Exploring Adirondacks Wilderness in Eastern New York

LAKE PLACID, N.Y. —  With 6 million acres it’s larger than any national park, bigger than the whole of Vermont. It has 28,000 lakes and ponds, 31,000 miles of rivers and streams and 46 peaks more than 4,000 feet high.

Some who have trekked through the world’s magnificent ranges will agree that it has some of the most spectacular mountain scenery on earth, with its towering green peaks tumbling into rushing brooks or placid lakes.

About half of Adirondack Park is protected as “forever wild,” just a four-hour drive north of New York City and two hours south of Montreal. Inside this “wilderness” are more than 100 towns with affordable accommodations, reasonable meals and tourist treats.

Some of its more famous spots are Lake George, Ausable Chasm, t. Ticonderoga and Lake Placid, home of the 1932 and 1980 Winter Olympics. Only a few miles from humanity are trails you can hike and lakes to paddle inside the largest protected wilderness area east of the Mississippi.

The most popular lake villages--Placid, George, Saranac, Tupper and Blue Mountain--offer the best lodging and restaurants, but are a bit more expensive than the lesser-known towns. That doesn’t mean, however, that the others are less attractive. Vacationers from around New York and neighboring states have long flocked to “their lake” or “camp” because “nobody else goes there.”

A Full Schedule

During a leisurely week’s vacation in the Adirondacks a family can easily fit in some fishing, camping, hiking, history, an amusement park, Olympic nostalgia, specialty shopping, a drive up a mountain, a concert or a horse race.

The budget per person can be less than $50, and lower if you cook your meals or drive a camper. As with any vacation to a popular camping spot, make your reservations well in advance (some available through Ticketron) and have a back-up site.

The Adirondacks are a year-round resort. In the winter there’s ice skating, cross-country and downhill skiing, snowshoeing and ice fishing.

For fall foliage, a weekend drive along the Adirondack highways, usually well-maintained and clearly marked, will wind through some of the best colors the East Coast can offer.

Adirondack Park doesn’t have the organization or protection that the national park system has. In fact, some regulars don’t consider it a park at all, just “the Adirondacks.” You’ll only find park rangers at public campgrounds or along the hiking trails. There isn’t an official visitor center, though several towns have interpretive centers at museums.

The chambers of commerce provide excellent guidebooks as does the New York State Tourist Office. Call or write the latter and you’ll be deluged with color brochures complete with accommodations and prices. (Division of Tourism, One Commerce Plaza, Albany, N.Y. 12245, phone (518) 474-4416.)

Using a guidebook or map, you can plan several routes. One suggested route would be from the south, after a stop in Saratoga Springs. The nation’s finest thoroughbreds run there in August on America’s oldest race course, across the street from the Racing Hall of Fame. The harness track is open from April to November. Saratoga has more than 60 restaurants and as many hotels and motels.

Tourism hasn’t harmed the Victorian charm along these shady streets lined with gracious homes from the days when Saratoga was strictly for the beautiful people. The mineral baths are still popular, and are right next door to the Performing Arts Center featuring symphony, ballet, theater and musical acts.

To the east lies Saratoga Battlefield in Saratoga National Historical Park, where American colonists defeated the British in September and October, 1777, and rallied the French to our side. In nearby Saratoga Springs is Saratoga Race Track.

A short drive north on Interstate 87 the incredibly scenic “Northway” takes you past Glens Falls, where Adirondack Balloon Flights offers a 45-minute ride over Lake George, the High Peaks and surrounding area. (Reservations required: (518) 793-6342, May to October, sunrise to sunset, daily.)

Ten miles north, just inside the park boundary, is the quaint village of Lake George at the tip of the 32-mile-long lake dotted with dozens of tiny islands. This is about as touristy as the Adirondacks will get. The village has 160 places to stay or eat and a Gaslight Village, Magic Forest, Animal Land, Great Escape Fun Park and Waxlife U.S.A.

Ft. William Henry is a reproduction from the French and Indian Wars, with historic relics and weapons demonstrations.

You can also rent boats, take a relaxing steamboat ride or swim at three public beaches. An evening boat ride offers a two-hour “Opera on the Lake” presentation with excerpts from the local annual festival.

Continuing by Lake George up New York 9-N, you’ll soon arrive in Bolton Landing, another small town that is more an overnight stop than a fun village. Thus it’s less crowded and a few dollars cheaper, though it was once called “Millionaire’s Row” because of the mansions still lining the lake shore.

From Bolton Landing you can cross to the recently restored (at $64 million) and reopened Sagamore Hotel, originally opened on its own resort island in 1883--per -person rates from $89 large room to $280 specialty suite, open all year, call (800) 228-2121.

With water to the east and mountains to the west, you then drive up--and down--the state’s steepest highway as you leave Lake George. Stay north to Ft. Ticonderoga on the shore of Lake Champlain, a 127-mile lake stretching into Canada.

Ticonderoga, built in 1755, is considered one of the finest restored forts in America, having been owned separately by the French, the British and the Americans. There are excellent views of Champlain from Ft. Ticonderoga as well as from nearby Mt. Defiance and the Mt. Hope Battery.

Vermont Beckons

Continue north along Champlain through the villages of Crown Point, Port Henry, Westport, Willsboro and Essex until you arrive at Ausable Chasm. There’s a walking tour and boat ride ($9 for adults for both, $6 for walk only; daily, May to October) along this narrow flume twisting though the mile-and-a-half hollowed-out gorge.

Turning west toward the Tri-Lakes (Placid, Saranac and Tupper), you begin driving along winding mountain roads that hug roaring rapids a few feet from the roadside. You’ll frequently pull over during this first taste of the Adirondack interior, and just gaze up at the gentle green summits bathed in blue sky and billowing clouds.

Shortly after passing through Keene Valley you’ve already climbed a mile from the Northway. Soon you’ll see signs that directed the world to Lake Placid six years ago.

Tours of the Olympics venue sites still lure tourist dollars. You can either drive around (admission $3.50 adults each) or take a 2 1/2-hour guided bus ride ($14.95).

Lake Placid is a well-stocked resort all year. Mile-long Main Street has a world of menus and is bordered by hotels. There’s an assortment of shopping, particularly in a Swiss-looking Alpine village with imported gifts, woolens, sweets, clocks and, of course, Olympic souvenirs. The Olympic Center hosts an all-seasons schedule of concerts and sporting events.

Not far from the ski jumps, the abolitionist firebrand John Brown lies “moldering in his grave.” The state maintains Brown’s farm and family grave with a self-guided tour and nature trails.

About five miles outside of Placid is the northern entrance to the majestic High Peaks. You can start from the Adirondack Loj, a bunk-meal inn maintained by the Adirondack Mountain Club (phone (518) 523-3441), which also sponsors training hikes.

In a day’s hike you can scale Mt. Marcy, the state’s highest at 5,344 feet. But prepare carefully for your trek, taking survival essentials and footwear.

In doubt, ask for advice at a supply shop or the ranger station. And if you do go up Marcy, see the source of the Hudson River trickling down just below the summit. The AMC maintains another inn, John Brooks Lodge, about a three-mile hike in from the Keene Valley trails entrance.

For those prepared to drive up the High Peaks, take Memorial Highway eight miles up from Wilmington to the summit of Whiteface Mountain for a hundred-mile vista.

There’s also a two-mile chairlift ride from the Whiteface Ski area. At the base of the highway is the alpine children’s village of Santa’s Workshop at--naturally--the North Pole (Memorial Day to Labor Day).

Saranac Lake is 12 miles west of Lake Placid. The village is built around one of three contiguous lakes. Well-known as a health resort, Saranac has long attracted the rich and famous, including Robert Louis Stevenson, whose cottage is open to the public.

You can ply your own craft through the three lakes in a day or enjoy a boat cruise. Small motels and motor courts around the lake average $40 to $80, with meals under $10 a person.

Tupper Lake is half an hour west of Saranac. It was still a logging town when its neighbors were already resorts, but today Tupper is a respectable vacation village. It’s almost surrounded by four large lakes and streams, making 40 miles of navigable waters. You’ll find reasonable accommodations, plus skiing, golf, fishing, concerts, cycling and shopping.

After leaving the Tupper area, it’s 40 miles down New York 30 to the next “major” town, Blue Mountain Lake. There you’ll find two cultural spots, the Adirondack Museum and the Adirondack Center of the Arts. Detailing the regional history, art and culture, the museum (June to October) has more than 20 small exhibit buildings and galleries overlooking the glacial lake. The art center features a summer schedule of concerts, theater and artistic programs.

A short drive west of Blue Mountain you can visit one of the last “Great Camps,” built in the latter 1800s by New York City’s wealthy. Sagamore at Raquette Lake, a national historic site, is the best specimen of the 40 left, including Topridge near Saranac.

The Sagamore camp was built in 1897 by William West Durant as a summer home for Alfred Vanderbilt, with 237 buildings and two dozen fireplaces. Two-hour tours (June to mid-October) and slide shows are presented daily.

Sagamore also sponsors August workshops on Adirondack lore and tours of other camps. It also publishes an excellent guidebook to the Adirondacks. Reservations and information: (315) 354-5311.

A bit farther west, near the park border, is Old Forge, which features a storybook park “Enchanted Forest” and exhibits at the Community Art Center and Forest Industry Hall. The Six Nations Indian Mission at nearby Onchiota traces the history and culture of the Iroquois.

Who’s in a Hurry?

From there it’s an easy two-hour drive back to Lake George through towns with names such as Indian Lake, North Creek and The Glen.

But who’s in any hurry? For example, the village of North Creek has the railway station where Teddy Roosevelt was sworn in as President after McKinley’s death, as well as gondola rides up Mt. Gore, 16-mile rides on the Hudson River and tours of a garnet mine.

Along the way you’ll also find several trail entrances to the High Peaks and numerous campsites (132 state and privately run in the region), boat launches, fishing access (especially landlocked salmon and trout) and swimming areas.

Interstate 87 is the main highway through the Adirondacks, with information centers between Exits 17 and 18, south of Exit 32 and at Exits 40 and 412. Air service is at Saranac Lake, Lake Placid and Plattsburgh.

For more information, contact tourist offices (numbers above) or chambers of commerce: Adirondack North Country Assn., Box 408, Ogdensburg, N.Y. 13669. Lake George Chamber of Commerce, Box 272, Lake George, N.Y. 12845. Lake Placid Chamber of Commerce, Olympic Arena, Lake Placid, N.Y. 12946. Saranac Lake Chamber of Commerce, 30 Main St., Saranac Lake, N.Y. 12983.