An Adirondack vocabulary list
Here are some commonly-used Adirondack terms that you might encounter while in the Adirondack Park:
- Blue Line – A term that now refers to the geographic border of the Adirondack Park, a reference to the first map of the Adirondacks in 1891, which drew the proposed boundary line in blue ink
- Forever Wild – Refers to the state constitutional protection of the Adirondack Park’s public lands, in the Adirondack Forest Preserve (currently at 2.6 million acres). Voters approved Article 14 of New York state’s Constitution in November 1894. It went into effect the following January (1895). The article mandates that state lands within the Adirondack Park “shall be forever kept as wild forest lands.”
- ADK, ADKS -Common abbreviation for “Adirondack” or “Adirondacks” (ADK also is shorthand for “Adirondack Mountain Club“)
- Mud season- The brief period between winter and spring when ground thaw and snow melt create a muddy mess on trails
- Stick season – The brief period between fall and winter when the deciduous trees are bare but snow has yet to fly
- Black fly season – The weeks of spring and the start of summer when black fly larvae hatch and produce the flies that terrorize hikers and other outdoor recreationists
Black fly illustration by Mark Joseph Sharer
What would you add to this list? Comment below or email [email protected].
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Mary Shaw says
The Adirondack Wave – waving both hands over your face and head to keep the black flies away. We all know the black fly’s purpose is for crowd control.
M.P. Heller says
Snow fly season – The season between stick season and black fly season.
Flatlander – Diminutive term sometimes applied to folks originating from outside the “Blue Line”