Kunjamuk River
06/23/2003

The Kunjamuk is a beautiful small river in the southern part of the Adirondack Part near Speculator. I've paddled it several times now, and I enjoy going back.

For this trip, I decided to start at the put-in on Kunjamuk Bay across from the mouth of the river. I paddled upstream to Elm Lake, which is small, isolated lake with only three cabins on the shoreline. The Kunjamuk runs through logging land and is undeveloped except for a couple of bridges. It's a popular river with beavers, which may explain why so few people paddle it -- too many beaver dams to cross. I had three carry-overs on the way up to the lake and 4 or 5 that I was able to scoot over in my canoe. And these were just the dams that spanned the river. By the time I got to the first dam above the lake -- a large, 2-foot high one -- it was late enough that I decided to turn around.

After heading back down the Kunjamuk, I wanted to see how far up the Sacandaga I could paddle. The section of the Sacandaga between Kunjamuk Bay and Lake Pleasant isn't anything special, though I did see my one-and-only beaver for this trip. I thought there was a dam at Lake Pleasant, but it turns out not to be the case, so I paddle onto the lake. It was getting late, so I didn't spend much time on Lake Pleasant, but it looks like it might be a nice trip.

Wildlife: I saw a lot of red-wing black birds, which I don't recall having seen before. They are one of my favorite birds in terms of coloring. I saw one heron on Elm Lake. No beavers on the Kunjamuk this trip, but I caught one on the Sacandaga. I did see a small garter snake swimming across the Kunjamuk, but he was too quick to get a picture.

Kunjamuk River Location
Trip Map

Pictures

Kunjamuk Bay from the put-in
Beaver Dam #1
Beaver Dam #2
Beaver Dam #3
Beaver Dam #4
Beaver Dam #5
Beaver Dam #6
Beaver Dam #7
Elm Lake from the southern end
Finally, a beaver sighting on the Sacandaga
Lake Pleasant from the Sacandaga outlet
Some ducks enjoying the sun
The Sacandaga wends its way through Kunjamuk Bay

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