Six Million Wilderness Acres You Can Explore Now

For some Americans who enjoy fishing, the summer solstice marks a time to start heading north to Canada. For folks in the Northeast, this means Atlantic salmon fishing in the Maritimes or Quebec; for Midwesterners, smallmouth bass and walleye beckon in Ontario and Saskatchewan; and for those on the West Coast, the wilds of British Columbia offer rainbow trout and steelhead.

This year, those travel plans are, at best, postponed for many people. Yet you can still head north to fish—and enjoy a wide variety of other outdoor activities—in a lush land of mountains, fragrant green forests, and rushing streams. And you can leave your passport home.

Adirondack State Park, in northern New York State, is the largest protected natural region in the contiguous U.S. Covering more than six million acres, it is more than three times the size of Yellowstone National Park. Created in 1892, it neighbors many charming small towns, making it an ideal destination for families. The Wild Center and nearby Tupper Lake Arts Center, for example, are smack in the middle of the Adirondacks and are magnets for travelers of all ages.

Photo: Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism

The Adirondack Mountains offer a vast array of traditional wilderness hiking and camping opportunities, including 46 high peaks, 34 of which are in the 193,000-acre High Peaks Wilderness Area, south of Lake Placid. Climb them all and you can call yourself an “Adirondack 46er.” 

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Take a Hike

Looking to get outdoors and enjoy nature, now that spring is underway? Our columnist knows just the place to go.

Hikers typically combine Panther and Satanoni peaks, for an ascent of over 16 miles, which even experienced hikers should do in two days rather than one. Overnight in your favorite backpacking tent. Before you go, educate yourself with practical information from the Adirondack Mountain Club.

Mount Marcy, at 5,344 feet above sea level, is the highest mountain of the 46 and the highest in New York. The 7.4-mile hike up Marcy, which was first ascended in 1837, is rated 5 out of 7 for difficulty.

The Van Hoevenberg Trail is the most popular route to the top. As with Panther and Satanoni, you’d be wise to allow two days, stopping for the night at mile three. Go on a clear day and, when you get to the top, you’ll be treated to a spectacular view of the summits of 43 of the peaks—and Mount Royal near Montreal, some 65 miles away. 

If you want to take things a little easier, consider Cranberry Lake in the western Adirondacks, which is looped by 50 miles of well-kept trails. The nonprofit Five Ponds Partners, which maintains those trails, recommends hiking them over multiple days or even several seasons. When you complete the so-called Cranberry Lake 50 challenge, the group will give you a commemorative patch.

Water sports are also on tap. There is good fishing for native brook trout in many mountain lakes and challenging fishing for wily brown trout in the Ausable River. Canoeing, kayaking, and rafting are exciting, notably in the Upper Hudson River Gorge, regarded as one of the top 10 whitewater destinations in the country. Stay safe and enjoy the experience with a reputable river outfitter.

Photo: Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism

A Bit of History

For the history buff, no trip to the Adirondacks would be complete without a stop at Fort Ticonderoga, on the park’s eastern edge. The French built the strategic edifice between Lake George and Lake Champlain between 1755 and 1757. Ticonderoga is from the Iroquois word meaning at the junction of two waterways. 

A year after the fort’s completion, 4,000 French soldiers there held off 16,000 British attackers. A year after that, the British took the fort. Nearly two decades later, during the Revolutionary War, in the spring of 1775, Ethan Allen’s Green Mountain Boys, with assistance from Captain Benedict Arnold (still on our side at that point), captured Ticonderoga. 

In one of the most astounding military feats ever, Colonel Henry Knox and his Continentals dragged 60 tons of artillery equipage by boat, horse, and sled across the frozen Berkshire Mountains during the winter. He presented the arsenal to General George Washington to fortify Dorchester Heights overlooking besieged Boston Harbor. Seeing what they faced, the British fleet pulled anchor and sailed to Nova Scotia, with a thousand citizens loyal to the crown onboard. No, not all Colonials were singing “Yankee Doodle Dandy.”