Pack Demonstration Forest

Pack Forest Rd
Phone: 518-582-4551 x105

Hiking trails, XC ski trails, snowshoeing. Public fishing. Mountain biking. No picnicking or overnight camping. Nature Trail is wheelchair accessible.

 

The Grandmother Tree In 1813, as Warrensburgh and Warren County were being established, this great white pine was already 139 years old. Today the huge pine stands over 165 feet tall and is greater than four feet in diameter and holds more than 4,000 board feet of lumber. The tree is in what later became Pack Forest. There are many stories about how it was saved, but the one that is repeated over and over is that in 1870 Mrs. Margaret Woodward, whose husband’s family had moved into the area in 1796, was promised a set of pewter ware by her husband. Times were hard, and money was scarce, so he decided to fell the tree and raise money for the gift. Mrs. Woodward found out and said that she would do without the gift rather than have the tree cut. Some tell about china, silverware, etc., but the story always ends up the same, the tree remained, a monument to the woman who decided that continued life was more important than worldly goods.