Adirondacks

The Adirondacks fill the northeastern quarter of New York, a six-million-acre mix of public and private land that forms the largest state-level protected area in the contiguous United States. The terrain is glacier-carved mountain country — high peaks, lake-pocked valleys, and dense northern hardwood forest extending from the Champlain Valley west to the Tug Hill plateau. The region spans Essex, Hamilton, Warren, Franklin, Saint Lawrence, and Herkimer counties, among others, with towns like Lake Placid, Saranac Lake, Lake George, Old Forge, Tupper Lake, and Schroon Lake forming the main travel hubs. The High Peaks district around Lake Placid holds the tallest summits, including Mount Marcy. Trips here vary by season more than most travel destinations in the Northeast. Summer is paddling, hiking, and lake camping; fall draws leaf-peepers along the scenic byways; winter brings Olympic-grade skiing at Whiteface and miles of cross-country trails. Distances within the park are deceptive — what looks close on a map often takes longer once you’re driving the lake-edge roads.