250 acres of the south face of Moxham Mountain have been protected by private sale to the Adirondack Land Trust.  There is no recreational access presently. The Land Trust and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation are working to transfer the land to the Adirondack Forest Preserve, at which time it will become public.

Moxham Mountain is located between Minerva and North Creek and is part of the Vanderwhacker Wild Forest. It’s lofty cliffs have been eyed by climbers, although no public access to the face of Moxham was possible.

The Town of Chester and DEC endorsed the purchase for its potential to also provide a new hiking trail on the south side of the mountain leading to a new trailhead and parking lot Route 28N.  DEC and the Student Conservation Association opened a trail from the north side of Moxham’s 2,360-foot summit in 2012.

The Land Trust purchased the acreage from the Brassel and Zack families and the Brassel estate for $160,000.  The purchase was made possible by donations to their Wild Adirondacks Fund.

According to an article in the Adirondack Explorer, a surveyor named Robert Moxham is said to have fallen from the mountain’s cliffs and died in the late 1700s, an event that is thought to have given the mountain its name.

Christopher Jage, land protection manager for the Adirondack Chapter of The Nature Conservancy and former land protection manager for the Adirondack Land Trust, led this project under a cooperative agreement between the two organizations.

Founded in 1984, the Adirondack Land Trust works to protect farms and forests, undeveloped shoreline, scenic vistas, and lands and waters contributing to the quality of life of our communities as well as the wildness and rural character of the Adirondacks. The land trust has protected 23,887 acres.

For more information, email info@adirondacklandtrust.org, call (518) 576-2400, or click here.

Photo of the view west from Moxham Mountain by Carl Heilman II provided; map of Moxham Mountain courtesy Adirondack Atlas.