The only independent, nonprofit news organization solely dedicated to reporting on the Adirondack Park.
Five articles that feature snowshoe treks for all skill levels, on trails that are located all over the Adirondacks.
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…
A winter trifecta Owen, Copperas, and Winch ponds offer skiers and snowshoers an escape into wilderness just a short drive from Lake Placid. By Phil Brown It’s little wonder that Owen, Copperas, and Winch ponds are popular hiking destinations in summer: for little effort, you can walk through quiet woods to visit these pretty ponds, take…
The Adirondack Park’s frozen cliffs offer some of the best ice climbing in the country. By Phil Brown The Adirondack Park has thousands of rock-climbing routes, many of them stellar, but it will never rival such climbing destinations as Yosemite Valley in California, New River Gorge in West Virginia, or the Shawangunks in downstate New…
Taking a new hike Purchase of MacIntyre West Tract opens up Lake Andrew as a destination, though the state has yet to mark the route. By Phil Brown After writing about the state’s acquisition of the MacIntyre West Tract for the last issue of the Explorer, I was eager to explore it, and Lake Andrew seemed like…
An old favorite in winter If you’re heading up St. Regis Mountain, bring your skis and your snowshoes. By Phil Brown Last winter, my daughter Becky and her fiancé, Joe, wanted to climb one of the Saranac Lake 6, so we snowshoed up St. Regis Mountain. Although I like St. Regis—with its marvelous views of ponds and lakes—I am not an…
Tribute to slain activist State dedicates new trail on Tupper Lake peak to Andrew Goodman, who was murdered during the Freedom Summer in Mississippi. By Phil Brown Hikers looking for a short climb to a view should check out the new trail up Goodman Mountain south of Tupper Lake. The state Department of Environmental Conservation, with the help of volunteers, created the…
Journey to OK Slip New trail leads to a spectacular view of one of the Adirondacks’ highest waterfalls and to the Hudson River Gorge. By Phil Brown Carol Fox had visited OK Slip Falls three times—twice in fall, once in winter— but not on the state’s new hiking trail and never with some guy jotting down every word she said. I advised…
Four hikers pay tribute to an Adirondack legend while climbing the peak newly renamed in her honor. By Susan Bibeau Shortly after moving to the Adirondacks in 1996, I climbed Giant Mountain. Not only was it my first High Peak, it was the first time I’d climbed anything higher than the hill in the back yard where I grew up. While…
Guidebook author shares some of his secrets of the Siamese Ponds Wilderness. By Bill Ingersoll WHEN THE STATE began creating a network of marked trails in the Adirondacks in the 1920s, it usually adopted preexisting routes, reflecting a constitutional interpretation that cutting trees would be a violation of the Forest Preserve’s forever-wild protections. A newspaper…