Visitors' Guides
Commoner Magazine - Never a Dull Moment in Saranac Lake
Lake Placid - Lake Placid's Farmers Markets
Budget Travel - 5 Perfect Places in New York's Adirondack Mountains
Hiking
We won't begin to tell you about the hundreds of hikes availabile. We recommend the two small books High Peaks hikes and the Northern Regions hikes for complete directions and descriptions. These books are found with Local Attractions envelope in the kitchen. Here are a few suggestions:
1. Our consensus favorite is Cascade. Beautiful views, check details in High Peaks book. 45 minute drive.
2. Nearby Cascade, consider Pitchoff (Stonehenge like rock formations) or Owls Head. Less demanding than Cascade.
3. Another family favorite is Ampersand. Tougher at the top than Cascade and don't lose the trail as it can be hard to follow close to the top. Very close to the house, about 15 minutes.
4. Every Balk boy's first mountain was Panther. Just 10 minutes from camp. Take three lefts. (One from camp onto Beaverwood, one leaving Beaverwood, and one headed to Saranac Lake at main highway intersection). Trick is to find parking area tucked in on right side of highway, heading towards Saranac. Mountain across the highway. If you hit Ampersand you went too far. 25 minutes to peak at a very slow pace. Still need boots due to roots.
5. Check out Azure or Arab in Northern regions book. Both have fire towers and both easier than Cascade or Ampersand.
6. Tupper Lake has recently opened new trails on two of the three “Tupper Lake Triad” mountains. Goodman and Coney Mountains can be accessed from the east side of the road from Tupper Lake to Long Lake, and are low-moderate effort short hikes with good views. Coney is shorter and steeper, but offers a bald summit with excellent 360-degree views of the region.
Flat hikes
For the Midwestern bred Peg, flat hikes not only have appeal, they are her birthright. Consider the following:
1. Go to the VIC, the Visitors Interpretive Center near Paul Smiths. Very well groomed trails with minimum up and down. You will see your kindred hikers, slackers, children and older hikers who understand the need to move. We like the Heron Marsh trail.
2. Down Keysville Road consider the Black Pond hike. Follows a pond. Most up and down is on the East shore and it is nominal. Lots of roots. Wear boots.
3. Just past Fish Creek campground and the Trading Post, there is a parking area on the left hand side before Wawbeek Corner that is the entrance to a great flat hike to Deer Pond. Mostly flat until the last half mile where you climb a ridge to Deer Pond. Deer Pond almost always empty. This is the hike where a young Thomas Balk complained that his "walkies" hurt.
4. Floodwood Loop. Great hike just down the road from where St Regis outfitters embark. Fairly easy. We use two cars on this one. We enter on dirt road up from golf course and exit at state camp grounds, parking a car at entry and exit.
5. Henry’s Woods, near Lake Placid, offer an excellent array of mostly flat trails with a few options to climb short hills. Go a bit further down Bear Cub road and you’ll find an excellent array of wooded trails and meadows filled with apple trees just past the Cornell maple research operation.
Fishing
The Adirondacks provides excellent trout, bass, pike, and panfish angling to patient anglers. Our own Upper Saranac Lake can provide excellent Smallmouth Bass fishing in bays and around Chapel Island to the south. Saginaw Bay, directly across from the camp, can produce pike upwards of 30", and some smaller pike can even be caught right off our dock! The Department of Conservation stocks the lake with Brown, Rainbow, and Lake Trout, but these are only for the most patient anglers!
Lower and Middle Saranac Lakes - reachable by car or portage - provide world-class bass fishing and can also produce large pike. Look elsewhere for excellent trout and landlocked salmon fishing. Just be prepared to wait! Especially in the warmer months, these fish can run deep and be finicky for even the most patient fisherwoman.
For a list of fisheries in the immediate area, consult the Saranac Lake website.
Biking
We hesitate to recommend biking given our family history but we have bikes for adults and kids stored in the upper garage. Helmets availabile but fewer for adults. Air pump available. We recommend the trip to the state camp grounds for an easy trip. Please watch the entrance from the highway back onto Beaverwood Road. It dips and is a trap for the unwary.
Boating
Our 3 powerboats should provide opportunities for everything you want to do on a motorboat short of parasailing! Fish from the Tracker, waterski or wakeboard behind our ski boat, or spend an evening cruising on the massive Bennington pontoon boat. Gas is available directly across the bay at the Donaldson Commons, or at Hickocks Boat Livery through the Fish Creek Channel to the west of Camp.
For a slower-paced day on the water, you can paddle straight from our boathouse through Fish Creek to Lake Clear in one of our canoes, kayaks, or guide boats. We recommend canoe or boat shoes, not flip flops, which can be dangerous when disembarking. On Upper Saranac go due east to the small island where you can picnic and then come back. For another outing continue east to Saginaw Bay. At the eastern curve of the bay, you will see a sign for a hike to Weller Pond. Just tie the canoe, hike to Weller Pond and exercise your whole body. Bring a backpack with a change of shoes. If you use Upper Saranac, we recommend going north or east. Heading south requires travel through the Narrows, where current picks up, as water is forced through a narrower channel.
If you prefer quieter paddles, go to your right off the dock. You will come upon a no wake zone where all boats wind through Fish Creek, going past numerous small cabins. As you emerge from the creek, you will see a swimming area to your right. Continue going to your right and you will see another small stream. Follow this steam under the viaduct staying to your right. When we last passed under the viaduct, there was quite a mass of sticks but the stream is passable. You will enter Follensby Clear Pond, which has several portages to other small ponds. All of these ponds permit only small motors so the canoeing is very quiet. Consult our map for paddlers, found in the yellow envelope marked local attractions on the counter as you enter.
You can also head left once you exit the No Wake Zone. This takes you to Fish Creek and the state camp ground. Go under the main bridge and continue to the right, past the swimming area. You will enter a new bay and across that bay is an entrance to another stream. You can follow that stream up to several other more isolated ponds. You will likely see other paddlers some of whom fish from kayaks and canoes. No motorized boats can pass after a certain point. You will pass the portage to Follensby Clear Pond and can do a loop.
Consider spending a night at a campground after a day of paddling (you should reserve in advance via the Department of Conservation's website, if possible)! Nearby, the Raquette River provides a bit more current to those looking for some excitement.
Rainy Days
Favorite rainy day destination is The Wild Center in Tupper Lake. The Wild Center features otters and fish exhibits. Quick travel of less than 20 minutes. Check drawer at entrance to kitchen for membership card. They do not check IDs.
Further away, in Blue Mountain Lake, is the Adirondack Museum. This museum includes natural history, history and art. We don't always keep our membership current. Travel closer to 45 minutes to an hour one way. Pretty drive in very undeveloped part of park. Don't forget to stop at Hosses, the General Store in Long Lake. For a sunny day splurge, consider an airplane ride in Long Lake. They take off and land on the lake.
Movie theaters in Lake Placid offer nearby dining and shopping possibilities. Google times and films.
Museums and History
The Paul Smiths VIC, Tupper Lake Wild Center, and Adirondack Museum all offer great opportunities to explore the rich ecology and history of the Adirondacks. In nearby Lake Placid, visit the Olympic Museum or historic John Brown Farm. A bit farther afield, the Adirondacks is rich in Revolution-era American history - Fort Ticonderoga and the Battlefield at Saratoga are all within day-trip range.
Shopping
Best place for rustic souvenirs is Dartbrook Rusic Goods in Keene. Make it a day and eat at ADK Cafe two doors down.
Day Trips
Vor the history minded, consider stopping at Ft Ticonderoga or Saratoga, particularly if you are coming from or headed to Albany.
For Bernie bros, consider a trip to Vermont or Lake Champlain. Burlington airport is an option, but it requires travel across Lake Champlain by ferry or travel north and across a bridge. Beautiful resort, Basin Harbor Club, at Vergennes, with cabins but it requires dressing for dinner in the main dining room. Alternative casual restaurant available. Shelbourne Farms and Museum nearby. Shelbourne Farms has an Inn. Never stayed there but had amazing brunch there. Burlington is a cute college town. Population is under 100K. Nearby Ben & Jerry's factory tour for the complete commie experience. Middlebury about 3 hours from camp for those on the college tour.
Montreal is less than 2 hours away. Great day trip or extend a trip to camp with several days there. Great summer city.
Niagra Falls. Bring your passport for the Canadian side. Diane and Ron did American side and liked it. 5 to 6 hours from camp. Fly to Buffalo and begin journey there or use it as an overnight from the Midwest.
1000 Isands. You know the dressing, now discover where it was originally made. North of Watertown, along the Canadian border, about 3 to 4 hours from camp. On Peg's bucket list. Rent an island.
Chatauqua. For the intellectual among you, consider a stay and a trip to camp. Also on Peg's bucket list.
Seneca Falls. Where the women who gave us the right to vote got started. About 4-5 hours from camp. Peg's bucket list again.
Cooperstown. Drive through a beautiful part of the park to Cooprtstown. If you are going, splurge for the old grand hotel there, the Otesaga. See the Glimmerglass opera. Henry's favorite Japanese steakhouse located there. Approximately 3 to 4 hours from camp.
New York. About 5 hours away
Boston. Further away, maybe 6 hours.
Winter
Visit in the Winter and you'll find few reasons to stay cooped up with cabin fever. Snowmobile right out onto the lake or on the miles of trails near the house. Charlie's Inn, about 15 minutes up the road, sits at a trail hub and offers a place to fill up.
A bit further away, Whiteface and Titus mountains offer great skiing. Whiteface is more appropriate for more experienced skiiers, while Titus offers easy access and a less crowded hill with more natural powder.