New York's Northern Wilderness · Est. 1892
The Adirondacks
Field Guide
Six million acres of wild forest, 2,000 miles of hiking trail, and one obscure valley almost no one has found. Three classics. One secret.
Classic Experiences
01
High Peaks Region · Lake Placid
Summit Algonquin
The second-highest peak in New York rewards with a rare open alpine summit — true tundra vegetation above the treeline, 360° views across a sea of peaks, and the wild feeling of genuinely hard-won altitude. The trailhead at Adirondack Loj is the classic launch point.
02
Saint Regis Canoe Area · Saranac Lake
Paddle the Saint Regis Chain
New York's only designated canoe wilderness. A multi-day loop threads 58 interconnected ponds through a motor-free landscape — you portage between water bodies on quiet forest paths, camp on designated sites, and rarely see another soul past the first evening.
03
Keene Valley · Route 73
Fall Foliage on the
Ausable Valley
Keene Valley sits in a deep glacial notch where the Ausable River carved between high peaks — the surrounding slopes hold a dense mix of sugar maple, yellow birch, and beech. The color arrives earlier at elevation and sweeps downward, giving viewers who pay attention nearly two full weeks of peak display.
Little-Known Gem
The Boreas Ponds Tract
Newcomb · Essex County · Added 2017
Until 2017, this 20,000-acre tract was private timberland — hunters' territory, closed to the public for a century. The Nature Conservancy transferred it to the Adirondack Park, and while news made a brief splash, almost no one visits. The Boreas Ponds themselves sit at 2,800 feet elevation with direct views of the Great Range unobstructed by treeline — an unusual combination of easy access (a 2-mile flat walk in) and genuinely spectacular high-mountain panorama. There are no lean-tos, limited signage, and the parking area holds perhaps a dozen cars. The solitude is profound even on summer weekends.
Download a pdf of the field guide here