Lake Placid

!If you get to this region of the Adirondacks, one attraction in Lake Placid is the museum of the Winter Olympics that were held here in 1932 and 1980. (“Do you believe in miracles?!”) The other major attraction is Lake Placid itself.

Many people visit the town of Lake Placid and never actually see the body of water which is Lake Placid. That’s because most of the town surrounds Mirror Lake, while Lake Placid is off to the north end of town. A fair number of folks apparently see Mirror Lake and go merrily on with their lives, thinking they’ve seen Lake Placid.

There are boat rides available in the spring, summer, and fall. (The lake has 12 to 38 inches of ice on it in the winter, so no boat tours for you!) We took it and can recommend it highly. We found it beautiful, informative, fun, and well worth the hour and $15 (credit and debit cards only, no cash). At the moment there are tours at 10:30 and 14:30, so don’t show up at 10:35 — in the summer the tours leave every hour or so. Check in advance when you get there.

Also, no matter how hot you think it is on shore, bring a jacket or sweatshirt. It’s cooler and windier on the water and you can get real cold, real fast. (Ask me how I know!)

The lake is over five miles long and over two miles wide. The waters are clean, clear, and dark blue.

There are three islands on the lake, and it stretches to the base of Whiteface Mountain.

Between the islands and the coves, bays, and peninsulas, this is the only place where you can see from one side of the lake to the other.

Near the base of Whiteface Mountain, with a fellow boater going much faster than we were.

Looking back down the lake from the “far end” near the base of Whiteface Mountain.

The lake’s residents have one of the best collections in the world of vintage, wooden boats. The houses and estates along the lake are referred to as “camps.”

The Lake Placid Lodge looks to be decades old, but was actually rebuilt only a few years ago after a disastrous fire that destroyed hundreds of priceless artifacts, pieces of art, and bottles of fine wine.

At the town end of the lake, all of the camps have road access, but before you get far, the camps only have access by boat. Of course, all of the camps on the islands (there aren’t too many) are also accessible only by boat. Most of the property around the lake was long ago given to the State of New York with the provision that it must be held in a wild condition in perpetuity. No further buildings can be built there, no roads or other structures can be built, and the existing buildings can not be expanded, only repaired or rebuilt.

This is a prime example of the “classic” Adirondack style of architecture. Of course, with a very limited number of camps available and a prime location, the prices for camps have skyrocketed. Almost all are worth $1 million or more, and many of the larger ones are worth tens of millions of dollars.

We saw many folks out enjoying the lake on kayaks.

There is wildlife all over the place. We saw a pair of loons, a blue heron, and this bald eagle nest, which has now been stolen by an osprey, who you can just see sticking his head up over the edge. There are sightings of deer, moose, bear, and all sorts of smaller critters such as skunks, porcupine, raccoon, and so on.

We saw folks out fishing, these guys near Moose Island.

A pontoon, a wooden boat, and some kayaks.

The wooden boat took of and left everyone else behind.

The kayaks didn’t seem to mind. They were having a very peaceful paddle.

A great place to visit, and if you own a boat or kayak you can go explore it on your own by putting in at the public docks. If you have a spare couple of million dollars, you can have a camp there that you only use a couple of weeks or a couple of months a year.

I could live with that kind of lifestyle, no problem!