage the wild animals who call this place home. The beavers here are free to tinker and toil to their hearts content—and sometimes this clashes with our trail planning!

Rewilding doesn’t always go “according to plan”—in fact, that’s the whole point. When nature takes her course, there are unexpected turns along the way—beauty, chaos, messiness, curiosity, and most importantly, freedom. Thank you for your patience.

Eagle Mountain Wilderness Preserve is home to pristine ponds, extensive wetlands, and dramatic cliffs, each offering unique habitat to a wide variety of species in Chesterfield, NY.

Eagle Mountain Wilderness Preserve, northwest of Essex, New York, encompasses 2,434 acres of glacial-carved topography and unique water features. The Preserve sits among the foothills of the northeastern Adirondacks in a landscape that is underrepresented in protected areas in the Adirondack Park and across the Northeast. This densely forested property consists of northern hardwood and conifer forests, patches of cliffs and talus, pristine undeveloped ponds, miles of clear running brooks, vernal pools, and wetlands. Peregrine Falcons (a New York State endangered species) have consistently nested on the property for at least five years.

Since 2003, the transition lands between Lake Champlain and the Adirondack High Peaks have been a focal area for Northeast Wilderness Trust. In the Split Rock Wildway to the south, the Wilderness Trust has completed nine transactions to protect an important “sea-to-sky” wildlife corridor, while Eagle Mountain Wilderness Preserve safeguards another wildlife corridor to the north. Surrounding conservation areas include New York State’s Jay Mountain Wilderness and Taylor Pond Wild Forest (home to the local landmark, Poke-O-Moonshine Mountain), as well as privately conserved lands.

This area has seen considerable logging over the decades but its wild character is strong and vital—and in the decades to come, it will be a jewel of the eastern Adirondacks, a place of beauty, integrity, and wildness for future generations of people to enjoy. Tom Butler, NEWT Senior Fellow

Eagle Mountain Wilderness Preserve protects just over 1.25 miles of Durgan Brook and its tributary (Trout Pond Brook) and 2.45 miles of Doyle Brook. Both of these brooks are cold, clear, and support native Brook Trout habitat. Miles of smaller brooks and over 155 acres of wetlands provide diverse habitat for a multitude of species. Seepage wetlands thaw first in the spring and provide some of the earliest browse for energy-strapped wildlife (such as bear, moose, and deer—all present on the property) at the end of long winters. The exceptional water quality of this stream system is demonstrated by the presence of the Eastern Pearlshell, a rare freshwater mussel found in only a few locations in New York State and threatened throughout its range by water pollution and dams.

In addition to the fish and wildlife that depend on clean water in the Lake Champlain Basin, approximately 145,000 people rely on the lake for drinking water. With rising temperatures and agricultural runoff threatening the lake’s water quality, protecting headwater streams like those at Eagle Mountain is an insurance policy for a healthier future.

The Eagle Mountain property ranks as ‘Above Average Resilient’ on The Nature Conservancy’s Resilient and Connected Landscapes dataset. The core area around the ponds and the elevated region surrounding Eagle Mountain itself ranks as ‘Far Above Average.’ Resilient sites like Eagle Mountain are defined as having “sufficient variability and microclimate options to enable species and ecosystems to persist in the face of climate change and which will maintain this ability over time.” Eagle Mountain’s unique, low-elevation habitat will assist wildlife as they stair-step across this large landscape.

Every Northeast Wilderness Trust Ambassador Preserve has a Rewilding Photo Point. These stations engage passersby with the rewilding process, inviting people to take a photo and contribute to a timelapse that shows ecosystem changes as the land returns to Nature’s reign. Learn more and view all our photo points here.

Eagle Mountain Wilderness Preserve in Chesterfield, NY.

Building on years of partnership in the Split Rock Wildway, Northeast Wilderness Trust worked closely with Champlain Area Trails (CATS) to develop a loop footpath around Clear Pond. The trail was designed to minimize impacts to plants and wildlife while connecting people to the peace and beauty of the land. Seasonal closures, monitored by the Wilderness Trust, will protect nesting Peregrine Falcons.

If you are interested in hunting permission for Eagle Mountain Wilderness Preserve, please visit our Hunting Program page.

Many thanks to Sweet Water Trust for essential support of Eagle Mountain Wilderness Preserve.

Photography by Brendan Wiltse.

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465 Trout Pond Rd
465 Trout Pond Rd, Au Sable Forks, NY 12912

Visitor Guidelines

Eagle Mountain Wilderness Preserve is open to the public for quiet exploration and enjoyment. Please respect the plants and animals who live here, show consideration to wildlife, other visitors, and neighboring landowners, know and obey the law, and leave the natural environment as you found it. Enjoy your visit and respect the following guidelines while on the land:

Welcomed Activities

Walking, hiking, snowshoeing & cross-country skiing
Photography, wildlife observation & nature study
Swimming, paddling & non-motorized boating
Dogs under voice or leash control
Hunting on the Preserve requires a permit, available at newildernesstrust.org/hunting

Prohibited Activities

Motorized vehicles (ATVs, dirt bikes, 4x4s, snowmobiles, or other motorized or mechanized vehicles)
Bicycles
Horses or pack animals
Camping, fires & fireworks
Loud music or radios
Trapping, hounding, or predator hunting
Cutting or damaging plants or trees
New trails or unauthorized trail maintenance
Launching & landing drones

Click here to read NEWT Preserve & Sanctuary Visitation Guidelines

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