I haven't been to the brewery since the days when the beer they made was called Utica Club. Back then it was a pretty good brewery tour, if you like those kinds of things. Friends of mine collected the annual steins, until that ended.

Saranac is a step (or 2..) up from Utica club beer. If you're there when they offer a tour then by all means stop in (and have a taste).

If you're in Lake Placid, definitely take a boat cruise of the area (if your friend can)...really nice to be out on the water and see the views, and lots of good descriptions and houses to see.
Also, go up Whiteface Mountain!!! Gorgeous views in the summer time.

The easiest/quickest way to Burlington from that area is water unfortunately...the ferry is super quick, they can stay right in the car if it helps. Otherwise, going up through Rouses Point would add a good 45 mins, if not more. Enjoy! :)

There is a temporary ferry now at Crown Point, taking only 12 minutes to cross to Vermont. It is an even shorter ride from Fort Ticonderoga (very worthwhile visiting) on a cable ferry that should not bother your friend with vertigo. It lands in Shoreham VT, a lovely rural community. From there your can connect with Rt. 22A, then Rt. 7 in Vergennes for your drive on up to Burlington. Another alternative is to take Rt. 74 east from 22A to the college town of Middlebury, which offers lots of nice shops, restaurants, etc... Middlebury is about one hour south of downtown Burlington.

If you do decide you can take the ferry from Crown Point, the Chimney Point historic site on the Vt side is an interesting place to stop. It has a lot of information on Native American and French colonial history
http://www.historicvermont.org/chimneypoint/

If you go to Rouses Point, you could check out one of the small border crossings in New York or the Champlain Islands to see whether there are lines at the Canadian border.

Since you are interested in the forts, you would probably enjoy reading about "Fort Blunder," built on the wrong side of the border
http://www.historiclakes.org/explore/Montgomery.html

I think Im going to skip Burlington and focus on the Lake Placid area. That being said, I still want to goto fort Ticonderoga and maybe check out Lake George also. Also, which gorge tour should I do? Ausable chasm or High falls gorge?
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Okay, I need to set up a itenerary. I'm planning on taking 9 days and spending the night partway on the departing and returning leg of the trip. Going up I plan on spending the night in Utica or maybe even proceding onto Old Forge. Returning I plan to take I-87 to I-84 into PA and spend the night in the Pocanos. That leaves me with 7 days in the Adirondacks. I would like to visit Camp Sagemore, the Adirondacks Museum, the Olympic sights at Lake Placid, do some hiking in the High Peaks and other areas (looking for scenic shorter hikes),drive up Whiteface Mountain, High Falls Gorge and/or Ausable Chasm, visiting Fort Ticonderoga and maybe some other forts, and visiting Lake George. I decided to skip Burlington,VT and focus on these other sites. So, should I just base myself in Lake Placid to see all this? Or should I move around? I want to focus most of my time on the Lake Placid area.
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I don't know about the gorge options. For a spectacular short hike, see this description:
http://www.adk.org/trails/Indian_Head.aspx

I worked at the Ausable Club for several summers many years ago and loved the Indian Head hike. The club itself is also interesting to see--an old style resort club

I was also looking at Bald Mountain near Old Forge.
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In addition, are any of these trails pet- friendly?

Bald Mtn is a nice, relatively easy hike. You get a good view of the nearby lakes and the western Adirondacks. I don't recall being able to see the high peaks from there, but you'll get a good feeling of how undeveloped the area is.

All (or at least nearly all) of the trails are pet friendly. Leash & control are required and you must clean up, but there are lots of dogs on the trails. Narrower areas like the chasm/gorge might limit dogs, but they're definitely ok whereever I've hiked.

Great!! I think im going to give myself 5 days in Lake Placid with a daytrip to Fort Ticonderoga, which doesn't look too far. Days 1 and 7 will be spending the night on the drive up and the drive home. Going up, I will spend the night in Utica or Old Forge. Coming home, I will spend the night in the Pocanos around Bushkill. My remaining question I guess, other than the hiking and sights around Lake Placid and Fort Ticonderoga, I am also looking at Ausable Chasm. But, there is also the High Falls Gorge closer to Lake Placid. I can't really see walking both. They both carry hefty admission prices also and look similar. Unless the drive to Ausable Chasm is really scenic or it is necessary to see both, I may just do High Falls Gorge? I don't know, what do you think?
Thanks-

you might consider buying or taking a look at (at REI/EMS/the library) the ADK High Peaks Trail Guide: http://www.adk.org/new_store/Product...?productid=GHP

It gives you a tonne of info about various hikes and which ones are pet friendly - mostly all, but there are some near the Ausable Club (I think) that aren't. They also give you an idea of difficulty.

A really nice short (20 min) hike is Owl's Head which is just off of Rt 73 below the Cascade Lakes before you reach Keene. It actually gives you a really nice view of many of the High Peaks for not a lot of effort.

Two of my other favourites are Pitchoff (just up Rt 73 towards Lake Placid) which is a bit of a slog in places but gives you amazing views of the peaks and Hurricane (in Keene) which is a classic Adirondack hike. Both can be done with a dog, although there are a few sections of rocks that might require some lifting if his/her jumping skills aren't that great. again, try to get a copy of the guide to help with your planning.

If you can stand the extra 1+ hr of driving, I'd push on to Old Forge your first night. It will be a much more pleasant start to your trip than Utica. Definitely base yourself in Lake Placid for the whole time. Distances aren't all that great. There are a number of dog-friendly hotels in town.

I've never been to either gorge so I can't comment.

Should I bother going to Lake George? Is there anything I need to see there? It sounds crowded with amusement parks. We re a family, but don't have any little kids. Pretty much all adults and teenagers interested in the outdoors and some of the historical sites. So, pretty much my remaining question after that is which one should I do or both, Ausable Chasm or High Falls Gorge? They looks similar. Ausable Chasm is bigger, but High Falls Gorge is closer to Lake Placid. Should I just check out and go up in the ski jumps as far as the Olympic sites? The museum dosen't sound interesting enough to me for the money and the bobsled rides are too expensive. But, going to the top of the ski jump sounds cool.
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Asdaven -

I spend a ton of time in the Adirondacks, and just noticed this thread. Do not underestimate the size of the place - personally, I have found some "side trips" to feel like we spent all day in the car. (Which I don't like.)

Plan your trip around outdoorsy activities. Do not miss kayaking some flat water, no-motor-boat spots.

Bugs may or may not be an issue, depends on the weather and wind. If you are hiking you will need to pack a head net just in case (they are cheap and small).

The Adirondacks has very limited accommodations in general. That first week in July will be very booked up. Make your reservations now - if you can get anything.

There is a wonderful Adirondack forum. In general, I hate posting other forums on Fodors, because this forum is so great, but so few Adirondack people are on here...
http://www.adkforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=8
(You have to ask to be invited on there - but it is worth it!)

Lake George = The only thing there that interests me is Davidson Bros. microbrewery, which is actually in Glens Falls. http://www.davidsonbrothers.com/
I avoid Lake George like crazy. (Unless you want to do a beastly hike - Tongue Mountain is amazing.)

Have a great trip. Adirondacks is best either in its glorious wilderness or in its smallest towns that you just don't find in the northeast anymore.

I actually wrote a trip report on our short visit to the Adirondacks in 2002--don't know if you can search back that far.

We based in Lake Placid and since we made last minute reservations actually stayed in an apartment owned by the Best Western in town. I loved the camps in the area and would have loved to stay in one of them. I dragged my family around to see them.

We are hikers and did some hiking but we loved our day canoeing. We rented from St. Regis Canoe Outfitters. They drop you off so you can do a one way paddle to your car. We had a great time canoeing Lower Saranac Lake and back to Ampersand Bay where we left our car. We had a picnic on Bluff Isand on a cliff overlooking the lake.