Exploring the Jordan River - Raquette Boreal Complex - Adirondack Park

The Jordan River runs through the Raquette Boreal Complex in the Adirondack park, and is a place that I had been interested in exploring ever since I read about it in an obscure Adirondack Explorer article. The article claimed it was one of the most “true wilderness experiences you could get in the Adirondack park” or something along those lines.

After additional research, I learned that accessing the river required a 1.5 mile portage from Carry Falls Reservoir. The few bits of information I found claimed that the river is rarely paddled, and there is zero development after the portage and put in, including no designated campsites. I should expect a bunch of lift overs for beaver dams and downed trees, supposedly the river is navigable for up to 16 miles upstream from the put in, and there may be native brook trout.

All of this information sounded great to me. I looked at the area in google earth and on CalTopo, and created a route that I thought I could tackle. I planned for two nights, one night camping on the shores of Carry Falls Reservoir and another night roughly 7 miles up from the put-in on the Jordan River in an area with what looked like favorable topography and large trees to accommodate a bush camp.

I tucked this information away and waited for a free weekend and my wife’s approval to leave her with our 3 young kids for two nights. Lo and behold, on Thursday, July 16th my wife looked at me after dinner and said, “We don’t have plans this weekend. Didn’t you say you wanted to do a solo camping trip?” That was all I needed to hear. The plans were dusted off, gear was packed, canoe loaded, and after a sleep and full day of work on Friday, I said my goodbyes to the family and hit the road for the one hour drive to Carry Falls Reservoir.

Friday, July 17th, Carry Falls Reservoir, Colton, NY:

Parmenter Campground is located along the road to the public boat ramp at the south end of Carry Falls Reservoir. You pass through the campground to get to the boat ramp. While I was loading my canoe, an older couple that had been camping and fishing on the reservoir since the 60’s chatted with me about what my plans were. The man (Dave I think his name was) said that he had always heard there were old growth white pines along the Jordan River. I told him I would keep my eyes open and promised to take a picture and show him if I saw him when I got back.

Carry Falls Reservoir, looking north after putting in at Parmenter Campground

I started paddling around 6:30 pm with the goal of finding a place to camp near the start of the portage. The older couple I had talked to said there were plenty of nice beaches at the current water level and anything below the high water line was fair game for camping. There are private camps on the lake, and I made a point to look for a spot that didn’t have any posted signs above the high water line.

I paddled a little over 2 miles that evening. I stopped twice to fish structure that I just couldn’t resist and was rewarded with a nice smallmouth bass and a small pike. About 30 mins before sunset, I found a sandy point on the eastern shore that looked like it would make a good camp. It was located between the mouth of the Jordan River to the south, and the start of the portage to the north.

There were some large boulders, on the point above the beach that offered some protection and a place for a fire.

I quickly made camp as the sun was setting and had a nice fire and enjoyable evening watching the stars come out.


The boat traffic on the lake picked up after dark, and some folks camping out of a pontoon boat on an island set off a few fireworks with some battle yells and whoops for effect. I tried not to be too annoyed with them. Accessible places tend to be loud places, and everyone has their own ideas of fun. I would find my solitude tomorrow
It was still a beautiful evening and great campsite. Everything was quiet and peaceful after about 10:30 pm. I decided it was time for bed, and I put out my driftwood fire. The weather was great, but rain was in the forecast for Saturday.

Tomorrow would be an adventure.

Well done, waiting to enjoy the next report.

Really interested in how this went. This river has been on my list but the portage had scared me off.

Excellent. Looking forward to the next day.

Saturday, July 18th

I was woken by a steady rain just after midnight, and I happily fell back asleep to natures’ music hitting my tent fly. I woke again around 5:00 and stayed in the tent until about 5:30 when the rain stopped. I exited the tent, ate a granola bar, quickly packed my gear while the rain held off, and loaded the canoe.

The plan for the morning was to paddle around the corner to check out the mouth of the Jordan River and then paddle back past last night’s campsite to the start of the portage. I pushed off onto the lake around 6:15 and the water was glass. I had the reservoir to myself as far as I could tell. The mouth of the river was fringed by camps with boats pulled up on the sandy/gravelly shorelines. There were a lot of large downed trees, and I didn’t see an easy way to get through. I neglected to take a picture.

I turned around and paddled north along the eastern shoreline towards the beach that marks the start of the 1.5 mile portage.

Again, I neglected to take a picture here because it had started raining hard, and I was antsy to get going. The start of the portage was an obvious opening in the tree line at the back center of the beach I marked with a pin above. The portage is not marked with a sign. I was paddling a lightweight Slipstream Inspire, so I made the decision to single carry the portage. The boat worked great as an umbrella as the rain really started to pick up (you have to find positives when you are starting a 1.5 mile portage in a heavy rain). The start of the trail had a gradual uphill followed by a gradual downhill that took me past two old abandoned cars. It was clear that the trail had been used as an atv trail in the not so distant past.

After passing the cars, the trail is a rolling up and down portage for almost its entire length. The secret to navigating this portage is to always bear right at any intersection you come to while heading towards the river. After the first right turn I started to see sporadic portage signs nailed to trees. I encountered a few really slick mud puddles and several downed trees, but in general the trail was in good condition and could be wheeled with a cart without issue.

Towards the end of the portage the trail veers towards the river, and you can just make it out through the trees. It might appear enticing to put in at this point, but there is a rapid above this spot that would have to be navigated upstream, so I chose to carry the additional quarter mile to the put in above the rapids. The final right turn of the portage is onto an old logging haul road. A short walk down this road takes you to the bridge that signals the put in. I made the carry from the reservoir to the bridge in about 45 minutes taking 3 breaks to rest my shoulders.

This is the view looking downstream from the bridge.

And this is the view looking upstream.

I decided to take a break here, filter some water, and make oatmeal breakfast with some much needed coffee. The water in the Jordan River is a very dark tannin stained amber color, but it tastes just fine.

This is a picture of the slope down to the put in on the north side of the bridge. It was steep enough that I could use it to gravity filter the water. At the water there are some rocks to stand on to get into the canoe.

After breakfast and filling my water bottle, I loaded the canoe and started my planned ~7 mile journey upstream.

The Jordan River meanders back and forth, almost completely doubling back on itself in places. Beavers have been hard at work building dams and diverting water which has created a lot of marshy side channels where the water used to flow. The width of the river varies from 30 feet wide to barely wide enough for the canoe to fit through. This is a great place to practice functional freestyle paddling. There is a log jam that is encountered fairly quickly that requires a portage. There is no marked trail and it requires a bit of a bushwhack. After this there are many downed trees that require lift overs. Some of the beaver dams I encountered could be paddled onto and butt scooted over. Others held back over a foot of water and required a lift over. There are also alder lined sections where the river narrows significantly. I saw eagles, blue herons, and grey jays as I paddled upstream. I saw no obvious signs of man after getting on the river. I felt very alone in a wild place. It was bliss.

I did not take many pictures while paddling as I had a GoPro in the boat that I hoped to grab thumbnails from. Unfortunately, the micro SD card I had the footage on was damaged after getting home. I think my kids might have been playing with the computer at the kitchen table and the footage was all lost.

The pictures below are a good representation of the lower section of the river.


You will notice in the picture above that there are some quite large white pines in the distance. Dave, the guy I met at Parmenter campground, had been correct, there were some very old white pines along the river. About 3 or so miles upstream from the put in, I found a good spot under a massive white pine to eat lunch. It was pouring down rain, but this tree almost sheltered me completely from the downpour.

It was truly an ancient. I would estimate the trunk to be between 5 and 6 feet in diameter.

While eating lunch under this tree, I wondered at all the years it had stood here and the storms that it had weathered. It was the first moment of the trip that I truly slowed down mentally and just existed in my environment. It was special, and I won’t forget it…

Sounds truly delightful. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for posting your experience on the Jordon. Years ago I had interest in paddling the river, especially after camping at Carry Falls Res., but it never came to be. I’m happy to see and read about the river through your report, Well done.

Nice get-a-way you found. Small rivers are especially fun to explore because of the fun obstacle courses they offer and those big white pine are impressive.

"I made the carry from the reservoir to the bridge in about 45 minutes taking 3 breaks to rest my shoulders." - A yoke pad can help with that.

Great job! Enjoyed your post with my morning coffee, great way to start the day. I enjoyed the pictures of the river but especially liked the picture of the white pine. Very few things survive that long.