Just back from a quick one-night getaway to check out the Essex Chain for the first time. Our impressions:
-The lakes are very pretty, ringed with mountains, nice views, and nice for wildlife/bird watching.
-The water is remarkably clear. On a moonlight swim, we could see our toes while treading water.
-The area is really quite small. We paddled 1st through 7th lakes in a single relatively leisurely afternoon. Unlike the St Regis canoe area, this area does not offer opportunities for endless pond-hopping, multi-night camping adventures. Unless you are an avid fisher, birdwatcher, or just like to float around all day, you will quickly run out of things to do. Perhaps in the future, there will be some hiking trails to nearby mountains (or you could bushwhack).
-If you like to swim (as we do), stay on Third Lake. All of the other lakes have brushy or marshy shorelines, no beaches or flat rocks from which to swim. The north shore of Third Lake is rocky, but they are mostly steep rocks plunging into the water (not easy access). There is one nice gently sloped rock for lunch/swimming between campsites 2 and 3 on Third Lake. We did swim from our campsite (Third Lake #2), which involved climbing down some rocks and stepping into soft leaf litter (not too mucky) in order to get in. However, the bottom drops away pretty quickly, so it's not necessary to wade much there. The swimming access looked good from Third Lake #3 as well, no so much from Third Lake #1.
-Campsites range from so-so to kind of dismal-looking. The nicest are on Third and First lakes. Ours was in a sheltered dell behind some large rocks, which was kind of nice since it was a windy night. It wasn't too far from the water (although the woods ringing the lake are fairly dense, so no panoramic views from the campsite). Unfortunately, it was near a low boggy area and the mosquitoes were pretty bad on a warm night in September, so I imagine they are impossible in June and July (and you can't make a fire to discourage them).
-Carry trails are well marked and easy. Better in fact than finding the road in. There is an "Essex Chain" sign where Goodnow Flow Rd meets Rt 28. When you get to Goodnow Flow, you have to turn right onto something called Woody's Rd, which is marked with many "Private Road, No Trespassing" signs (and not marked with anything indicating the way to the Essex Chain), causing us to doubt ourselves until we found someone to ask. You will pass some cottages on Goodnow Flow on your left, then the road turns to a single-lane dirt road for the last 5 miles. There is a sign saying "Deer Pond Access" when you pass onto public land, but you are still several miles from the parking area. The road is rough, but passable to ordinary 2WD cars. Just drive slowly.
The highlight of our trip was our paddle down the outlet from First Lake (a.k.a. the Chain Drain) to the Rock River. The Chain Drain is beautiful as it winds its way through a narrow valley lined with mature trees. We had to lift over about 5 beaver dams and one fallen tree. The channel is easy to follow and deep enough to paddle easily in both directions. The current is very gentle, so upstream is not a problem. About 45 minutes after leaving First Lake, we came to what looked like the remains of an old crib dam. Below that was a rock garden. We parked our canoe and explored on foot by wading and scrambling along the banks. Soon, the stream poured into a narrow gorge and over a spectacular 30-ft waterfall. With some exploring, we discovered that it is possible to walk around the waterfall through relatively open woods on river right, and get a great view back up from the base. If one were approaching the Essex Chain on a canoe camping trip from the Cedar River (an idea I am most intrigued by - has anyone out there done this?), it would be a very challenging, steep bushwack carry around the waterfall, but it is certainly not impossible (river right is less densely vegetated than river left). From the foot of the waterfall, there is a faint fisherman's trail on river right, through an open meadow for about a quarter mile to the confluence with the Rock River. Paddling to the waterfall, exploring around it, and then paddling back to First Lake makes for a lovely excursion while camping on the Essex Chain. I definitely recommend it!
If anyone is interested, I'll try and post a few pictures once my husband uploads them from his camera.
-The lakes are very pretty, ringed with mountains, nice views, and nice for wildlife/bird watching.
-The water is remarkably clear. On a moonlight swim, we could see our toes while treading water.
-The area is really quite small. We paddled 1st through 7th lakes in a single relatively leisurely afternoon. Unlike the St Regis canoe area, this area does not offer opportunities for endless pond-hopping, multi-night camping adventures. Unless you are an avid fisher, birdwatcher, or just like to float around all day, you will quickly run out of things to do. Perhaps in the future, there will be some hiking trails to nearby mountains (or you could bushwhack).
-If you like to swim (as we do), stay on Third Lake. All of the other lakes have brushy or marshy shorelines, no beaches or flat rocks from which to swim. The north shore of Third Lake is rocky, but they are mostly steep rocks plunging into the water (not easy access). There is one nice gently sloped rock for lunch/swimming between campsites 2 and 3 on Third Lake. We did swim from our campsite (Third Lake #2), which involved climbing down some rocks and stepping into soft leaf litter (not too mucky) in order to get in. However, the bottom drops away pretty quickly, so it's not necessary to wade much there. The swimming access looked good from Third Lake #3 as well, no so much from Third Lake #1.
-Campsites range from so-so to kind of dismal-looking. The nicest are on Third and First lakes. Ours was in a sheltered dell behind some large rocks, which was kind of nice since it was a windy night. It wasn't too far from the water (although the woods ringing the lake are fairly dense, so no panoramic views from the campsite). Unfortunately, it was near a low boggy area and the mosquitoes were pretty bad on a warm night in September, so I imagine they are impossible in June and July (and you can't make a fire to discourage them).
-Carry trails are well marked and easy. Better in fact than finding the road in. There is an "Essex Chain" sign where Goodnow Flow Rd meets Rt 28. When you get to Goodnow Flow, you have to turn right onto something called Woody's Rd, which is marked with many "Private Road, No Trespassing" signs (and not marked with anything indicating the way to the Essex Chain), causing us to doubt ourselves until we found someone to ask. You will pass some cottages on Goodnow Flow on your left, then the road turns to a single-lane dirt road for the last 5 miles. There is a sign saying "Deer Pond Access" when you pass onto public land, but you are still several miles from the parking area. The road is rough, but passable to ordinary 2WD cars. Just drive slowly.
The highlight of our trip was our paddle down the outlet from First Lake (a.k.a. the Chain Drain) to the Rock River. The Chain Drain is beautiful as it winds its way through a narrow valley lined with mature trees. We had to lift over about 5 beaver dams and one fallen tree. The channel is easy to follow and deep enough to paddle easily in both directions. The current is very gentle, so upstream is not a problem. About 45 minutes after leaving First Lake, we came to what looked like the remains of an old crib dam. Below that was a rock garden. We parked our canoe and explored on foot by wading and scrambling along the banks. Soon, the stream poured into a narrow gorge and over a spectacular 30-ft waterfall. With some exploring, we discovered that it is possible to walk around the waterfall through relatively open woods on river right, and get a great view back up from the base. If one were approaching the Essex Chain on a canoe camping trip from the Cedar River (an idea I am most intrigued by - has anyone out there done this?), it would be a very challenging, steep bushwack carry around the waterfall, but it is certainly not impossible (river right is less densely vegetated than river left). From the foot of the waterfall, there is a faint fisherman's trail on river right, through an open meadow for about a quarter mile to the confluence with the Rock River. Paddling to the waterfall, exploring around it, and then paddling back to First Lake makes for a lovely excursion while camping on the Essex Chain. I definitely recommend it!
If anyone is interested, I'll try and post a few pictures once my husband uploads them from his camera.
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