Five Ponds Wilderness Area is a vast protected tract in New York’s western Adirondacks, distinguished by rolling lowlands, scores of ponds, streams, and wetlands, and a mix of damaged and remarkably intact forest. Parts were heavily logged, burned, or later shattered by major blowdowns, yet other sections escaped commercial cutting and now preserve rare old-growth timber, including one of the largest unlogged tracts in the eastern United States. Known old-growth sites include the Five Ponds esker, Glasby Creek, the East Branch Oswegatchie, and Pine Ridge. The area is also prized for remote hiking, paddling, fishing, and access to notable interior destinations and trout waters.