Sentinel Range Wilderness Area

  • Pitchoff Mountain Trail, Keene

The Sentinel Range Wilderness Area is roughly outlined by Routes 86, 73, and 9N, and Springfield Road in Jay, New York. In total, it’s 23,874 acres. To really drive home how wild this place is, there are less than 11 miles of established trails in the entire Sentinel Range Wilderness Area. Most of the activity, then, occurs along the edges, where popular trails like those at Pitchoff, Copperas Pond, and the Jackrabbit ski trail are located. A few mountains get near the 4,000 foot mark, but don't quite make "High Peak status". In turn interior is well-regarded as prime Adirondack hunting grounds because of its remoteness.

Hiking and cross-country skiing

Here are a few hikes in the Sentinel Range Wilderness Area:

Climbing and ice climbing

Both the north and south end of this range have a couple of the most popular areas for climbing. If you're looking for easy routes on slab, with the option for toproping, check out The Slabs in Wilmington Notch. Check out Pitchoff Cliffs in Cascade Pass for short, classic multi-pitch routes in the regular season, and popular ice climbing in the winter. The north face of Pitchoff has good ice climbing as well.

Hunting

There are several small parking areas scattered around the range, and while there aren't many hiking trails, access to the range is fairly easy. Getting away from people is also easy here, but care should be taken to bring a map, compass, and GPS device. Many go to the Sentinel Range Wilderness Area for small game and deer hunting.