FISHING BROOK, RICH LAKE, COUNTY LINE FLOW paddling

 

Aug 23, 2023 - RICH LAKE & FISHING BROOK paddling. Most of the shoreline is owned by ESF - obey any "No Trespassing" signs. You can drive down the access road (dirt), drop off your stuff, & drive back to the parking area off Rich Lake Lane. Easy 200' carry to the beach. Paddled W across the lake, saw a loon, & entered the pickerelweed-lined S channel. Took a R thru a narrow channel, slid over a beaver dam, & into the main channel of Fishing Brook. Paddled upstream & was shocked to see that the bridge had been replaced by a dam with several culverts (not sure if this was done before or as a result of the July 10/11 high water event - Phil Brown mentions a bridge in his 2019 edition of the guidebook) - heavy machinery was working in the area, so we turned back. Over 2 small beaver dams & then along the N shore of RL. Lots of cedars line the shore with some white pines, cardinal flower was ubiquitous, and bottle gentian at our lunch stop. The 2 trail bridges at the AIC were gone - the 1st one was on shore downstream of the footings - the 2nd one, at the top of the rapids, was totally missing. Walked the short carry trail to Belden Lake. Paddling back along the shore was interesting due to some interesting rock formations. Saw a mink. Around Graveyard Bay & back to start. No bad bugs. 8.2 miles, 4.7 hours. Nice swim at the beach.

     

Aug 2016 - Some updates: now there is access to Fishing Brook above CLF from Pickwacket Pond Road, about half a mile of bumpy dirt road from Rt.28N.

May 2016 - Checked out the new access to County Line Flow on Rt.28N between Newcomb & Long Lake - nice paddling on the flow & up the inlet, Fishing Brook. "Construction of a roadway, parking area and trail which provide access for paddlers to the County Line Flow on the Township 20 Tract is complete and open for public use. Public trespass on the lands other than the roadway, parking lot and trail is prohibited. Fishing from shore - including at the waterway access site - is prohibited. A pile of gravel remains on site at this time." From the small parking area it is about a 100-yard downhill carry to the water:.

2015 - Construction of a roadway, parking area, and trail which provide access for paddlers to the County Line Flow on the Township 20 Tract is complete and open for public use. 

July 20, 2014 - RICH LAKE & FISHING BROOK in Newcomb.  Mostly undeveloped, AIC & land owned by SUNY-ESF; no camping or motors.  Paddled much of the perimeter of the lake except the SE arm, some sand beaches, lots of cedars & pines along shores.  Fishing Brook has large marshy areas & is navigable upstream for 2 miles, had 2 beaver dams to go over & 1 blockage with downed trees which was a lot of work to squeeze a 35" canoe through.  Turned around where the outlet of Lilypad Pond comes in.  Goodnow Mtn & firetower to the S.  Great variety of flowers on the brook: pickerelweed (purple), Joe-Pye weed (pinkish), swamp candles (yellow), cardinal flower (red), Queen Anne's lace (white)...  Saw a deer & a mink in the lake's NE arm on the way to the outlet as well as some interesting rock formations; frogs, osprey, kingfishers, loons, and mergansers with chicks.  Some non-biting flies early, breezier in the pm & they were gone; some mosquitoes in the woods but not on the water or beaches.  8.8 miles, 5.5 hours.  Hung out on the beach at the put-in until sunset. 

July 21, 2013 - FISHING BROOK canoeing, upstream of COUNTY LINE FLOW. I've paddled FB upstream of Rich Lake several times before, 1st time for this gorgeous section. Views of Kempshall Mtn to the NW, Windfall Mtn to the S & Goodnow Mtn to the ESE. The streamsides vary from wooded to open wetlands; grassy banks, some alders & lots of black spruce. 5 blockages & 7 beaver dams to get past. Sweet sounds of songbirds including white-throated sparrows; and leeches. Minimal bad bugs - I went DEETless. Flowering joe-pye-weed, pickerel weed, bullhead lilies; water shield. 6.7 miles, 5.3 hours. This is private land on which the state has a fishing easement. No signs of planned boat launches on CLF & Fishing Brook Bog (which we scouted - small but beautiful) yet. From Rt.28N FB drops over 100' in over a mile then is flatwater to CLF.

Jul 11, 2010 - RICH LAKE & FISHING BROOK near Newcomb.  Very picturesque, not far from the road but with minimal signs of civilization.  VIC lands & trails are E of the lake; most other land is Huntington Forest (no camping).  Sandy beaches, Goodnow Mtn firetower is visible from many spots, swimming (surface water was so warm that it was hardly refreshing, could find some cooler water 4' down), rapids at the outlet (optional, yeah, Rongwae & I ran them, or most of*).  Took deeper S channel into Fishing Brook & only had 1 beaver dam to go over.  Able to paddle up ~2 miles.  Shallow N channel back into Rich Lake has 2 small beaver dams which we ran over.  Loon, northern harrier, lots of little fish.  Flowering: pickerelweed, cardinal flower, joe-pye weed.  9.5 miles, 5+ hours incl. playing at the put-in beach.  See Quiet Water; NY  for directions.  *Rapids start at footbridge, scout the top section from bridge, rapids are class II at first.  1st half went smoothly for me then popped into an eddy on the R from which I boat-scouted the next section, looked doable.  Soon popped into another eddy on the R.  Could not determine a good route over the last 50' so got out & lined the kevlar Merlin II to the flatwater below.  Easy carry trail back to footbridge.

Sep 21, 2009 - RICH & BELDEN LAKES in Newcomb.  Some interesting rock shores.  Sandy beach.  VIC.  Easy smooth 100 yard carry to Belden.  Undeveloped.  Bell Northstar, 16.5' tandem canoe.

Jul 19, 2004 - RICH LAKE & FISHING BROOK canoeing. Have to carry the canoe about a 100yds. to the put-in at the beach. Paddled a mile WNW on Rich Lake & saw a bear cub just before Fishing Brook enters. Paddle up Fishing Brook for about 1.5 mi. after going up over 1 or 2 beaver dams (depends on which channel you take). Stays fairly deep most of the way. Saw 2 deer - one was tagged on both ears. Flowers of all colors (white, red cardinal flower, purple pickerelweed, yellow)were everywhere. Varied & interesting shores. Much of the land belongs to Huntington Forest. Bell Merlin II - easy cruising at 3-3.5mph but able to get it up to 4.5mph.

July 8, 2000 - Rich Lake. Was heading toward Owls Head for a hike but couldn't pass Rich Lake by - so stopped for a quickie paddle. Should have known better. After seeing 3 loons diving on the main lake, I poked into the marsh to the west. After hopping over (ever tried hopping in a canoe?) a beaver dam or two, I was in Fishing Brook & paddled the Dagger Sojourn upstream, under a bridge & somewhat further. Nice small mountains to west & Goodnow Mountain to the south. Much of the shoreline is posted as is most of the north shore of Rich Lake. To the east is the Visitor's Interpretive Center with its trail system - so there is plenty to do in the area. Carry of 100 yards to put-in on a nice sandy beach on this non-motorized lake. Gorgeous day with high around 70 - is this the Spring weather we didn't get?

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