Location: New York Map
Area: 6.1 million acres
Info: (518) 327 3000
Open: 9am- 5pm daily
Closed: Thanksgiving, Dec 25th
Campground
Pines Campground
(518) 523 9322
Mt. Van Hoevenberg Bed & Breakfast
(518) 523 957
Fees and permits
Except for improved public
campgrounds, there is no fee to camp or travel on state land. It is
illegal to transport untreated firewood more than 50 miles from its
source. Local firewood can easily be found in roadside stands and
convenience stores. Retailers include a slip of paper documenting
the source of the firewood. Without this proof, your firewood may be
seized.
Adirondacks State Park is located in a state of New York in United States. It was established in 1892 and covers an area of 6.1 million acres. It is by far the largest of the National Historic Landmarks. It is larger than the Yellowstone, Everglades, Grand Canyon and Glacier National Parks, Adirondack Park covers an area roughly equivalent to the state of Vermont. With Mount Marcy at 1,629 m in the park also the highest elevation of New York. Its name is derived from Iroquois native language and translated as a "bark eater". Adirondacks State Park contains over 2000 miles of hiking trails as well as 500 campsites that are dispersed on 48 islands of Saranac Lake, Indian Lake and George Lake.
Adirondacks State Park is densely wooded in places
and with a total of about 3,000 lakes and 48,000 km of rivers and
streams rich in water. A system of approximately 3,200 km of hiking
trails runs through many parts of the park. Campgrounds have been
laid out in outstanding locations where fires can be made. The
boundary of the park is commonly referred to as the Blue Line (due
to blue ink used on old maps) and surrounds the entire Adirondack
Mountains plus the surrounding area. The park has more than 50
mammal species, such as beaver and elk, as well as the black bear
and numerous birds, including the ruby-throated hummingbird. Parts
of the park are used by the timber industry.
The idea of
setting up a protected park in this area was first raised in 1870
by land surveyor Verplanck Colvin. Proponents of the park henceforth
drew inspiration and inspiration largely from considerations of
George Perkins Marsh, who had already warned ten years earlier of
deforestation that could also alter North America in a way that had
already happened in parts of Europe. A conservation philosophy in
response to this fear is still the basic idea behind the park and
its further development. The official foundation of Adirondacks
State Park dates back to 1892.
Adirondacks State Park
is under the administration of the State of New York, but is not a
state park in the strict sense. He is supervised by the Department
of the Environment of New York; For planning and long-term
management decisions, the Adirondack Park Agency was established in
1971.
Adirondacks High Peaks
Distance: 21.9 mi (35.3 km)
Duration: 3 days
Difficulty: medium
Start/ Finish point: Heart
Lake- Lake Placid
Mt. Marcy
Distance: 14.8 mi (23.8 km)
Duration: 7- 9 hr
Difficulty: hard
Start/ Finish point: Heart Lake
Within the Adirondack Park are numerous Wilderness
Areas, where the use of motorized vehicles is prohibited; Human
activities are limited to hiking, camping, hunting, fishing and
paddling.
Blue Ridge Wilderness Area - 185.09 km²
Dix
Mountain Wilderness Area - 182.95 km²
Five Ponds Wilderness Area
- 447.44 km²
Giant Mountain Wilderness Area - 92.14 km²
Ha-De-Ron-Dah Wilderness Area - 107.36 km²
High Peaks Wilderness
Area - 779.77 km²
Hoffman Notch Wilderness Area - 146.62 km²
Jay Mountain Wilderness Area - 28.7 km²
McKenzie Mountain
Wilderness Area - 152.23 km²
Pepperbox Wilderness Area - 91.30
km²
Pharaoh Lake Wilderness Area - 185.68 km²
Pigeon Lake
Wilderness Area - 202.8 km²
Round Lake Wilderness Area - 44.5 km²
Sentinel Range Wilderness Area - 94.10 km²
Siamese Ponds
Wilderness Area - 455.37 km²
Silver Lake Wilderness Area - 426.01
km²
West Canada Lake Wilderness Area - 634.12 km²
William C.
Whitney Wilderness Area - 83.0 km²
The 77 km² Saint Regis Canoe
Area is not officially classified as a Wilderness Area, but it has
the same accessibility requirements.
Until the 19th century, this wilderness was considered
deserted and impregnable. Over time, the idea of wilderness became quite
positive, as seen in the books of James Fenimore Cooper, Henry David
Thoreau, and Ralph Waldo Emerson.
In 1849 Joel Headley's
Adirondack; or, Life in the Woods" prompted the development of hotels
and stagecoach routes here. William Henry Murray's 1869 Wilderness Guide
described the area as a place of recreation and entertainment rather
than any natural obstacle. Financier Thomas Durant purchased land in the
Adirondacks and built a railroad from Saratoga Springs to North Creek,
now known for skiing, hiking and other outdoor activities. By 1875,
there were over two hundred hotels in the Adirondacks, around the same
time that the Great Camps were established.
After the Civil War,
with the beginning of the Southern Reconstruction Era, economic growth
led to increased logging and deforestation in the country, especially in
the southern part of Andirodachi Park. In 1870, Verplank Colvin, who
made the first recorded ascent of Mount Seward, discovered the massive
damage done by lumberjacks. He wrote a report that was read at the
Albany Institute and printed by the New York State Museum of Natural
History. In 1872, Verplank Colvin was appointed to the newly created
position of superintendent of the Adirondack Survey and received a
$1,000 budget from the state legislature to conduct a survey of the
Adirondack area. In a report written in 1873, he argued that allowing
the Adirondack watershed to deteriorate would jeopardize the viability
of the Erie Canal, which was vital to New York's economy at the time. In
the same year, he recommended the creation of a state forest reserve
covering the entire Adirondack region, and was subsequently appointed
Superintendent of the New York State Land Survey.
In 1884, a New
York State Legislative Commission, chaired by botanist Charles Sargent,
recommended the creation of a forest reserve that would "forever remain
a wild forest." In 1885, a law was passed to preserve the forests, which
included all the lands around the Adirondacks and Catskills, designating
them as a forest reserve, in order to forever preserve them as wild
forest lands. In 1902, the state legislature passed a law defining the
Adirondack Park for the first time in terms of the counties and cities
within it. In 1912, it was specified by law that the park includes both
privately owned land and state property. As a result of these laws, many
sections of the Adirondacks' virgin forest have never been cleared and
are old-growth forests.
In the early 20th century, recreational
use of the Adirondacks skyrocketed. The State Conservation Department
responded to the growth of infrastructure facilities within the park,
including the I-87 Interstate in the 1960s, and the Adirondack Park
Agency was formed in 1971 to develop long-term land use plans for both
for public and private land within the Blue Line. In 1973, the State
Land Master Plan was adopted, defining the directions for the
development of the park.
The park is operated by the New York
State Department of Conservation and the Adirondack Park Agency.
The fur trade led to the near extinction of the beaver
in 1893. Other species, such as moose, wolves and cougars were hunted
either for their meat, for sport, or because they were considered a
threat to livestock.
Beaver reintroduction efforts began around
1904 by combining remaining beavers in the Adirondacks with those in
Canada and later those in Yellowstone. The population quickly increased
to about 2000 in about ten years and about 20,000 in 1921 with the
addition of beavers in different areas of the park. Although this
reintroduction was successful, the high beaver population was found to
have negative economic impacts on waterways and timber sources.
Man's tendency to attempt to manage nature continued with the
introduction of elk to the Adirondacks, a species that it is uncertain
had ever occupied the area before. After two failed attempts to
introduce elk, in 1903 over 150 elk were reported by the New York
Forest, Fish and Game Commission as having been released and surviving
in the park. The elk population increased for several years before
declining due to poaching.
To protect and maintain the elk
population in the future, the DeBar Mountain Game Refuge has been
established within the forest reserve. This act of preservation of the
species was motivated by hunting rather than by an ecological or natural
aspect.
A negative result was the trapping and killing of
"vermin", as animals such as hawks, owls, foxes and weasels were
considered to prey on other species sought after by hunters and anglers.
This turned out to have unintended ecological consequences, including
the deer overpopulation reported by the New York State Department of
Conservation in 1945.
Ongoing efforts have been made to
reintroduce native wildlife that had disappeared from the park during
earlier logging. These animals reintroduced at various times include the
raccoon, moose, black bear, coyote, opossum, beaver, porcupine, marten,
river otter, bobcat and Canadian lynx. . All these restoration efforts
have not yet been crowned with success. There are 53 known species of
mammals that live in the park.
Birds in the park include the
red-tailed hawk, broad-winged hawk, rough-legged hawk, Swainson's
falcon, peregrine falcon, osprey, eagle owl, barred owl, owl, turkey
vulture and raven.
It is estimated that 7 to 10 million tourists visit the park every year. There are many accommodations available, including cabins, hunting lodges, villas and hotels. Many mountains in the Adirondacks have been developed into ski areas. Hunting and fishing are permitted in Adirondack Park, although in many places there are strict regulations. Thanks to these regulations, the high tourist traffic has not overexploited the area and, as such, the streams, rivers, ponds and lakes support large populations of trout and black bass. Although restricted from much of the park, snowmobile enthusiasts can ride an extensive network of trails. Whitewater kayaking and canoeing are popular on many rivers and lakes. Rafting and white-water rafting trips take place in the spring.
Within Adirondack Park are numerous wilderness areas
where the operation of motorized vehicles is prohibited; human
activities are limited to hiking, camping, hunting, fishing, and
paddling.
Blue Ridge Wilderness Area - 185.09 km²
Dix Mountain
Wilderness Area - 182.95 km²
Five Ponds Wilderness Area - 447.44 km²
Giant Mountain Wilderness Area - 92.14 km²
Ha-De-Ron-Dah Wilderness
Area – 107.36 km²
High Peaks Wilderness Area - 779.77 km²
Hoffman
Notch Wilderness Area - 146.62 km²
Jay Mountain Wilderness Area -
28.7 km²
McKenzie Mountain Wilderness Area - 152.23 km²
Pepperbox
Wilderness Area - 91.30 km²
Pharaoh Lake Wilderness Area – 185.68 km²
Pigeon Lake Wilderness Area - 202.8 km²
Round Lake Wilderness Area -
44.5 km²
Sentinel Range Wilderness Area - 94.10 km²
Siamese Ponds
Wilderness Area - 455.37 km²
Silver Lake Wilderness Area – 426.01 km²
West Canada Lake Wilderness Area – 634.12 km²
William C Whitney
Wilderness Area – 83.0 km²
The 77 km² Saint Regis Canoe Area is not
officially classified as a Wilderness Area, but the same access
conditions apply to it.