The state Department of Environmental Conservation put together amendments for both the High Peaks Wilderness Area and the Vanderwhacker Wild Forest unit management plans [UMPs] that incorporate the newly classified Boreas Ponds Tract and several other large parcels. The new High Peaks will combine the existing wilderness area and the Dix Mountain Wilderness Area, along with much of the Boreas Ponds and MacIntyre East and West tracts to form a new wilderness area that will contain more than 260,000 acres.

The third plan to be voted on Thursday, May 10 at the APA meeting is an amendment by the Olympic Regional Development Authority for the Mount Van Hoevenberg Intensive Use Area, which is home to the 1980 Olympic biathlon and cross-country skiing courses, as well as the sliding track for luge, bobsled and skeleton.

The three plans will work in conjunction, and if approved, the APA and DEC will hold a joint public comment period. The bulk of the changes are due to the APA’s recent classification of about 100 parcels of land, some of which were adjacent to the High Peaks and Vanderwhacker areas.

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High Peaks

Overuse of the High Peaks has become a topic of almost constant conversation in the Adirondacks over the last few years, and while there is no mention of limiting visitors to the area, the DEC plans to put in place some measures it hopes will help address the situation.

The department would require mandatory registration at entrance places, but does not enumerate in the UMP how that would be enforced. The DEC also plans to upgrade kiosks at trailheads to include maps and Leave No Trace and Wilderness Ethics information.

The Ampersand Mountain trail between Saranac Lake and Tupper Lake would be rerouted to a new, larger parking area, while roadside parking on state Route 73 outside of Lake Placid would be prohibited. Although, the DEC also plans to build two new 20-car parking areas along that stretch of road that would service rock and ice climbers in the Chapel Pond area.

About 60 miles of new trails would be built, and many existing trails will be improved or rerouted. The DEC also plans on developing routes up 21 currently trailless High Peaks.

A couple of dozen new campsites would also be added in various locations, including five along the shores of Boreas Pond if the UMP amendment goes through as written.

The current High Peaks area is divided into eastern and western segments, and the new High Peaks management unit would also be split into two sections called the Central High Peaks Zone and Outer High Peaks Zone.

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Mount Van Hoevenberg

Perhaps the change to Mount Van Hoevenberg that most people will be interested in will be the permanent relocation of the Cascade Mountain trailhead from Route 73 to the parking area near at the cross-country ski center. The DEC tested this last fall during Labor Day Weekend, closing the Route 73 parking areas and directing all traffic to Mount Van Hoevenberg. The test run seemed to go well, but adds a substantial distance to the summit of what is likely the most visited of the 46 High Peaks.

The plan for Mount Van Hoevenberg was developed by ORDA, which manages all of the Olympic venues, including Whiteface and Gore mountain ski centers, and the ski jumps and Olympic Center in Lake Placid. There are many upgrades proposed to the existing facilities, including a complete revamp of the biathlon course and stadium. Snowmaking and a new start building will be added, as will several new buildings that will serve as upgrades to the existing infrastructure.

Mount Van Hoevenberg would also see several new cross-country ski trails built, as well as a new welcome center and lodge.

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Vanderwhacker

The Vanderwhacker Wild Forest will grow significantly with the proposed amendment, as almost 10,000 acres will be added just from the Boreas Ponds Tract. And although more than half of Boreas will be added to the High Peaks, the Vanderwhacker plan will dictate how the DEC manages parking and access at LaBier Flow and Boreas Pond itself.

The DEC is proposing many of the same public education ideas for Vanderwhacker as in the High Peaks, along with interior signs detailing proper backcountry practices and the history of the recently acquired lands.

Gulf Brook Road, which penetrates the heart of the Boreas tract all the way to the Four Corners, will be maintained by the DEC as a three-season road. The towns of Newcomb and North Hudson will have access past the Four Corners to two one-acre state administrative area gravel pits, and the DEC said the road may be open during big game hunting season “as road conditions permit.”

The DEC plans to put in a parking area just one-tenth of a mile from the Boreas Pond dam, which is closer than some environmental groups wanted, while accessibility advocates wanted to see a parking area at the dam itself. Other parking areas will be maintained in and around the Boreas tract and on the Elk Lake conservation easement.

The DEC plans to construct car-top boat launches (for non-trailered boats like canoes and kayaks) at both LaBier Flow and the Boreas dam, and at other locations within the wild forest. Mountain biking also looms somewhat large in the plan, with the DEC saying that a Mountain Bike Day Use Area will be built along Blue Ridge Road in an effort to create a hub for the area’s off-road bicycle trails.

Fourteen trails will be built or improved in the plan, including new trails to the summit of Boreas Mountain, along with hiking, biking, skiing and horseback riding trails. A community connector snowmobile trail – as source of contention during the public comment period on classification – will be built largely utilizing existing roads.