Pleasant Brook Forest
Santa Clara, NY 12980
Franklin County, New York
Farm Description
Pleasant Brook Forest is a private and secluded recreational timber property tucked away in the Northern Adirondack towns of Brandon and Santa Clara. The current ownership has held this property in their family for 30 years; now it is time to start a new stewardship legacy on the land. For those seeking a large recreational property for snowmobiling, ATV riding, hunting, fishing, and weekend getaways, Pleasant Brook Forest is worth a look. The property spans over a square mile of northern Adirondack forest and has a little bit of everything - a stream, a cabin, a good road system, and a diverse mix of habitat and woodlot opportunities.
Pleasant Brook Forest is located in a quiet corner of the northern Adirondacks just north of the St Regis River East Branch corridor and five or six miles upstream from the nearby St Regis Falls. This scenic landscape lies along the transition line between heavily blanketed Adirondack forests to the south and the rolling St. Lawrence Valley to the north and west. The surrounding neighborhood is tucked away in an idyllic forested setting of rolling hardwood ridges and spruce/fir forests, with the neighboring ownership patterns representing a patchwork of hunting camps, seasonal camps, forever wild public lands and working private forests.
Potsdam (population 17,000) is the regional educational hub of northern New York and is 28 miles west of the property. Malone (5,900) lies 20 miles to the north, while Massena (10,800) is 30 miles northwest along the St. Lawrence Seaway. Lake Placid, one of the Adirondack's most popular four-season resort towns, is within an hour's drive of the property.
Access is gained via 1,375' of frontage along Red Tavern Road (CR 14), which runs along the property's southern boundary. Red Tavern Road is the four-season artery linking the property both to Route 30 and to the Nicholville/Parishville region to the west. There is also 800' of frontage along Everton Road (town maintained) in this same vicinity.
From Everton Road, there is 5700' of frontage along the private, gated Eddy Road, which is the main entrance into the property. It was graveled in 2009 and used as a hauling road during the last timber thinning. Eddy Road runs northward for three quarters of a mile to the main hunting camp, broadly paralleling Pleasant Brook along the way.
An extensive snowmobile trail system managed by the Moira Trail Breakers lies just east of the property via Everton Road. This trail eventually ties into Reynoldston Road just north of the property and links to a vast trail network to the north and west.
The property is named after Pleasant Brook, a tributary of the nearby East Branch St Regis River. Pleasant Brook meanders slowly southward for over a mile through a beautiful boreal backdrop of open beaver meadows, willows, alders and spire-topped spruce and fir forests. The stream itself ranges from 20-100' wide, while its surrounding riparian marsh habitat ranges from 100 to nearly 300 yards wide in the southeastern corner of the property. This is a beautiful setting as well as a rich ecosystem which supports a variety of wildlife and bird species, including deer, beaver, muskrat, ducks, and geese.
Rolling hardwood ridges make up most of the upland acreage on the western two thirds of the property. This area has a good network of trails and great deer and grouse habitat. We noticed several deer and grouse tracks crossing back and forth along Eddy Road during our recent site visit. Many areas throughout the woods have good visibility and long shooting lanes that will be welcomed by deer hunting enthusiasts.
The property is outfitted with two rustic hunting camps and a vacant structure near the gravel pit at the south end of Eddy Road. The main cabin, situated centrally within the property on an overlook above the Pleasant Brook flow, appears ready for off-grid weekend retreats. There's a woodstove, gas cooking stove, bunks, a front porch overlooking the surrounding valley, and an open floor plan that can comfortably sleep 4-5 people.
The northern hardwood and spruce/fir timber has been managed under the supervision of a forester and there is going to be a lot of wood on this property in fifteen to twenty years. It is perfectly suited for a long-term buyer who is thinking about acquiring a nice recreational property and smart land investment that can be eventually passed down to their children.
Species composition is made up of sugar and red maples, the birches, cherry, ash, beech and spruce/fir.
