The Cold River Loop combines three low-elevation trails in the Adirondack High Peaks Wilderness, and briefly follows the Cold River through what is considered the most remote section of the Northville-Placid Trail.
Region: Mid-Atlantic (Adirondack Park, New York)
Length: 30 miles (2 to 3 days)
Physical Difficulty: Moderate
- The elevation gain is 3,418 feet over ~30 miles. The trail loops around the Seward Mountains, ascending and descending low ridges. There are no significant climbs.
- Mostly soft dirt trails, with several sections along old logging roads.
- The trail is wet and muddy, with wet crossings of a meadow that can flood during high water, Calkins Brook, and the Cold River if the river is low enough.
Logistical Difficulty: Easy
- Loop trail done in 2-3 days so resupply not needed.
- Plentiful water.
- Shelters well spaced.
Net Elevation Gain: 3,418 feet
How to Get to the Cold River Loop
The trail starts at the Seward Trailhead. The closest towns are Saranac Lake and Tupper Lake. Coreys Road leads from Route 3 (between the two towns) to Ampersand Road and the Seward Trailhead.
Coreys is a small settlement of year-round and seasonal houses with no stores or gas stations.
About the Cold River Loop
The Cold River Loop combines the Calkins Brook Truck Trail, the Northville-Placid Trail, and the Ward Brook Truck Trail for a ~30-mile loop around the Seward Mountains.
The trail is not well-maintained, and blowdowns block the trail throughout the loop. Some sections are heavily overgrown, especially the short, unnamed trail between the Calkins Brook trail and Cold River shelters 3 and 4 on the NPT.
This is also a very wet hike, so water shoes are a good idea.
When to Hike the Cold River Loop
Spring: Snow can linger, bugs can be bothersome, and spring rains can make a wet trail even wetter.
Summer: Buggy, wet, and sometimes uncomfortably hot and humid. But the sweet spot of summer hiking is swimming in the Cold River.
Fall: Leaves begin to change color, the bugs are mostly gone, and the temperature can be cool and comfortable.
Hiking the Cold River Loop
The centerpiece of the Cold River Loop is the Cold River, with four shelters that provide stunning views of the river and nights falling asleep to the music of the rushing water.
The loop follows the Northville-Placid Trail (NPT) for roughly 10 miles, about half of those along the river, through what is considered the most remote section of the 136-mile NPT.
Trail access is from the Seward Trailhead, a few dirt road miles from the small settlement of Coreys, NY. Trailhead parking can be at a premium on weekends and holidays as it is a popular launching spot for 46ers climbing the 4,000-plus-foot peaks of the Seward Mountains.
I hiked the loop counterclockwise, taking the Calkins Brook Truck Trail (10.6 miles) to the NPT at Shattuck Clearing, the NPT (10.4 miles) to the Ward Brook Truck Trail, and the Ward Brook Truck Trail (8.7 miles) to my car. I stayed at Cold River shelter No. 3 overlooking the river; Cold River shelter No. 4, a short walk downriver, also has a superb view of the river.
The hike from the parking lot follows an unnamed trail for 1.2 miles to the Calkins Brook and Ward Brook truck trails. I turned right at the trail junction onto the Calkins Brook trail and the going was easy along an old logging road for 6.5 miles to the Calkins Brook shelter.
Shortly after the shelter the trail crosses Calkins Brook, a dry crossing in low water and a wet one in high water. This was my first wet shoes water crossing. The trail becomes overgrown after this, almost disappearing in sections. Shortly before reaching the Cold River a marked side trail leads to Latham Pond, with a view of the Sewards.
The Calkins Brook trail ends at the Cold River, with two options for reaching Cold River shelters 3 and 4. If you take a left at the river, you’ll follow a trail that disappears among thick overgrowth and a beaver pond, eventually emerging from the overgrowth behind Cold River shelter 4. I could clearly see the trail from both ends, but lost it in the middle.
To the right is an easy path to the horse trail crossing at Shattuck Clearing, where there is a marked tent site. I found a shallow crossing downriver (my second wet shoes crossing of the day), and reconnected with the horse trail for a short uphill walk to the NPT. It’s important to note that crossing the Cold River is possible only during low water.
The NPT winds through the woods for about a mile, crossing two suspension bridges before reaching Cold River shelters 3 and 4. Both shelters have fire pits, a privy, and adjacent tent sites.
The next day I continued on the NPT, following the trail uphill from the shelters and along the river.
Once again the trail followed an old logging road, and the hiking along the river was easy to Seward and Ouluska shelters. The Seward shelter is a popular spot for swimming at Millers Falls, but the day I stopped was cold and threatening rain so I did not swim.
After the Ouluska shelter the trail heads uphill away from the river, leaving behind the flat, easy walking, and soon reaches a spot where Noah John Rondeau, the Hermit of Cold River, lived from roughly 1929 to 1950. The sign marking the location of his long-gone hermitage is a must-have picture for loop and NPT hikers.
The trail continues over ridges, climbing and descending before reaching the Ward Brook trail, which bears left at the junction. The NPT continues to Lake Placid, passing Cold River shelters 1 and 2 (.4 miles) and Duck Hole shelters 1 and 2 (1.5 miles).
Soon after the junction the trail crosses a meadow that can be dry, flooded, or something in between. It was flooded when I hiked through, and because my shoes were wet from rain that had been steadily falling for several hours, I waded through the nearly foot-deep water rather than testing the floating saplings intended as a bridge.
After 2.6 miles, steady rain, and many blowdowns, I reached the two Number 4 horse trail shelters , which were empty and in very good shape (dry inside, no roof leaks). A stream flows right behind the shelters, with easy access for filtering water. Shelter from the storm never looked so good.
The trail from the horse shelters to the trailhead (6.1 miles) continues on a flat grade, passing the Ward Brook and Blueberry shelters. Both shelters are popular launching spots for peakbagging the Sewards and because they often fill up are not good destinations for loop hikers.
After the Blueberry shelter the trail is very wet, and large blowdowns block the trail. At this point my shoes were so wet it seemed futile to try to avoid the mud and water.
But the hike went quickly, and I happily changed into clean clothes and dry shoes back at my car.
Suggested Itineraries
Two Days: Counterclockwise on the Calkins Brook Truck Trail to Seward shelter, Seward shelter to the trailhead. Or clockwise on Ward Brook Truck Trail to Ouluska shelter, Ouluska shelter to the trailhead.
Three Days: Ward Brook Truck Trail to Duck Hole, Duck Hole to Cold River shelters 3 and 4, Calkins Brook Truck Trail to the trailhead. Or the reverse: Calkins Brook to shelters 3 and 4, shelters 3 and 4 to Duck Hole, Duck Hole to the trailhead. Duck Hole is not technically on the loop, but it’s a nice side trip to a beautiful location.
The Cold River Loop Terrain
The Calkins Brook and Ward Brook truck trails mostly follow old logging roads, with slight elevation gain and loss. The Northville-Placid Trail is mostly flat from the Cold River shelters to Ouluska shelter, then climbs and descends ridges away from the river.
Logistics: Permits, Camping, Water
Permits: No permits are needed.
Shelters: Plenty of shelters with tent sites, picnic tables, and privies nicely spaced along the loop: Calkins Brook (2 shelters), Cold River shelters 3 and 4, the Seward and Ouluska shelters, Cold River shelters 1 and 2, the two Number 4 horse trail shelters, and the Ward Brook and Blueberry shelters. I do not recommend staying at the Ward Brook and Blueberry shelters because they get heavy use by 46ers.
Water: Water is plentiful. I carried a liter and filled up at the abundant water sources along the loop.
Route-finding: The three trails that make up the loop are easy to follow, although some sections are very overgrown. The Calkins Brook and Ward Brook trails are sparsely blazed with blue trail markers. The Northville-Placid Trail section has a confusing mix of NPT and two kinds of blue trail markers, also spaced far apart. But trail junctions are clearly marked with signs indicating distances to shelters and connecting trails.
Water Crossings: The Calkins Brook bridge just north of the shelter washed out years ago, and lumber to rebuild it has sat in the woods for years. I waded across the brook when I hiked because the water was too high for dry rock hopping. A meadow on the Ward Brook trail near the junction with the NPT can be dry, covered with water, or something in between. It was filled with water about a foot deep when I hiked, and I waded through it. The trail connecting the Calkins Brook trail to Cold River shelters 3 and 4 is extremely overgrown, and I lost the trail in the area of a beaver marsh. I backtracked and waded across the Cold River at a shallow spot downriver from the Shattuck Clearing horse trail ford, and hiked the horse trail a short distance to the NPT.
Know Before You Go
Solitude: In early September I saw one NPT thru-hiker and two loop hikers, and I was the only hiker at the two shelters I stayed in. About a dozen 46ers signed the trail logbook between the time I began hiking and my return.
Clockwise or Counterclockwise?: I hiked counterclockwise, mainly because I wanted to spend my first night on the river at Cold River shelters 3 and 4. The two loop hikers I met were going clockwise on the Ward Brook trail because they wanted to spend the first night at the Duck Hole shelters. So hiking direction comes down to personal preference.
The Horse Trails: Several horse trails cross and run alongside the loop trails, but they are rarely used and overgrown. Hiking on them is not recommended.
Parking: The Seward Trailhead is the only parking area for the loop, and Google Maps has directions. The trailhead is heavily used by 46ers hiking the Seward Mountain peaks, and often fills up.
Transportation: Driving your own vehicle is the only practical way to get to the trail.
Cell Reception: Random. At various times a text or phone call came through on my cell phone, but there is no consistent cell reception.
Trail Guides: I used the National Geographic Adirondack Parks Lake Placid / High Peaks map because it has the best trail markings, shelter names and locations, and mileages. The Adirondack Mountain Club High Peaks map has smaller print, making it hard to read, and does not name the shelters. The Northville-Lake Placid Chapter of the ADK has a trail book, but I didn’t consult it because only about 10 miles of the loop are on the NPT.
Bear Canisters: The New York Department of Environmental Conservation recommends using bear canisters, but does not require them in the Outer Zone of the High Peaks Wilderness where the Cold River Loop is located.
Peakbagging: Two herd paths marked by cairns leave the Ward Brook trail near the Ward Brook and Blueberry shelters, one climbing a herd path to the peaks of Seward, Donaldson, and Emmons, and another climbing Seymour, all 4,000-footers. A herd path off the Calkins Brook trail is marked by a cairn and old pot, also leading to Seward, Donaldson, and Emmons.
Cold River Loop Resources
Camping regulations: New York Department of Environmental Conservation
Northville-Placid Trail guidebook
Adirondack Park (Lake Placid / High Peaks) map
Adirondack Mountain Club High Peaks map
