The only independent, nonprofit news organization solely dedicated to reporting on the Adirondack Park.
The Adirondack Explorer joins the largest Adirondack environmental groups in saying “no” to Governor Andrew Cuomo’s conceptual proposal to classify a small area of the Boreas Ponds as Intensive Use for the purpose of putting seasonal lodging and dining facilities there to continue the hut-to- hut system linking trails to community amenities. We haven’t seen…
As a subscriber, I wish to point out an error in the May/June issue of Adirondack Explorer. Your paddling article took me by surprise, sitting in my seat as the Clifton town historian here in Cranberry Lake. The river you’ve written about is the Grasse River, not the Grass River. I am a third-generation year-round…
In the pantheon of Adirondack conservation greats, the name of John Apperson Jr. (1878-1963) is not as well-known as it deserves to be. His great-niece, independent scholar and historian Ellen Apperson Brown, has taken a major stride toward correcting that deficiency with publication of John Apperson’s Lake George, a new addition to the Images of…
By Mike Lynch
Exhibit Features Rare Adirondack Artifacts and “Blue Line” Maps of Adirondack and Catskills Parks New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Basil Seggos recently unveiled a new exhibit featuring rare Adirondack and Catskills artifacts, including historic maps, antique survey equipment, field notebooks, and photographs that tell the story of creation of the Adirondack…
By Mike Lynch
SARANAC LAKE — A new partnership aims to support charitable projects in Cycle Adirondacks host communities. Cycle Adirondacks is a fully supported road cycling tour of the Adirondack region, founded in 2015 by the Wildlife Conservation Society’s (WCS) Adirondack Program. This year, WCS and Cycle Adirondacks are teaming up with Adirondack Foundation’s crowdfunding platform, Adirondack…
Moss Lake near Eagle Bay has an interesting history. From 1923 until 1972, it was the site of a girls camp. In 1974, after the state bought the property, Mohawk Indians took over the land and the buildings, naming their settlement Ganienkeh. They occupied Moss Lake for three years before reaching a settlement with the…
By Mike Lynch
The state Department of Environmental Conservation has been grappling with how to deal with the increasing number of hikers in the High Peaks in recent years. I wrote a series of articles about the subject last year, and we will continue to report on the issue again this summer. Above are some photos that illustrate…
Guidebook author lures her hiking-averse brother up one of the southern Adirondacks’ most scenic mountains. By Lisa Densmore Ballard My brother, Wayne, claimed he was allergic to hiking. A decade ago, I coaxed him into climbing modest Baker Mountain by Moody Pond in Saranac Lake, a mile from his home. In a moment of weakness,…
By Mike Lynch
In May, I met up with Dave LaMountain at the Flume on the West Branch of the Ausable River in Wilmington. LaMountain demonstrated how he uses drones to showcase the beauty of the Adirondack Park. He is a believer that drones can co-exist with the Adirondack Park if their usage is limited to noisy frontcountry…
By Mike Lynch
Here are some photos that I took in mid-April along the Saranac River. The photos were taken from a few miles downstream of the village of Saranac Lake to Union Falls Dam. This past winter the northern Adirondacks received a significant amount of snow, much of it in mid-March during a storm that dumped more…