New York State has acquired 1,263 acres of land in the Warren County town of Johnsburg in the Southern Adirondacks. The parcel includes Huckleberry Mountain, an elongated peak that tops 2,400 feet, with spectacular cliffs on the ridge’s south and southwest face. The parcel is now part of the Adirondack Forest Preserve, and is expected to become part of the Wilcox Lake Wild Forest.
In 1911 Huckleberry Mountain was proposed as a site for a massive dam.
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation purchased this property from the Open Space Institute for $770,000 using resources from the State’s Environmental Protection Fund.
The newly protected land adjoins Wilcox Lake Wild Forest, which includes Crane Mountain, a popular, publicly accessible mountain peak that also provides access to exceptional cliffs for climbers. The Huckleberry Mountain parcel contains a wide range of wildlife habitats, including a high quality cold-water stream — Crystal Brook — that is home to brook trout, cliff faces that are a preferred nesting place for the endangered peregrine falcon, and a wetland complex home to an active heron rookery.
The Huckleberry Mountain property was a priority acquisition under the New York State Open Space Conservation Plan and the Wilcox Lake Wild Forest Management Plan. DEC will manage this parcel and is developing a unit management plan to establish trails and recreational access for Huckleberry Mountain.
Illustrations of Huckleberry Mountain; and Huckleberry Mountain parcel courtesy Open Space Institute.
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