Adirondack State Park

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Many people hear and say the Happiest place on earth is what??… Disney.. yeah not for us. I mean sure Disney is fun and I’ve been to both the Land and the World, and for some people they are all about roller coasters and crowds and spending gobs of cash. We’re more “outdoorsy” kinds of travelers generally speaking, and you cant get much more outdoorsy than the Amazing, Incredible, Peacefully Gorgeous Adirondack State Park of New York.  Did I already say this is my happy place? It is.

So as usual, a bit of Intel on my park (yes ask my husband, I have dubbed this place MINE, but I’ll let you visit so long as you love it and treat it nice). Thank you to our friends at the Adirondack Council, they have this to say about the park.

“The Adirondack Park was created in 1892 by the state of New York. Containing six-million acres, the Park is the largest park in the contiguous United States. It covers one-fifth of New York State, is equal in size to neighboring Vermont, and is nearly three times the size of Yellowstone National Park!

The Adirondack Park is best known for it’s expansive pristine forests, lakes, rivers, and outdoor recreation opportunities. Unlike a national park, the Adirondack Park has no entrance and no entry fee, as it not only contains public land, but private lands as well where people live year-round.”

You can also visit their page at Adirondack Council. Please also be sure to check out ways to help the council and donate to this wonderful organization.

So 6 MILLION acres!! That’s a lot of playground to visit and in my over 40 years of visiting there, I have probably visited a very very small portion of this.

I have been coming to the ADK, well since before I was born! My mom started coming when she was a young girl and the love affair began way back then, as she grew and introduce my Dad and then my self and my brothers.  Growing up we owned a tiny little cabin tucked in the woods at Cape Cod Village Club in Hague, NY on the breathtaking Lake George! Now don’t let the word Club fool you, we aren’t talking country club living but to a family from the ‘burbs in New Jersey this was even better than any country club could provide. We would spend the entire summers here, laying in the sun, swimming, boating, fishing and being kids and a family. Picture scenes from Dirty Dancing and that’s a start. We would go on hikes in the woods, and once a week was movie night down at the public beach in town. Everyone would bring snacks and blankets and watch whatever new movie was available on a billboard set up in the town park. Another night was “village” night, where we would get dropped off in Lake George Village for the evening and would see all the “tourists” pack the place to see fireworks over the lake and spend money in the arcade. That was living!

I could really go on and on forever about my home away from home, so I will break down visits into different areas to make it easier to navigate, and since I love it so much, I’ll give the Adirondacks it’s own category.

Stay tuned for episode one… Lake George.