The only independent, nonprofit news organization solely dedicated to reporting on the Adirondack Park.
The Adirondack Explorer is a nonprofit magazine covering the Adirondack Park's environment, recreation and communities.
By Adirondack Explorer
Wilmington trail offers plenty of excitement for skiers who don’t like to earn their turns. By Phil Brown Any backcountry skier who has slogged seven and a half miles up Mount Marcy realizes that the old saying “What goes up must come down” has got it backwards. It should be “What comes down must go up.” Yet that’s not always true.…
By Adirondack Explorer
The largely abandoned Wardsboro Road near Lake George connects the present with the past. By David Thomas-Train The midsection of Lake George, known as the Narrows, is so tightly squeezed with steep mountainsides that there are no highways along its shorelines; without such access, most of that stretch of lake is bordered by state land.…
By Adirondack Explorer
A pedaling paradise The author and her husband explore a maze of logging roads on the Kushaqua Tract open to mountain biking. By Susan Bibeau Recently my husband Jeff and I rediscovered our love of mountain biking, and so after I surprised him with a brand-new bike this spring, we started looking for new places to explore. We had already ridden the…
By Adirondack Explorer
The author, her husband, and a reluctant teenager make a steep climb to a fire tower only to find the view obscured by clouds. By Lisa Densmore Ballard With a name like “Vanderwhacker,” I had to climb it, again. Vanderwhacker Mountain, elevation 3,386 feet and located between Newcomb and Minerva, is the highest point in…
By Adirondack Explorer
Hordes climb Algonquin each year, but far fewer hikers continue along the ridge over Boundary Peak to Iroquois. Most people don’t know what they’re missing. By Phil Brown Carol’s friend Emily wanted to do a big hike, something spectacular. It didn’t take me long to hit on the idea of climbing Algonquin Peak and Iroquois Peak and returning by…
By Adirondack Explorer
On Rooster Comb cliffs, climbers immerse themselves in wilderness and history. By Phil Brown Each year hundreds of people hike to the summit of Rooster Comb for its great views. Far fewer reach the summit by scaling its cliffs, but the mountain has a long and storied rock-climbing history. Whether you hike or climb to…
By Adirondack Explorer
Paddlers make the best of a two-day trip on lakes overrun by motorboats and jet-skis. By Lisa Densmore Ballard In 1977, the rock singer Meat Loaf released a love song in which he crooned, “I want you. I need you, but there ain’t no way I’m ever gonna love you. So don’t be sad. ’Cause…
By Adirondack Explorer
Three hikers set out on one of the most arduous and spectacular hikes in the Northeast—a traverse of the Great Range—but encounter a thunderstorm just a half-mile short of Marcy’s summit. By Alan Wechsler We had been on the trail for nearly eleven hours when the storm hit. We were so close to success, so…
By Adirondack Explorer
Trail around pristine lake appeals to hikers, runners, and equestrians and is featured in the Adirondack Explorer’s new guidebook. By Phil Brown When I suggested to my girlfriend Carol that we jog around Cascade Lake in the Pigeon Lake Wilderness, she endorsed the idea without hesitation. Not only is Carol a trail runner, but she also…
By Adirondack Explorer
With the acquisition of the MacIntyre East tract near Tahawus, the public now owns 12 miles of shoreline along the upper Hudson and the Opalescent. By Phil Brown Brian Mann and I had been on the water for several hours when we came to a fallen tree stretched across the river. We pulled over to…