An Adirondack vocabulary list
Here are some commonly-used Adirondack terms that you might encounter while in the Adirondack Park:
Adirondack Park State Land Master Plan – The leading policy document governing state lands in the Adirondack Park, including the approximately 2.7 million acres of Adirondack Forest Preserve protected by the state Constitution’s “forever wild” clause.
Adirondack Park Agency (APA) – The state agency that oversees public and private development in the park.
The Adirondack Explorer thanks its advertising partners. Become one of them.
Other power-driven mobility devices (OPDMDs) – Defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) as “any mobility device powered by batteries, fuel, or other engines… that is used by individuals with mobility disabilities for the purpose of locomotion, including golf cars, electronic personal assistance mobility devices… such as the Segway® PT, or any mobility device designed to operate in areas without defined pedestrian routes, but that is not a wheelchair.”
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“)
The Adirondack Explorer thanks its advertising partners. Become one of them.
Mud season– The period between winter and spring when ground thaw and snow melt create a muddy mess
Stick season – The 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 (typically Mother’s Day to Father’s Day) when black fly larvae hatch and produce the flies that terrorize anyone outside.
Fire tower: Structures that forest rangers once used to spot wildfires and call for aid.
The Adirondack Explorer thanks its advertising partners. Become one of them.
Snow fly – wingless and harmless insects that live in cold environments.
Adirondack guide boats: A type of rowboat that was designed in the 1800s and resembles a canoe.
46 High Peaks – A list of what was traditionally believed to be the tallest mountains in New York state. See them here.
46r, 46rs, Adirondack Forty-Sixers – A non-profit organization whose members have climbed the 46 High Peaks, typically during the warmer months. Those who climb all 46 High Peaks during the winter season are known as Winter 46r, or Adirondack Winter Forty-Sixers.
The Adirondack Explorer thanks its advertising partners. Become one of them.
Great Camps – A distinctive architecture style from the Gilded Age, seen in grandiose summer homes in the Adirondacks that were constructed around the same time by wealthy families. Read more here.
What would you add to this list? Comment below or email [email protected].
Black fly illustration by Mark Joseph Sharer
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.
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”
also “transflander” – a flatlander who has moved permanently to the Dacks