Adirondacks
 

We are spending the first week in September in the Central Adirondacks. Our general plans are for canoeing and fishing, but we would also like to do some hiking and sightseeing in the Lake George and Lake Placid areas. If anyone has any suggestions at all I would appreciate it. Thanks!

What sort of suggestions are you looking for? Accomodations? Restaurants? Trails? Where are you going to be in the Central Adirondacks?

We are staying at a private cottage in Indian Lake on Lake Adirondack. I guess I am mostly interested in things to do. Is there any one or two activities or sightseeing things not to be missed. Restaurants recommendations are always welome!

Our favorite restaurant by far is Melody Lodge in Speculator. You will need reservations, especially on weekends. The phone number is 518-548-6562. The other good restaurant in Speculator is Swifty's (much more like a bar food place).

There are so many paddles I couldn’t begin to tell about them (mostly because I forget where I’ve been!) but my favorite “secret” paddle (flat water) is Fall Stream which can be accessed in Piseco off of Route 24 (I think it's called Old Piseco Rd), which is off of Route 8. If you're interested in that let me know and I'll give you better directions. Other good flat water paddles in that area are parts of the Kunjamik River and the West Branch of the Sacandaga River.

If you paddle on Indian Lake (which you should) just watch the wind. On those long lakes sometimes a fierce wind can suddenly kick up (often about 11:00 am) and make it hard to get back! I think Mason Lake is a nice little lake to poke around on and parts of Lake Abanakee are too.

Hikes around there that I'd recommend (which is a little hard because I have no idea how avid a hiker you are - I'm strictly a recreational hiker these days) would be Snowy Mtn (tough), Wakely Mtn (I've never done it), Pillsbury Mtn (pretty easy 5.6 miles round trip), Goodnow Mtn (easy – nice views), Vanderwhacker Mtn (medium – bad access rd need SUV), Blue Ledge (easy – flat, walks into the Hudson), and many others...

The only hikes I've done near Lake George are Black Mtn (medium hard) and Tongue (very hard). I did both a pretty long ago though. Lake George is too far away for us to go to very often.

You might want to get some books for paddles or hikes. I guess I’d recommend Fifty Hikes in the Adirondacks and Adirondack Canoe Waters South and West Flow by Alec Proskine. But, there are MANY others. Maybe you could get them from the library.

Sightseeing - well the Blue Mountain Lake Museum is a place everybody goes to. There is also a nice visitors’ center (that has some very pretty trails) up in Newcomb. It is on a lake that is completely uninhabited (Rich Lake) and has quite good fishing. Santanoni is an old Adirondack great house that is also in Newcomb. It’s pretty cool, but it’s about 5 miles in a gravel rd. You can bike it, take horses, or walk.

You'll find Lake Placid to be quite a haul - definitely an all day trip. The Adirondacks looks small on a map but is huge.

Thanks for all of the great info. I will ckeck the library for those books. We are all recreational hikers not "serious" hikers, so your suggestions sound great. Is it worth the trip to Lake Placid? Is there much to see there to make it worth spending a day?

You may want to skip Lake George and check out Lake Placid instead. Lake George is overrun with tacky souvenir shops, etc. Drive north on Rte 30 from Indian Lake thru Blue Mtn Lake, Long Lake, to Tupper Lake area. From there take Rte 3 to Rte 86 into Lake Placid. It's a beautiful drive and there are many, many places to hike and canoe. In Blue Mtn Lake, you'll pass the Adirondack Museum which is wonderful. In Lake Placid, you can check out the Olympic facilities and many nice shops and restaurants along Mirror Lake. There are even a few NY winery tasting rooms. Definitely go north from Indian Lake instead of south to Lake George. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask.

I agree with Sharondi, go to lake Placid. Get a good map of the Adirondacks and chose your own way.

Come to Lake Placid!!!!

Seriously, Lake George is nice but has gotten tackier over the years. I think you'll find Lake Placid much more quaint and relaxing. We have some great shops and restaurants, and as previously mentioned, you could check out all the Olympic sites and venues.

We don't go to Lake Placid too often, but occasionally. It is mostly shops, restaurants, and the Olympic stuff. It's a cute town. We are usually in either the North Creek area or the Lake Piseco area, so it is a lot of driving. Sometimes we get back from there and I feel like we've been in the car all day. It's a very pretty drive up there too.

The only reason we go near Lake George is to hit a couple of favorite spots. Davidson's (a microbrewery) in Glenn's Falls, Oscar's Smoke House (sausage, cheese) in Warrennsburg, and Gamble's Bakery in Queensbury.

Enjoy!

We visited the Adirondacks in August 2002. With last minute reservations, we found a place in Lake Placid, but I would love to return to stay at one of the fabulous Adirondack lodges or camps.
We walked around several of the camps and they all looked great to me. Some of the cabins do look very rustic though.

As I look at my file, I see that I printed out a great article by Heather Smith MacIsaac called The Best of the Adirondacks. It had many suggestions for lodging and dining. Perhaps you can find it with a search.

The Adirondack Regional Tourism Council also publishes an Adirondack Great Walks and Day Hikes which would be helpful to you.

We canoed with St. Regis Canoe Outfitters. They drove us to State Bridge where we started our paddle. This is just an easy scenic paddle with no portaging. We paddled across a pond to Lower Saranac Lake and paddled around the islands. We picnicked on Bluff Island and the kids had fun jumping from a cliff into the lake. We saw several tents on the islands but very few people were on the lake. We ended up at Ampersand Bay where we had left our car.

I would love to return to the area.

Wow! Thanks for all of the information. You guys are great!