Woodsy Santamont Road, Parishville - Part 2

I was exploring the woodsy and remote Santamont Road (see also Part 1, yesterday's post). It appeared to me that the telephone and electric were no longer available and these were camps. This one, it seemed, had begun life as a travel trailer and been added onto over the years:

Many were far off the road. I could see a series of buildings behind this opened gate but couldn't tell discern much else:

This, clearly, was someone's camp, and a rather nice one at that:

I saw many signs like this pointing off into the surrounding forest but took note of the fact that hiking wasn't one of the approved activities. That wouldn't stop me, but I'll have to check in the springtime to see if the trails are marked:

At the end of the road was this farm house, with utilities supplied from the other direction. A sign said it was a tree farm. There was a crossroad, but I turned back the way I'd come:

This was a weekend, and a young man got out of his vehicle and carried a baby into this place. I supposed that a young couple was spending a pleasant weekend at their snowy retreat:

There were more camps which were barely visible and some which were not visible from the road at all:

I didn't know what this was, but assumed it was a rod and gun club:

A log cabin off through the snowy trees:

I'd missed this sign earlier and it helped explain why there was so much forest. Santamont Road was taking me through the Catherinesville State Forest. I will be back in better weather to see if there are hiking trails of interest:

I thought this was just about the prettiest little place I've seen in a long time and its surroundings couldn't have been more picturesque:

I reached the end of the road where I'd begun my driving tour. I photographed this magnificent old barn, put my camera away and headed for home:

Woodsy Santamont Road, Parishville - Part 1

I was on my way home from a shopping trip when I decided to turn onto Santamont Road for an exploratory driving tour. It was about 6.5 miles long and quite nearby but I'd never before taken the time to have a look. The first home was this white mobile, blending in nicely with all the snow:

And a home with lots of additions, including a very tall one which must have had terrific views:

A smaller home, probably a modular:

And a bigger home with pillars:

A modern ranch:

And a classic, lovely, old farmstead:

But then the road took me through forests and I saw no more signs of telephone or electric wires. The homes or camps were mostly set far back off the road and I often had to use my zoom lens to get a photo:

I began to conclude that the houses I was seeing beyond a certain point were camps, vacation homes, hunting lodges:

This place was all fixed up and looked either new or newly remodeled:

This place looked older, but still inviting. A Christmas Eve here seemed attractive to me:

As you can see, the road had become exceedingly woodsy and remote:

This charming camp was picture perfect. Every time I thought there'd be no more buildings and I ought to turn around, I'd find one more. This was truly a fascinating and beautiful road. So I kept driving, and I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

Part 3, Green and Hayden Roads in Parishville

Green Road ended at Route 72, but by taking a slight jog I continued my driving tour on Hayden Road. This was a gravel road as far as I could tell (the snow covered everything) and looked pretty barren of houses, but I continued on to see what I could see:

The first thing I saw was this huge lean-to, looking like a town garage, perhaps. It was empty except for one bay, which had lots of neatly stacked, split firewood. There were trucks out front but I couldn't read the name on them. That's when I realized I could use my zoom lens:

Yes, indeed. The zoom lens worked. This was the headquarters of Toomey Brothers Logging, in Parishville (which is where I was). A quick Google check when I got home informed me that they are dealers in firewood. Apparently that is a big business in the north country:

I continued on Hayden Road, passing more of the Toomey Brothers Logging buildings and trucks:

I no longer saw any power or telephone lines on the road but I did see this little cabin way back in the forest. It was quite far off the road and, just having proved the handiness of my zoom lens, I used it again for a better view of the cabin:

I passed by another small place back in the woods. With small places like these, I am always inclined to think they are cabins used for hunting or for summer vacations, especially since I saw no sign of public utilities. But that's only a guess. They may also be year 'round residences:

Hayden Road got narrower and took me through a forest with stone walls alongside the road:

But then I saw this sign. There was no need to slow down since I was barely moving at a crawl anyway:

This place said it was a horse farm although I didn't see any horses. Furthermore, It apparently had electricity, so perhaps the lines ran underground:

But it must have been the last house on the road, for beyond here the roads were not maintained between December 1 and April1. They were plowed that day, however, so I continued on:

The road became even more narrow and there was no place to turn around. I finally found a spot to get facing back the way I'd come at this place way back in the forest. This must surely have been a camp but again, that's only a guess. I ended my driving tour, put my camera away and headed for home:

The Port Kent/Red Tavern Road And St. Regis River

We were on our way home, driving through the northern Adirondack wilderness along Port Kent Road. I've driven this way before, but this time continued on the road farther than ever before. The St. Regis River makes a bend which brings it briefly up alongside the road and, in other places, there's marshy wetlands with mountains in the distance:


This is too small to be the St. Regis River so must be a tributary. The wetlands and spruce forests were quintessential northern wilderness. It's developed over time that my trips to and from the farm have become the main events and my stay overnight at the farm has become secondary. Well, with this kind of scenery it's no surprise:

I came to a section of road which had lots of private property and many camps, most of them quite modest. This one had an old fireplace standing in its front yard, presumably where the original homestead used to be. You can see it more clearly if you click on the photo to enlarge it:

I passed by the a portion of the St. Regis River with roaring(!) rapids and falls and took a video which you'll find at the end of this post. But as I traveled farther, the upper portion of the river calmed down and became more tranquil in appearance:

And then I passed by more camps and began snapping photos of them:

And another old church. This had been restored but showed no indication that it was being used as a church:

This wilderness camp had been abandoned and the front door was open:

And we passed more marshy wetlands:

This was all breathtaking, but I don't think I'll try this route in the wintertime:


As I drove, I saw the East Branch of the St. Regis River to my right. It was so beautiful that I left the dogs in the car (I wouldn't want one of them to fall in!) and went down to take a video. It was magnificent. Most of the nearby trees are fragrant Balsam Firs so it smelled wonderful. It was, in fact, a multi-sensory experience. It was much larger and more awesome in real life than in the video, of course, but you can get the general idea. There's about a 6 foot wall of water upstream which the camera captures but you might not otherwise notice it in the video because it's all smooth and not churning. But it was truly breath taking: