Help us keep bringing you the Adirondack information you value.
Email
Twitter
RSS
Facebook
The Adirondack Community-based Trails and Lodging System Tuesday advanced its “demonstration project” to build a spur trail in the Town of Long Lake offering hikers on the Northville Placid Trail the opportunity to get off the trail and go into the town for a hot shower, meal, and place to sleep for the night. Leaders of the project visited the potential site.
They hope to have the trail finished by fall and ready for use next year.
“The spur trail demonstrates exactly what we’re looking to do with the project,” said Joe Dadey, who is heading up the newly formed Adirondack Hamlets to Huts nonprofit. That is to connect the backcountry with the front country.
The section of trail the project will exist in part on state land and in part on land owned by the town. Hikers will come off the trail at the top of Mount Sabattis Park, giving them a bird’s-eye view of the town and lake.
“It’s a nice entry point coming out of the woods in to the village,” Dadey said.
Dadey pointed out that the spur trail off the NPT is there if hikers are so inclined, but they can also choose to bypass the “off ramp” and continue on the trail.
“It’s a demonstration of what we’re looking to do Park-wide,” he said.
Photo: Hamlet to Hut demonstration project map.
Related Stories
General inquiries about the Adirondack Almanack should be directed to editor 
I’m getting confused – is this group the same as the Hamlet to Hut group? My other question is – who is responsible for maintenance of these added trails that are routed through state and private lands?
Hello Boreas,
It can be confusing. Adirondack Community-based Trails and Lodging System (ACTLS) is the name of the NYS Department of State grant that is funding the conceptualization of the hut-to-hut trails. It is a planning grant and will be completed by the end of this year. Adirondack Hamlets to Huts is the organization that will implement the routes moving forward that ACTLS and its plan conceptualizes. The ACTLS folks and the AHH folks are the same people. In short, the ACTLS project focus is planning and it is a temporary entity. The AHH focus is implementation and it is in it for the long haul. The new trails will be maintained through the collaborative efforts of state and regional/community local volunteer groups.
Thanks for helping to clear that up!
I sure wish that some of the details of this potential trail were shown.
I agree that the proliferation of these groups is a bit confusing.
As someone who thru-hiked the NPT last year, I wholeheartedly support the idea of this spur! While I arranged to have my car moved to the Long Lake trailhead for a mid-trip stay in town, it required an extra layer of logistics. Simply walking in to town on a trail instead of a road would be a great option!
If you connect the front country with the back country its all front country.
But this is probably a good idea.