The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) today announced that effective Friday, March 31, Region 6 will be closing all gates to snowmobile trails and mud gates on seasonal access roads on Forest Preserve, State Forest, and Conservation Easement lands due to spring thaw and muddy conditions. DEC Region 6 is comprised of Jefferson, Lewis, St. Lawrence, Herkimer, and Oneida counties.
Motor vehicle use during the spring mud season damages roads, resulting in road opening delays. DEC will reopen the roads once they are dry enough to safely handle motor vehicle traffic and necessary maintenance is completed.
Photo at top courtesy of the NYS DEC.
It’s Mud Season Again. Past Time to Close those Gates
It’s mud season again in the Adirondacks. During mud season, we are all warned by our NYS DEC to stay off designated hiking trails in or near the High Peaks or Giant Mountain Wildernesses at this time of the year because the scarce, thin, organic soil at higher elevations so easily comes off on our boots and leaves nothing on the former trail but boot holes and pools of water. Save our vulnerable soils, plants and trails. Come back later in May or June, we are asked, when conditions are drier. The request makes plenty of sense.
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