Spring Pond Bog is the second largest bog in New York State. This Nature Conservancy property contains diverse habitats and bird species. Wetlands, bogs, boreal forest, mixed and deciduous forests, and areas growing back from logging activity, can all be found at this Tupper Lake site. Spring Pond Bog is a primary study site for Spruce Grouse researchers in the Adirondacks.

A permit is required to visit this site. Contact the Adirondack Nature Conservancy for a permit to visit the Spring Pond Bog Preserve.

Getting there

From the intersection of Routes 3 and 30 in Tupper Lake (by Stewarts convenience store), follow Route 3 west for 2.4 miles to a right turn onto Haymeadow Drive. After a couple hundred feet, turn left at the stop sign onto Kildare Road. After approximately 5 miles, stop at the caretaker’s gate and show your permit. To reach the bog, travel approximately 5.6 miles to a left turn.  Proceed for another 1.6 miles to the Spring Pond Bog trailhead on your left.  The road can be rough in the spring.

Hiking

The hiking trail to Spring Pond Bog gradually climbs through a hardwood forest to a glacial esker. There is a boardwalk loop to the right of the esker that takes visitors into the bog for close-up views of plant and bird life. The trail is less than a mile long.

Birding

Spring Pond Bog is one of the most popular birding destinations in the Adirondacks. Between the long drive in and the trail itself, there are many diverse habitat areas, including ponds, deciduous, mixed, and boreal forests, forests growing back from logging, bogs, marshes, brooks, and rivers. Eighteen warbler species breed in this area including Northern Waterthrush, Mourning, Palm, and Canada Warblers. Other boreal species include the increasingly rare Spruce Grouse, Common Loon, Northern Goshawk, Black-backed Woodpecker, Olive-sided, Yellow-bellied, and Alder Flycatchers, Philadelphia Vireo, Gray Jay, Boreal Chickadee, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Lincoln’s Sparrow, and Evening Grosbeak.

The Adirondack Nature Conservancy will email a map of the Spring Pond Bog Preserve. The side dirt roads encountered at 1 mile and 1.3 miles from the caretaker’s house are wonderful birding locations. The second dirt road reached at 1.3 miles past the caretaker’s home has vast boreal habitat.

The Adirondack Nature Conservancy’s permit lists the accessible gate times as 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., but the sign by the gate indicates it is actually 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.!

Winter

The dirt roads into the Spring Pond Bog Preserve are only reliably plowed through hunting season.