The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has temporarily closed the Goodman Mountain Trail in the Horseshoe Lake Wild Forest in the town of Tupper Lake, due to the presence of a bull moose observed over an extended period of time.
Wild animals can be unpredictable and potentially dangerous when approached. The closure is a precautionary measure to protect public safety and minimize disturbances to the animal, an announcement from DEC said.
Moose are the tallest (up to six feet at the shoulder), and the second-largest, land animal in North America – much larger and taller than whitetail deer, weighing up to almost 1,600 pounds.
Although generally slow-moving and sedentary, moose can become defensively aggressive, and move very quickly if angered or startled. Their mating season in the autumn includes fights between males competing for a female.
Signage is posted at trailheads and access points. Visitors are urged to seek alternative hiking destinations in the region such as a hike up nearby Coney Mountain or Mount Arab – both are about a mile hike to the top.
Goodman Mountain, named after civil rights activist Andrew Goodman, one of three Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) workers murdered in Philadelphia, Mississippi, by members of the Ku Klux Klan in 1964.
The trial is part of the Tupper Lake Hiking Triad.
The trail will remain closed until DEC determines it is safe to reopen. DEC said wildlife experts are monitoring the situation and Forest Rangers will be actively enforcing the closure.
Read more about moose in New York State.
Illustration: One of many photos of the bull moose at Goodman Mountain Trail posted to social media.
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