There is more to New York State than the city that shares its name says Cheney Markun
8 May 2008
On a recent trip to the big apple my husband and I found ourselves with a couple of days to spare and, unsure what to do, we consulted our road map of America for inspiration. We were both immediately drawn to the huge green blob on the map just north of the city marked as the Adirondack State Park. Intrigued, we packed up the car and hit I-87, heading north out of NYC for the five hour drive to the park.
You know that you’ve arrived in the park when you see your first visitor centre as there are no gates or fences surrounding it and entry is absolutely free. The park itself covers an area of 6.1 million acres, and is the largest publicly protected area in the USA.
We followed the I-87 into a landscape of frozen lakes covered by several feet of snow, making the huge expanses of solid water almost blinding to look at in the strong winter sunshine.
The Adirondack’s are home to over 3000 lakes and more than 30,000 miles of streams and rivers, making it an absolute dream for anyone who enjoys water sports although, at this time of year the only activity going on in the water is ice fishing. Above the ice level is a different matter altogether though as, when the lakes freeze, they become a platform for winter sports and activities such as dog sledging, skiing, snow shoeing, snow mobile racing and the ever popular snow man building.
We turned off of I-87 onto state route 73 as we headed towards our base for this frosty exploration, the village of Lake Placid. Located between Mirror Lake and Lake Placid itself the village is a wonderful place to stay to really take in all that the Adirondacks have to offer whilst indulging yourself with some wonderful eateries and beautiful accommodation.
Drive in along Main Street, which follows the shore of Mirror Lake and you’ll be spoilt for choice with a huge assortment of places to stay, ranging from quaint B&B’s to luxurious lodges and self catering apartments to economy hotels. We stayed at the Lake Placid Summit Hotel, at the junction of Main Street and Saranac Avenue and found it a good no frills choice (rooms around £45 a night for a standard double) in a great location for the surprisingly lively Lake Placid nightlife. The lake front is lined with restaurants, cafes, bars and diners, most of which have stunning views out over the lake. As a vegetarian I’m a bit of an awkward diner but everywhere we ate had more than enough variation to keep me and my carnivorous husband happy, along with a wide selection of good wines, beers and spirits which certainly made the amble back to our hotel in the piercingly cold air, which for most of our stay hovered around -18 degrees more bearable.
Everything in Lake Placid retains a certain “Adirondack air” with the vast majority of the buildings being made of wood in the log cabin style and the décor in most of the restaurants and shops being charmingly rustic with knotted pine furniture and quilted throws reminding you that large swathes of the park are still classed as wilderness.
The population of Lake Placid is only 2638 people but during any of the numerous sporting events held here it increases dramatically. The village is probably best known for being the host of the 1932 and 1980 winter Olympic games and is renowned in America for being the site of the 1980 “miracle on ice” where a team of college students representing the USA beat the highly regarded USSR team 4-3 at ice hockey (and went on to take the gold).
The winter Olympics are still much in evidence here and Lake Placid is home to the US Olympic bobsled team. Following route 73 back out of town will take you to the Mount Van Hoevenberg Olympic Sorts Complex, which is home to the Lake Placid Bobsled Experience. Here you can ride in a real bobsled, with members of the US Olympic team down part of the Olympic run.
This was too much of an opportunity for us to miss out on and we quickly purchased two tickets for $70/£35 each which included the ride, a T-shirt, badge, photograph with the sled and instructors and tickets to the 2009 world championships to be held there between February 16th and March 1st next year. We waited in the lodge for our numbers to be called out and were treated to a rather scary video of bobsleds flipping over or flying out of the track, at which point I started to wish I had read the disclaimer I’d just signed. Before I could think too deeply on this though our numbers were called and we hurried out to the waiting SUV that drove us up to the top of the run. Once there our group of six was ushered inside a small wooden hut where we were issued with crash helmets and given some basic safety instructions - do what the instructors tell you and enjoy!
Having fully digested this information we stepped back outside and waited for the instructors to return from their last trip, stealing a glance or two down the down the icy looking track and calming our nerves with the thought that at least we weren‘t going down the longer, higher and altogether scarier looking track to our right that the athletes use.
Our turn came and we were helped into the surprisingly spacious sled by the instructors, one of whom sat at the front to do the important of job of steering and one who did the exhausting job of running and pushing us down the track before leaping into the back of the sled behind us. The ride itself was incredible and we soon reached speeds of around 60 mph as we hurtled down the track, sliding from side to side as the bullet like sled sliced through the cold, still air.
Reaching the bottom we quickly came to a halt. Rosy cheeked from the stinging air we’d flown through, we were helped out of the sled and posed for a picture with our instructors. The instructors rushed straight off again into a truck which took them back to the top for the next run and we took a warmer, more sedate route back to the lodge in the big SUV.
I thoroughly recommend this to anyone looking for a truly unique and enjoyable thrill ride, it doesn’t seem to last that long but it certainly gives an impression of what the real athletes go through when they shoot down these tracks at full competition speeds of more than 80 mph.
There is a huge number of other activities available here, including the chance to ride the luge (where you pilot your own mini sled) and the terrifying skeleton (where you lay on a sled that appeared to me more like a trolley with your face almost touching the ice and hurtle down the track). It’s not for the faint hearted or the beginner! The X-C Ski Centre is also found here and arranges cross country skiing and back country snow shoeing trips into the stunning forests and slopes surrounding the complex.
Before retiring to one of those lake side restaurants for some food and wine and we wound downon a dog sled ride across the frozen Mirror Lake. These are operated by Thunder Mountain Dog Sled Tours on the lakeside for reasonable prices (which vary through the season, December - April). Snuggling up under heavy blankets as you glide across the ice is magical and a much more authentic way to see the snow covered scenery than from inside a car.
The Adirondack state park is the largest area in New York state without a city and has the feeling of being a million miles away from the hustle and bustle of the big apple, not a mere days drive.
The wealth of activity is as overwhelming as the astonishing beauty of the lakes and mountains surrounding the charming towns and villages. As someone who always preferred to experience winter from the warm side of some double glazed glass with her slippers this wild adventure on Adirondacks seemed like a world away from New York, not just the five hours it actually took to get here.
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