Camping at Limekiln Lake and Riding Moose River Plains ADK Gravel – 6.13.21

A few weekends ago Jordan and I spent another fabulous weekend in the Adirondacks camping and biking. We stayed at Limekiln Lake campground for 2 nights, located near the quaint Adirondack town of Inlet, NY.

Friday evening we set up our tent in the light rain and woke up to an amazing morning. Can you just hear the loons calling in this photo?

We got up and drove into Inlet for breakfast at Tamarack Café, along with a quick stop at Mountain Man Outdoor Supply in Old Forge because Jordan forgot his bike shoes! Thankfully they had lots of shoes to choose from. From there we drove back to our site to get ready for a gravel ride in the Moose River Plains. Our campsite was located near the entrance to the Plains, a wilderness area with a gravel road that runs from Inlet to Indian Lake. It is actually the course for the Black Fly Challenge Bike Race. I had been anxious to ride this road for a while!

We rode the glorious gravel/hard packed dirt/crushed stone road to where the bridge crosses the Moose River and back for a 25 miles. It was gorgeous. The road is very well marked with signage, including signs to trails that off-shoot to ponds and more campsites.  At a major intersection we continued down Otter Creek Road toward the West Canada Lakes Wilderness. To continue on the Black Fly course we would have taken a left here toward the Cedar River Entrance.

The road is open seasonally to vehicles and RVs as there are designated primitive campsites along the road (meaning no running water, with a pit privy and firepit at each site).  There were a surprising amount of vehicles passing by during our ride, so even though it is a remove area (there is zero cell service) we didn’t feel to isolated. If you plan on riding this road don’t forget extra food and water (or a filter, there are many places to stop and filter water), bike tools and definitely a spare tube with tools to change a flat tire.

Eventually I’d like to spot a car at each end of the road and ride the full 22 miles from Inlet to Indian Lake. However, since we only had one car and didn’t feel like riding almost 50 miles with 3K+ of climbing, we opted for an out and back, still with plenty of elevation!

The next day, we packed up camp and decided to stop at Cedar River entrance to the Moose River Plains on the drive home since it was on the way. Here there is a large parking area with more primitive camp sites.  I camped here one once when hiking a section of the Northville Placid Trail. I only made it 4.5 miles down the gravel road when my front tire got a slow leak. I stopped to pump it up a few times on the way back (tip: ALWAYS carry a pump!) If were were planning on riding a lot further I would have changed the tube. We only made it about 9 miles total, which was OK since I was pretty beat from the previous day’s ride. Over the two days we rode 34 miles and 3,038′ of climbing.

The Moose River Plains area is definitely worth checking out with your gravel bike–the road is in perfect shape for riding! Some of the descents were a little rough but nothing a gravel bike (or hard tail mtb) with burly tires couldn’t handle.