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
By Phil Brown We had been driving for nearly two hours when Martha, my 13-year-old daughter, started complaining. “How much farther?” she wanted to know. “I’m bored.” Fortunately, we were approaching Cathedral Pines, a stand of giant white pines just off Route 28 between Inlet and Raquette Lake. I pulled off at the trailhead, and…
By Adirondack Explorer
Great Sacandaga Lake is only slightly smaller than Lake George, which is the largest water wholly within the Adirondack Park, but it doesn't get nearly as much respect. By Phil Brown
By Adirondack Explorer
‘The worst lake in the Adirondacks’ A family bushwacks to Merriam Lake to discover the truth By Lauren Otis We walk single file along the soft forest floor through the dappled sunlight. Cady, my 12-year old daughter, leads the way followed by my 8-year old son, Oberon. I bring up the rear. We crest a…
By Adirondack Explorer
An ode to pond hopping By Akum Norder I don’t get to the woods much. I feel sheepish admitting this fact, especially in an Adirondack newspaper. I rarely camp, rarely even go hiking. I’ve always been more comfortable with a city’s structure, noise, and people sheltering me: I can pretend I know where the edges…
By Adirondack Explorer
This island is your island By Mark Bowie On an autumn evening tagged with the first freeze warning of the season, I pitched my tent on campsite No. 2, Kirpens Island, Indian lake. My neighbors had introduced themselves on the outbound paddle: three seagulls and a family of common mergansers. I would be the only…
By Adirondack Explorer
Almost a High Peak By Rick Karlin At 3,899 feet, Snowy Mountain dominates the west side of Indian Lake. It is one of the tallest mountains outside the High Peaks and poses as tough a challenge and offers as big a reward as many of the Park’s loftiest summits. Toward the end of 3.9-mile climb,…
By Adirondack Explorer
Osgood as it gets By Phil Brown You’re never far from the madding crowd as you paddle down the Jones Pond outlet to Osgood Pond. It just feels that way. The outlet is the first leg of an enchanting canoe trip that has a little bit of everything: meandering streams, big ponds, small ponds, even…
By Adirondack Explorer
When we got to the top of Hadley Mountain, the weather was nearly perfect: blue skies, little wind, mild temperatures. Below us, Great Sacandaga Lake lay stretched out in the sun.
By Adirondack Explorer
by Phil Brown How do you know you’re in Old Forge? A. In the 10 minutes you spend at the trailhead lacing up your boots and stepping into your cross-country skis, a dozen snowmobiles pass by. B. All the conversations you overhear at Walt’s Diner after skiing have to do with snowmobiles. C. As you…
By Adirondack Explorer
The central Adirondacks is full of intriguing intermediate ski tours, many of which deposit you at one end of a beautiful, frozen lake, with the promise of a thrilling but not death-defying descent.