The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced the release of a draft Recreation Management Plan (RMP) for the Croghan Tract Conservation Easement in Lewis County in the Western Adirondacks.
DEC is now inviting the public to share comments and ask questions about the draft plan at a public meeting and/or to submit comments on the draft RMP during the 30-day public comment period. » Continue Reading.
The Northern Forest Canoe Trail (NFCT) and the Adirondack Watershed Alliance (AWA) are working towards a transfer of AWA events and activities, including the Adirondack Canoe Classic, to NFCT’s care before the launch of the 2021 paddling season.
AWA, managed by Brian and Grace McDonnell for over two decades, currently coordinates the ‘Round the Mountain Canoe and Kayak Race and the Celebrate Paddling Invitational in Saranac Lake, the Long Lake Long Boat Regatta, and the Adirondack Canoe Classic, known more commonly as the 90-Miler. » Continue Reading.
The Adirondack Land Trust purchased five acres of forest along the shore of Upper Saranac Lake to ensure that a mile-long stretch of shoreline between Indian Carry and Indian Point remains forever wild.
The tract features 570 feet of rugged lakeshore edged by boulders and northern white cedars. The Adirondack Land Trust is expected to work with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to transfer the land to the state to close a gap in the Saranac Lakes Wild Forest, which is protected under the “forever wild” clause of New York’s constitution as part of the Adirondack Forest Preserve. » Continue Reading.
How many times have we seen the Adirondack mountains ranked by height, the tallest 46 separated into a revered category of their own?
There’s a club and way of life dedicated to hiking the 46, and a Lake Placid restaurant offers 46 different sandwiches named for the peaks.
For a change, today we list the largest streams in the Adirondack region.* » Continue Reading.
Heavy rain has led to historic flooding in parts of the Adirondacks. Waters are receding, but the clean up and repairs will continue for some time as Adirondackers return to flooded homes and camps. Some will return to flooded outbuildings, destroyed docks and shoreline changes.
Building owners with flooded basements should check for sheens or odors from gasoline, oil or substances that may have leaked from fuel oil storage tanks, furnaces or motorized equipment before pumping out water. » Continue Reading.
“I’m from Canajoharie, the others from Albany and Catskill,” a women said when I saw her with two friends on Boreas Ponds last week.
“We met through the Facebook page ‘Paddling in the Adirondacks’ and we’ve been going on trips together ever since,” she said, “often driving hours, as we did today.”
These three middle-age women in their colorful kayaks were among the twenty or so paddlers I saw on the a trip to Boreas Ponds on a partly sunny, 60-degree Fall day. » Continue Reading.
Just after Labor Day weekend this year, the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) completed its work to fully open up public access to the Boreas Ponds, in the southern High Peaks Wilderness Area. These beautiful ponds are now easily accessible for people to either canoe or to hike.
New state facilities were constructed over the past two years to rehabilitate the six-mile-long Gulf Brook Road, build parking lots, public education kiosks, a canoe carry and canoe launches to make this extraordinary natural wonder fully accessible to the public.
The reconstructed road and new access points opens a new southern gateway to the High Peaks Wilderness Area and makes easily reachable one of the most scenic and visually dramatic areas in the Adirondacks. Paddling through the network of three inter-connected waterways gives one the sensation of paddling through mountaintops. » Continue Reading.
The three-day 90-Miler Adirondack Canoe Classic starts in Old Forge and ends in Blue Mountain Lake on day one; starts in Long Lake and ends near Tupper Lake day two; and starts at the NYSDEC Fish Creek Campground Day 3 and finishes on Lake Flower in Saranac Lake.
This year, of the 250 boats that started the event on Friday, 235 finished on Sunday. » Continue Reading.
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has recently completed of upgrades to Nicks Lake Campground on Bisby Road in Old Forge, Herkimer County.
The campground is known for it’s wildlife friendly surroundings and abuts a 205-acre shallow lake closed to motor boats for quiet water canoeing, kayaking, or swimming. » 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.
Always check weather and trail conditions, regulations, and advisories before heading out on an outdoor adventure.
Know before you go:
People from 24 US states, Puerto Rico, and Canada have pledged to walk, run, cycle, and paddle 300,000 miles along New York’s canals and Canalway Trail this year as part of the Canalway Challenge. The new program invites people to trace history while tracking miles to discover all they can do along New York’s canals, including the nearby Champlain Canal. » Continue Reading.
The 37th Annual Adirondack Canoe Classic, the 3-day, 90-mile paddling event from Old Forge to Saranac Lake, will take place September 6 – 8, 2019. Here is what you need to know:
The 90-Miler attracts a full contingent of solo, tandem, 4 person and 8 person canoes, solo and tandem kayaks and one and two person guide boats. More than 600 people, from 22 different states, are expected to take part during the fall foliage season. » Continue Reading.
This weekly report of outdoor recreation conditions in the Adirondacks is compiled each Thursday afternoon and updated on Friday.
Contribute Your Knowledge: Add a comment below, or send your observations, corrections, updates, and suggestions to adklmanack@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 items at lean-tos and campsites. Do not litter. Take the free online Leave No Trace course here.
BE PREPARED! Start slow, gain experience. Carry proper safety equipment and weather protection and bring plenty of water and lights, and a map. When on the trail, stay together, monitor the time, and be prepared to turn back. Accidents happen to the most experienced people. Be prepared to spend an unplanned night in the woods in cold temperatures. Always carry food, a space blanket, emergency whistle, first aid kit, fire making tools, extra clothing layers and socks, a map and compass, and the knowledge to use them. Inform someone of your itinerary and before entering the backcountry or launching a boat check the National Weather Service watches, warnings, and advisories here. Follow Adirondack weather forecasts at Burlington and Albany and consult the High Elevation, Recreation, or Lake Champlain forecasts.
Charles Bryan, in The Raquette, River of the Forest (1964), argued that Long Lake played a major role in the development of the Adirondack Guideboat. That legacy got a local revival recently, when Long Lake resident Colleen Smith re-launched a guideboat on Long Lake built there by her grandfather George W. Smith in the early 1900s.
A neighbor, Gordon Fisher, spotted an advertisement for the boat and recognized it was made in Long Lake, but was unsure of the builder. Fisher contacted Long Lake boat builder Bunny Austin about brokering the vessel on behalf of the owner, who was living on Lake Champlain; it had been in the seller’s family since the 1950s. Austin turned the job over to his nephew Keith Austin, also a boat builder. His wife Debbie Austin spotted the signature of Geo W. Smith on all three of the seats she was re-caning. » Continue Reading.
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