There are still a few spots open in the Northern Forest Explorers program, which sends children aged 10-14 years old on five-day paddling trips in the Adirondacks.
The trips are organized by Raquette River Outfitters in Tupper Lake, in collaboration with the nonprofit Northern Forest Canoe Trail. Participating children are provided all of the essential camping and paddling gear. » Continue Reading.
This weekly report of outdoor recreation conditions in the Adirondacks is compiled each Thursday afternoon and fully updated by Friday afternoon.
Contribute Your Knowledge: Add a comment below, or send your observations, corrections, updates, and suggestions to adkalmanack@gmail.com.
Learn and practice the seven Leave No Trace principles. Carry out what you have carried in. Do not leave gear, food, or other unwanted or unneeded items at lean-tos and campsites. Do not litter. Take the free online Leave No Trace course here.
New York State is hosting free “Outdoors Day” events across the state on Saturday, June 9.
Outdoors Day events are planned for New Yorkers of all ages and abilities to try out a wide range of recreational activities. » Continue Reading.
With the start of camping season, Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is reminding campers that New York State’s firewood regulations are still in effect.
Untreated firewood may contain invasive pests that kill trees, and to protect New York’s forests, it may not be moved more than 50 miles from its source or origin.
Homeowners should not move firewood from trees that died on their property for use while camping. Moving untreated firewood is one of the main ways tree-killing invasive pests hitch rides to new areas, spreading these pests faster and farther than they would have on their own. A variety of invasive species can be transported on firewood, from wood boring beetles and defoliators to fungi and diseases. » Continue Reading.
As we made forays out from Mateskared, our family’s cabin in Baker’s Mills, most often Schaefers were the way-showers and Zahnisers their eager followers. On their 1946 backpacking trip to Flowed Lands and Hanging Spear Falls on the Opalescent River in the High Peaks with Ed Richard, Paul Schaefer went so far as to carry my father on his shoulders across one difficult and hazardous approach by narrow ledge to the falls themselves up through the boulder-strewn canyon of the Opalescent. Paul’s accounts of the trip never mentioned that fact, gleaned from my father’s journal. But it set a suitable tone for our families’ joint wildlands outings. » Continue Reading.
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Forest Rangers respond to search and rescue incidents in the Adirondacks. Working with other state agencies, local emergency response organizations and volunteer search and rescue groups, Forest Rangers locate and extract lost, injured or distressed people from the Adirondack backcountry.
What follows is a report, prepared by DEC, of recent missions carried out by Forest Rangers in the Adirondacks. » Continue Reading.
The state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (State Parks) have announced that New York will again provide free First-Time Camper weekends this summer.
Families that have never camped before will have the opportunity to see if they enjoy sleeping under the stars before investing in their own gear by registering for a fully stocked campsite at select state campgrounds one weekend from July 13 through August 17. » Continue Reading.
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has launched a new program to encourage volunteer Campground Ambassadors to assist state campground staff at six locations in the Adirondacks.
An announcement from DEC said they hope the Ambassadors will help introduce new campers to state facilities and outdoor activities such as hiking and fishing. It’s also hoped Ambassadors will help connect campers and day users to nature via environmentally themed activities and programming. » Continue Reading.
Last summer my wife Amy and I took a trip to Norway. During part of our trip we camped at Lysefjord, famous for its sheer cliffs including Preikestolen, about which I wrote previously. Lots of Norwegians and visitors from other European countries car camp as their preferred mode of tourism, meaning those facilities see a brisk business.
Preikestolen is one of Norway’s most famous destinations, so we were glad to catch a spot at the nearby campground. It was well-run, with charming Dutch hosts, and we were quite happy with our stay. But by late morning of our departure our mood had changed to regret. That’s because twenty minutes after leaving we stumbled upon the most remarkable place for camping I’ve ever seen. It’s called Landa Park and its conception is brilliant. It left me thinking someone ought to try a similar thing here in the Adirondacks.
Search and Rescue of the Northern Adirondacks (SARNAK), an all-volunteer non-profit based in Saranac Lake, has announced the inaugural Hua Davis Wilderness Scholarship in memory of an unprepared hiker who died in the High Peaks region of the Adirondack Park.
On Friday, March 4th, 2016, Hua Davis, an avid hiker from Wilmington, Delaware, set out to scale MacNaughton Mountain in the High Peaks Wilderness. She made it to the summit of the mountain, but died from hypothermia due to exposure later that same day. » Continue Reading.
Last Thursday the Adirondack Park Agency (APA) approved New York State’s plan to build a 91-site camping, equestrian and day use area at the site of the former Frontier Town in North Hudson.
This is the first part of a multi-part strategy to develop the entire site into a gateway with a mix of private and public amenities, businesses and recreational assets. » Continue Reading.
The Adirondack Community-based Trails and Lodging System (ACTLS) has rescheduled their public meeting at the Lake Pleasant Central School’s gymnasium in Speculator. » Continue Reading.
The Adirondack Park Agency has announced that it has deemed DEC’s application complete for the Frontier Town Campground, Equestrian and Day Use Area along the Schroon River in North Hudson. State and local officials have been touting the proposed facility as a “Gateway to the Adirondacks.”
The plan proposes an accessible public campground at the site of the former Frontier Town theme park. The campground would include RV, tent, and equestrian camp sites and facilities, and trails connecting to the snowmobile trails leading to Schroon Lake and Ticonderoga, and a new trail to Newcomb being proposed in the yet unapproved Boreas Ponds Tract Management Plan. The campground is part of the Upper Hudson Recreation Hub Master Plan.
The Adirondack Community-based Trails and Lodging System (ACTLS), a project that is developing a conceptual plan for potential “hut-to-hut” trail networks within the Adirondack Park, has scheduled two meetings as it wraps up its three-year study.
A Project Advisory Committee meeting will be held Friday, December 1 at 10:30 am in the Adirondack Hamlets to Huts Conference Room at 47 Main Street – 2nd Floor, in Saranac Lake. » Continue Reading.
The Adirondack Park Agency (APA) and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) are holding a joint public comment period to solicit comments regarding proposed management guidance for the design and layout of primitive tent sites on State Lands in the Adirondack Park. The APA and DEC will accept comments until January 22, 2018.
The Adirondack Park State Land Master Plan defines a primitive tent site as “a designated tent site of an undeveloped character providing space for not more than three tents, which may have an associated pit privy and fire ring, designed to accommodate a maximum of eight people on a temporary or transient basis, and located so as to accommodate the need for shelter in a manner least intrusive on the surrounding environment.” » Continue Reading.
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