Adirondack Park

The Adirondack Park was created in 1882 by the New York State Legislature, which enacted measures that guarantee public lands will remain forever wild. The Park itself is the size of the state of Vermont, with a structure unlike any other state or national park in the nation: it is a patchwork of public and private lands. There are expansive blocks of backcountry interspersed with private homes, villages and tracts of corporate forest lands under active management.

 

 

In the Adirondacks, it is possible to hike to an isolated waterfall in the afternoon, then spend the evening strolling Main Street.

 

 

The Adirondacks are home to black bears, white tailed deer, common loons, mergansers, bald eagles, beavers, coyotes, fishers, bobcats, brook and lake trout, land-locked salmon and more.

 

 

Its forests are comprised of hardwoods and softwoods, including maple, black cherry, beech, balsam fir, hemlock, Scotch and red pine and spruces of several varieties. Woodland wildflowers such as showy ladyslippers bloom in the spring, while many waterways are graced with white and yellow water lilies throughout the summer. There are several Alpine summits in the Adirondacks where rare plants thrive under adverse conditions. Hikers are cautioned to stay on paths or bare rocks when visiting these summits.