Fish Creek to Rollins Pond
In the summer of 2010, my family and some friends spent our Fourth of July vacation camping at Fish Creek Pond. This region offers several opportunities for paddlers as there are many ponds that are closely connected by streams or trails that you can portage your boat on. The Fish Creek Pond Campground has been a long-time family favorite, which during the months of July and August, makes it very difficult to get in to. The fact that the campsites completely surround this series of ponds, makes for a unique environment.
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One of our last days at the campground my parents and I decided to take our tandem kayak and canoe out for a paddle. We packed up some snacks, sun lotion, and lots of water and headed toward Fish Creek, the channel leading toward Rollins Pond.
The paddle up to Rollins Pond is about a 7-mile journey. There are both canoe and kayak rentals available at Rollins Pond. The trail can be taken both ways (Fish Creek to Rollins and vice versa) and I believe a pick-up service is available if you only want to go one way. The map to the right shows the pathway you can take to get from one pond to the other. Starting out from our campsite at Fish Creek Pond, we followed the meandering creek through lily pads galore.
A little way up Fish Creek there is a little off-shoot where you can branch off and check out Copperas Pond. We chose to keep moving and made our way up to Little Square Pond. It's a decent sized pond with some beautiful views. It was just as we were entering Little Square Pond that we stumbled upon a mother loon sitting on her nest. Loons are big birds when you actually get to see them up close! Somewhere between the size of a duck and a goose, they are eloquently colored and make the most hauntingly beautiful calls. I don't feel like I'm camping in the Adirondacks until I've heard the loons calling to each other in the middle of the night. From Little Square Pond, another small channel with great bends and meanders that really make you feel close to nature leads you on to Floodwood Pond. There are plenty of nice shallows for swimming (just make sure to check your feet for leeches!) and some beachy areas to relax on. This is where our journey for the day ended, however, Floodwood Pond is the final stretch before reaching Rollins Pond. We will just have to make the full journey next time!
