The West Canada Lake Wilderness Area is an Adirondack Park Forest Preserve

Forest Preserve (New York)

New York's Forest Preserve is all the land owned by the state within the Adirondack and Catskill parks, managed by its Department of Environmental Conservation. These properties are required to be kept "forever wild" by Article 14 of the state constitution, and thus enjoy the highest degree of...

 management unit in the town of Ohio

Ohio, New York

Ohio is a town in Herkimer County, New York, United States. The population was 922 at the 2000 census. The town is named after the state of Ohio. The town is in the northwest part of the county and northeast of Utica. Part of Ohio is within the Adirondack Park....

 in Herkimer County

Herkimer County, New York

Herkimer County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. It was created in 1791 north of the Mohawk River out of part of Montgomery County. As of the 2010 census, the population was 64,519. It is named after General Nicholas Herkimer, who died from battle wounds in 1777 after taking part...

 and the towns of Morehouse

Morehouse, New York

Morehouse is a town in Hamilton County, New York, United States. The population was 151 at the 2000 census. The name is that of an early settler, Andrew Morehouse....

, Arietta

Arietta, New York

Arietta is a town in Hamilton County, New York, United States. The population was 293 at the 2000 census. The town was named after the mother of one of the first settlers, Rensselaer Van Rennslaer...

, Lake Pleasant

Lake Pleasant, New York

Lake Pleasant is a town in Hamilton County, New York, United States. The population was 876 at the 2000 census. It contains the county seat of Hamilton County, which is also called Lake Pleasant....

 and Indian Lake

Indian Lake, New York

Indian Lake is a town in Hamilton County, New York, United States. The population was 1,471 at the 2000 census. The name is from a large lake partly inside the town.The Town of Indian Lake is on the east border of the county and is northeast of Utica....

 in Hamilton County

Hamilton County, New York

Hamilton County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. It is named after Alexander Hamilton, the only member of the New York State delegation who signed the United States Constitution in 1787 and later the first United States Secretary of the Treasury. Its county seat is Lake Pleasant...

. It is bounded on the north by the Moose River Plains area and private lands in the vicinity of Little Moose Lake, Squaw Brook, Snowy Mountain and Squaw Mountain; on the east by NY 30

New York State Route 30

New York State Route 30 is a state highway in the central part of New York in the United States. It extends for from an interchange with NY 17 in the Southern Tier to the Canadian border in the state's North Country, where it continues into Quebec as Route 138. On a regional level,...

, lands of International Paper

International Paper

International Paper Company is an American pulp and paper company, the largest such company in the world. It has approximately 59,500 employees, and it is headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee.-History:...

 and the Spruce Lake-Piseco Lake trail; on the south by private lands north of NY 8

New York State Route 8

New York State Route 8 is a state highway in the central part of New York in the United States. It runs in a southwest-to-northeast direction from the Southern Tier to the northern part of Lake George. The southern terminus of the route is at an interchange with NY 17 in the town of...

, the South Branch of West Canada Creek and an access road to private lands; on the west by West Canada Creek and private lands east of Honnedaga Lake.

The area contains 168 bodies of water covering 2,400 acres (9.6 km²), 78.3 miles (126 km) of foot trails

Trail

A trail is a path with a rough beaten or dirt/stone surface used for travel. Trails may be for use only by walkers and in some places are the main access route to remote settlements...

, and 11 lean-to

Lean-to

A lean-to is a term used to describe a roof with a single slope. The term also applies to a variety of structures that are built using a lean-to roof....

s. The 133-mile Northville-Placid Trail

Northville-Placid Trail

The Northville-Lake Placid Trail, also known as the NPT, is a lightly travelled foot trail that runs 133 mi through the Adirondack Park in northern New York State. It was laid out by the Adirondack Mountain Club in 1922 and 1923, and is now maintained by the New York State Department of...

 traverses it.

Geography

The terrain ranges from swamp flats and rolling hills to steep mountains such as Snowy. Water drains from the area into three basins: the Hudson, the Mohawk and the Black.

Forest

The forest cover consists chiefly of mixed hardwood-softwood types with large diameter trees of both types on the more fertile soils. There is also considerable area in spruce-balsam swamp and beaver meadows. Among the spots that attract hikers and campers in addition to the previously mentioned lakes are T Lake Falls and T Lake Mountain, West Canada Creek

West Canada Creek

West Canada Creek is a river in upstate New York, USA. West Canada Creek drains the south part of the Adirondack Mountains and empties into the Mohawk River near the Village of Herkimer...

, Panther Mountain

Panther Mountain (New York)

Panther Mountain is one of the Catskill High Peaks, located in the Town of Shandaken in Ulster County, New York. At approximately 3,720 feet in elevation, it is the 18th highest in the range...

, Snowy Mountain

Snowy Mountain (New York)

Snowy Mountain is a mountain located in Hamilton County, New York. Initially known as 'Squaw Bonnet', its summit is the highest point in the county. While most maps show the elevation as 3899 feet, some suggest that more recent surveys have it as 3904 feet or even 3908 feet.The mountain is the...

 and Cedar River

Cedar River (New York)

The Cedar River is a river in the central Adirondacks, in Hamilton County, New York. It rises at the outlet of the Cedar Lakes in the town of Arietta and flows northeast into the town of Lake Pleasant, where it passes through the Cedar River Flow...

.

Water

Among the area's chief attributes are its numerous ponds, lakes and streams, most of which support a brook trout population.