Chesterfield Has a Mountain Name People Remember

Chesterfield has a landmark with a name people remember before they know the back roads: Poke-O-Moonshine. Adirondack Land Trust places the mountain in the towns of Lewis and Chesterfield, close to Plattsburgh and just a few miles from I-87. That gives this part of Essex County a very readable outdoor identity.

DEC treats Poke-O-Moonshine as part of Taylor Pond Wild Forest. The summit and fire tower give 360-degree views, and the mountain has two main ways up. Observer’s Trail follows an old fire-observer access road for 1.9 miles past beaver ponds and an old cabin site. Ranger Trail runs 1.8 miles from the Poke-O-Moonshine Day Use Area and climbs through a steeper route with stone steps and rerouted sections.

The texture is more than hiking mileage. The Land Trust notes Lake Champlain views, the High Peaks, the Jay Range, east-facing cliffs, peregrine falcon habitat, and rock climbing. So Chesterfield’s outdoor identity has a lake-edge Adirondack feel and a hard-to-forget mountain profile: trailheads off Route 9, a fire tower above the trees, and a local name that sounds like it belongs in a story told from the porch.