Adirondacks - where to stay?
 

My fiance and I are getting married in late August and are thinking about going to the adirondacks for our honeymoon. I am completely unfamiliar with the area, though, and definitely need some advice! We'll spend about 4 or 5 days there since we're driving up from the Baltimore MD area and need a day on each side for travel. We'd like to bring our mountain bikes with us if there's biking around. And we love to kayak and hike. And my fiance definitely wants to do some fly fishing.

Does anyone have any suggestions about where we should stay and what we should definitely do and see (that hopefully is not too expensive?) Are there any all-inclusive places that are worth looking into?

You may want to look into either the Lake George area or Lake Placid. Both have plenty of things to do and seeVery pretty area, also.

The Sagamore Hotel on Lake George is wonderful. You can get a room in the main "house" or a lodge, with fireplaces and their own deck, lovely.
Water sports and hiking are prevalent in the area so you can do everything that you like .. Also, Blue Mountain Lake. This is farther from Lake George, I have not stayed overnight but it is very beautiful, more remote and you can fish etc.
It is a Seasonal area so book as soon as possible, even now, places will be booking up for the summer.
Congratulations and Good Luck..

Lake Placid Lodge is located in a very nice area of the Adirondacks.....the winter olympics were held there in the 80's........

http://www.lakeplacidlodge.com/z-home.htm

Lake George Village is mobbed in August, not only with holidaying families but also with overflow from Saratoga - where New York horse racing takes place in August. So - prices are super high then and everyting is mobbed.

The Sagamore would be a good choice (race goers don;t use it since it's on an island). Or - consider going further north to avoid some of the mob.

Scarlett's suggestion of Blue Mountain Lake is good. It will be much more quiet and cost less than Lk George. On-road cycling in the area is great, and I'm sure off-road is too. Make sure to see the Adirondack Museum. You'll not find much "fine dining" in the area, but lots of diners and bars with good food. Living somewhat close I don't usually stay overnight, altho I did stay in one of "Potters Cabins" (don't know if it still exists under the same name) about 12 yrs ago, and while not fancy it was comfortable and had a great view of the lake and the mountains.

We spent our first anniversary in the Adirondacks at a place near Old Forge called The Waldheim. It was sooooo romantic - little cabins among the trees on Big Moose Lake. Their "wood boy" comes in every morning and starts a fire for you before you wake up. The place would not be ideal for everyone, though, because they've purposely kept the cabins very rustic. The owner told us it took them years to decide to run electricity to the cabins. But we like that sort of thing. All our meals were included with the price of the cabin.

We chose the Old Forge area because it's a closer drive from Washington than other parts of the park. Here are a few other places with a similar Adirondacks camp-style that get good reviews and sound wonderful:

Hemlock Hall at Blue Mountain Lake http://www.hemlockhall.com/index.htm

The Hedges at Blue Mountain Lake (no website)

Covewood Lodge at Big Moose Lake
http://www.covewoodlodge.com/index-js.htm

The Wawbeek on Saranac Lake
http://www.wawbeek.com/

Thanks for the great suggestions everyone! We're definitely looking for something more quiet and peaceful, where we can just relax. What will the weather be like around the last part of August or the first part of Sept? I read on another post that mosquitos are bothersome some parts of the year.

There are biting insects all summer int he Adirondacks, some years more than others, depending on weather. If you are an outdoorsy sort you'll just plan accordingly.

If you don't mind not being on the water you might look at the Copperfield Inn in North Creek.

If you don't need something real fancy you could look into the Irondequoit Inn on Lake Piseco. http://www.irondequoitinn.com/

The trouble with that place is it's uneven. It is not run by owner, it's owned several families who hire a manager. I don't know how the current managers are. But it is in a really nice location.

There is very good kayaking right from the place - down a long stretch of quiet, undeveloped stream. There are also several other kayak options in the area.

Of course there is hiking in the area too(as there is almost everywhere in the Adirondacks) and I believe that there are mountain bike trails in Speculator. There is also mountain biking on Gore Mountain (the ski center) but it is REALLY scary.

Fishing - hmmm - Lake Piseco has some good fishing (and the best is right down near the Inn, that's where the streams come in), but overall, fishing in the Adirondacks is touch and go. (Acid rain.) There is some fly fishing on the Hudson and West Canada. He's be best off getting a guide to help him (check out http://www.beaverbrook.net/index.html).

It's a nice quiet part of the Adirondacks - not big high mountains like Lake Placid, but very nice.

Here's a few more links:

Speculator biking
http://www.adrkmts.com/biketrail/index.htm

Copperfield Inn
http://www.copperfieldinn.com/

Gore biking
http://goremountain.com/mountain/summerfall.htm

Another lodging idea:
http://www.friendslake.com/index.htm

As other posters have mentioned, Lake George in August is very busy, very touristy. Depends what you are looking for, but I would suggest going farther north. The Lake Placid area (and the drive there) is breath-taking. We don't stay there, so don't know the hotels, but family has a place near-by so I know how beautiful the area is.

We always tried to go to Lake George in September, but October is so amazing, with crisp sunny days and cool nights, and the colors !
It is definitely more quiet after Labor Day..then a lot of restaurants and motels around Lake George close for the season too. I liked it then :)
Blue Mt Lake has a great antiques fair in late Sept..Really interesting people come from everywhere to browse and shop.

Mirror Lake Inn in Lake Placid is beautiful with lots of things to do and wonderful food.

http://www.mirrorlakeinn.com/

It is so romantic, some of the rooms have fireplaces. It is like a cozy lodge, with porches over looking the lake where you can sit on rocking chairs and just chill. There are huge stone fireplaces in the parlor rooms and delish chocolate chip cookies everyday.

I have stayed in room 301 which is a suite http://www.mirrorlakeinn.com/guestro.../whiteface.php which was lovely.

Also stayed in Cathedral Room
http://www.mirrorlakeinn.com/guestro...al.php?photo=2
[which also comes in adirondack style furnishings.
http://www.mirrorlakeinn.com/guestro...ral.php?rm=431

The spa there is excellent too.

Their Adirondack Breakfast are to die for!

Lot of different activities available too no matter what season.

Check it out, it's wondrous.

Debi

Why not stay at the Big Moose Inn, Eagle Bay, NY, it's in the heart of the central Adirondack's and there is right on Big Moose Lake. You can kayak in the lake right out the front door and there are hiking/biking trails galore in the immediate area. So once you stop your car, you can do all your activities, and the food is awesome. My husband is the chef and general manager there, and they have many honeymooners and people who come to celebrate their anniversaries all the time summer or winter.

Sagamore is on an Island???

There must be a bridge since I
drove in the last time I was there.

The Wawbeek on Upper Saranac Lake. wawbeek.com

peterboy, yes, there is a bridge, you would not notice it but they can close the gates on it to keep the grounds private..
They have a big car show every year at the Sagamore, antique cars etc..that is in the early fall and quite fun to go look even if you don't stay there.
We really enjoyed the big antiques fair at Blue Mt Lake.