Adirondack State Park
Encyclopedia
The Adirondack Park is a publicly protected area in northeast New York
. It is the largest park and the largest state-level protected area
in the contiguous United States
, and the largest National Historic Landmark
.
The park covers some 6100000 acres (24,685.8 km²), a land area greater than Vermont
, or than Yellowstone
, Yosemite
, Grand Canyon
, Glacier, and Great Smoky Mountains
National Parks
combined.
Much of the land is directly controlled by the state's Forest Preserve
, but more than half the land within the Adirondack Park is privately owned, including several villages and hamlets.
,' contains the entire Adirondack Mountain range, as well as some surrounding areas, all within the state of New York
. The park includes all of Hamilton
and Essex
counties, as well as considerable portions of Clinton
, Franklin
, Fulton
, Herkimer
, St. Lawrence
, and Warren
counties and small portions of Lewis
, Oneida
, Saratoga
, and Washington
counties as well. (The Clinton County towns of Altona
and Dannemora
, despite being entirely within the park boundary, are specifically excluded from the park by statute, due to the large prison facilities in both towns.)
Not all of the land within the park is owned by the state, although new sections are frequently purchased or donated. State land comprises 2700000 acres (10,926.5 km²), about 45% of the park's area, including the highest peaks
in New York State, as well as Mount Marcy
, the highest elevation in the state. About 1 million acres (4,046.9 km²) of this is classified as wilderness, with most of the remainder managed under the somewhat less stringent wild forest classification. Village
s and hamlet
s comprise less than 1% of the area of the park; the remaining area of more than 3 million acres (12,140.6 km²) is privately held but is generally sparsely developed. There is often no clear demarcation between state, private, and wilderness lands in the park. Signs marking the Adirondack Park boundary can be found on most of the major roads in the region, but there are no entrance gates and no admission fee.
The vast majority of the Adirondack Mountains are within the bounds of the traditional territory of the Mohawk First Nation
until at least 1720. A sedentary agrarian democratic society before Contact, they controlled the eastern part of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy or Six Nations. The Mohawk population had already been decimated by European diseases when they were largely driven out of their homeland by foreign European settlers. Although the Confederacy was divided, most of the Iroquois sided with the British during the American Revolution
. After the war, most of the Iroquois land which fell within the American border was forcefully signed over through treaties or seized outright. During the 19th century, the U.S. Government forced most of the Iroquois off their traditional territory into reservations in the Midwest. Many escaped to Canada, where they were granted land in the British colony of Upper Canada
, modern day Ontario
. Citizens of the Mohawk Nation, numbering around 125,000 today, now live mostly north of the Saint Lawrence River in Canada along with the other member nations of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy
. The Iroquois are now in the midst of land claims proceedings over parts of the state of New York.
The thinking that was to lead to the creation of the park first appeared in George Perkins Marsh
's Man and Nature
, published in 1864. Marsh argued that deforestation could lead to desertification: referring to the clearing of once lush lands surrounding the Mediterranean, he asserted "the operation of causes set in action by man has brought the face of the earth to a desolation almost as complete as that of the moon."
The idea for the park itself first occurred to surveyor Verplanck Colvin
in 1870, while taking in the view from atop Seward Mountain
. He wrote to the state government that action was necessary to protect the forests or it would be wasted, which would lead to the drying up of the water needed to keep the Erie Canal
in operation. Three years later he was appointed to a committee formed to consider how to do this.
While his term 'Adirondack Park' led to some derision and fears from longtime residents of the area that they might be bought out and evicted, proponents of the idea began to use 'Adirondack Forest Preserve' instead. Both terms continue in use to this day, with the former referring to the land inside the Blue Line and the latter to that portion owned by the state.
In 1878, Seneca Ray Stoddard
produced a topographical survey of the Adirondacks that was influential in the creation of the Park.
Serious efforts to protect this land began in 1882, when businessmen in New York began to be concerned about the effects of widespread logging. Without trees, the many steep slopes on the mountains in the region were likely to erode, and the silt from the slopes could conceivably have silted up the Erie Canal and the Hudson
itself, choking off New York State’s economic backbone.
In 1885, legislation declared that the land in the Adirondack Park and the Catskill Park was to be conserved and never put up for sale or lease. The park was established in 1892, due to the activities of Colvin and other conservationists. The park was given state constitutional protection in 1894, so that the state-owned lands within its bounds would be protected forever ('forever wild'). The part of the Adirondack Park under government control is referred to as the Adirondack Forest Preserve. Further, this became a National Historic Landmark
in 1963.
On September 18, 2008, The Nature Conservancy
purchased Follensby Pond - about 14600 acres (59.1 km²) of private land inside the park boundary - for $16 million. The group plans on selling the land to the state which will add it to the forest preserve once the remaining leases for recreational hunting and fishing on the property expire.
Data compiled by the Adirondack Museum
, Blue Mountain Lake, New York
Ongoing efforts have been made to reintroduce native fauna that had been lost in the park during earlier exploitation. Animals in various stages of reintroduction include the American beaver
, the fisher
, the American marten
, the moose
, the Canadian lynx, and the osprey
. Not all of these restoration efforts have been successful yet. There are 53 species of mammals that live in the park.
The park has a year-round population of about 130,000 people in dozens of villages and hamlets
. Seasonal residents number about 200,000, while an estimated 7-10 million tourists visit the park annually. It is estimated that 84 million people live within a day's drive of the park.
There are more than 3,000 lakes and 30,000 miles (48,000 km) of streams and rivers. Many areas within the park are devoid of settlements and distant from usable roads. The park includes over 2000 miles (3,218.7 km) of hiking trails; these trails comprise the largest trail system in the nation. With its combination of private and public lands, its large scale and its long history as a place people have tried to coexist with nature, many see the Adirondacks as a model for the ways natural areas with human populations can be protected into the future. There are parks in India and other countries that use the Adirondacks concept.
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
(DEC) is responsible for the care, custody, and management of the 2700000 acres (10,926.5 km²) of public (state) land in the Adirondack Forest Preserve. The Adirondack Park Agency
(APA, created 1971) is a governmental agency that performs long-range planning for the future of the Adirondack State Park. It oversees development plans of private land-owners, as well as activities within the Forest Preserve
. Development by private owners must be reviewed to determine if their plan is compatible with the park.
This system of management is distinctly different from New York's state park system, which is managed by different agencies, primarily the state's Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation
. While it is frequently referred to as a state park, the Adirondack Park has much more in common with a national forest
: it mixes private and public land and has year-round residents within its boundaries in long-established settlements. 'Adirondack Park' was Verplanck Colvin
's original term for the area; it and the park itself predate by several decades the formal establishment of state parks in New York.
(Interstate 90). Interstate 87 (the Adirondack Northway
) traverses the eastern side of the park between the Capital District of New York and Montreal
, Canada. The northern and western portions of the park are somewhat more remote, but can be reached from Interstate 81
, NY 3, NY 28, and US 11. The park is also served by the Adirondack Regional Airport
, Amtrak
's Adirondack Route
along the shores of Lake Champlain
, the Adirondack Scenic Railroad
from Utica to Lake Placid, and the Saratoga and North Creek Railroad
.
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. It is the largest park and the largest state-level protected area
Protected areas of the United States
The protected areas of the United States are managed by an array of different federal, state, tribal and local level authorities and receive widely varying levels of protection. Some areas are managed as wilderness, while others are operated with acceptable commercial exploitation. , according to...
in the contiguous United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and the largest National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
.
The park covers some 6100000 acres (24,685.8 km²), a land area greater than Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
, or than Yellowstone
Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park, established by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1872, is a national park located primarily in the U.S. state of Wyoming, although it also extends into Montana and Idaho...
, Yosemite
Yosemite National Park
Yosemite National Park is a United States National Park spanning eastern portions of Tuolumne, Mariposa and Madera counties in east central California, United States. The park covers an area of and reaches across the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountain chain...
, Grand Canyon
Grand Canyon National Park
Grand Canyon National Park is the United States' 15th oldest national park and is located in Arizona. Within the park lies the Grand Canyon, a gorge of the Colorado River, considered to be one of the Wonders of the World. The park covers of unincorporated area in Coconino and Mohave counties.Most...
, Glacier, and Great Smoky Mountains
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a United States National Park and UNESCO World Heritage Site that straddles the ridgeline of the Great Smoky Mountains, part of the Blue Ridge Mountains, which are a division of the larger Appalachian Mountain chain. The border between Tennessee and North...
National Parks
National Park Service
The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
combined.
Much of the land is directly controlled by the state's Forest Preserve
Forest Preserve (New York)
New York's Forest Preserve is all the land owned by the state within the Adirondack and Catskill parks, managed by its Department of Environmental Conservation. These properties are required to be kept "forever wild" by Article 14 of the state constitution, and thus enjoy the highest degree of...
, but more than half the land within the Adirondack Park is privately owned, including several villages and hamlets.
Park boundaries
The Adirondack Park boundary, commonly referred to as the 'Blue LineBlue Line (New York State)
The Blue Line is the term used in New York state for the boundaries of the Adirondack and Catskill parks, within which can be found the state's Forest Preserve...
,' contains the entire Adirondack Mountain range, as well as some surrounding areas, all within the state of New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. The park includes all of Hamilton
Hamilton County, New York
Hamilton County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. It is named after Alexander Hamilton, the only member of the New York State delegation who signed the United States Constitution in 1787 and later the first United States Secretary of the Treasury. Its county seat is Lake Pleasant...
and Essex
Essex County, New York
Essex County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 39,370. Its name is from the English county of Essex. Its county seat is Elizabethtown...
counties, as well as considerable portions of Clinton
Clinton County, New York
Clinton County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 82,128. Its name is in honor of the first Governor of New York as a state, George Clinton. Its county seat is Plattsburgh.-History:...
, Franklin
Franklin County, New York
Franklin County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 51,599. It is named in honor of American Founding Father Benjamin Franklin...
, Fulton
Fulton County, New York
Fulton County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 55,531. Its name is in honor of Robert Fulton, who is widely credited with developing the first commercially successful steamboat...
, Herkimer
Herkimer County, New York
Herkimer County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. It was created in 1791 north of the Mohawk River out of part of Montgomery County. As of the 2010 census, the population was 64,519. It is named after General Nicholas Herkimer, who died from battle wounds in 1777 after taking part...
, St. Lawrence
St. Lawrence County, New York
St. Lawrence County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 111,944. The county seat is Canton. The county is named for the Saint Lawrence River, which in turn was named for the Catholic saint on whose Feast day the river was discovered by...
, and Warren
Warren County, New York
Warren County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. It is part of the Glens Falls, New York, Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2010 census, the population was 65,707. It is named in honor of General Joseph Warren, an American Revolutionary War hero of the Battle of Bunker Hill...
counties and small portions of Lewis
Lewis County, New York
As of the census of 2000, there were 26,944 people, 10,040 households, and 7,309 families residing in the county. The population density was 21 people per square mile . There were 15,134 housing units at an average density of 12 per square mile...
, Oneida
Oneida County, New York
Oneida County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 234,878. The county seat is Utica. The name is in honor of the Oneida, an Iroquoian tribe that formerly occupied the region....
, Saratoga
Saratoga County, New York
Saratoga County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 219,607. It is part of the Albany-Schenectady-Troy Metropolitan Statistical Area. The county seat is Ballston Spa...
, and Washington
Washington County, New York
Washington County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. It is part of the Glens Falls, New York, Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2010 census, the population was 63,216. It was named for the Revolutionary War general George Washington...
counties as well. (The Clinton County towns of Altona
Altona, New York
Altona, New York may refer to either:* Altona , New York, located in Clinton County or* Altona , New York, located within the Town of Altona....
and Dannemora
Dannemora (town), New York
Dannemora is a town in Clinton County, New York, United States. The population was 4,898 at the 2010 census. The name is reportedly from a locale in Sweden.The Town of Dannemora contains a village also called Dannemora...
, despite being entirely within the park boundary, are specifically excluded from the park by statute, due to the large prison facilities in both towns.)
Not all of the land within the park is owned by the state, although new sections are frequently purchased or donated. State land comprises 2700000 acres (10,926.5 km²), about 45% of the park's area, including the highest peaks
High Peaks
The Adirondack High Peaks is the name given to 46 mountain peaks in the Adirondack Mountains of New York, USA that were originally believed to comprise all of the Adirondack peaks higher than 4,000 feet . However, later surveying showed that four of the peaks in the group are actually under this...
in New York State, as well as Mount Marcy
Mount Marcy
Mount Marcy is the highest point in New York State, with an elevation of . It is a popular destination for hikers due to its stature and great views, and the peak can get very crowded in the summer months...
, the highest elevation in the state. About 1 million acres (4,046.9 km²) of this is classified as wilderness, with most of the remainder managed under the somewhat less stringent wild forest classification. Village
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
s and hamlet
Hamlet (place)
A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...
s comprise less than 1% of the area of the park; the remaining area of more than 3 million acres (12,140.6 km²) is privately held but is generally sparsely developed. There is often no clear demarcation between state, private, and wilderness lands in the park. Signs marking the Adirondack Park boundary can be found on most of the major roads in the region, but there are no entrance gates and no admission fee.
History
Mohawk nation
Mohawk are the most easterly tribe of the Iroquois confederation. They call themselves Kanien'gehaga, people of the place of the flint...
until at least 1720. A sedentary agrarian democratic society before Contact, they controlled the eastern part of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy or Six Nations. The Mohawk population had already been decimated by European diseases when they were largely driven out of their homeland by foreign European settlers. Although the Confederacy was divided, most of the Iroquois sided with the British during the American Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
. After the war, most of the Iroquois land which fell within the American border was forcefully signed over through treaties or seized outright. During the 19th century, the U.S. Government forced most of the Iroquois off their traditional territory into reservations in the Midwest. Many escaped to Canada, where they were granted land in the British colony of Upper Canada
Upper Canada
The Province of Upper Canada was a political division in British Canada established in 1791 by the British Empire to govern the central third of the lands in British North America and to accommodate Loyalist refugees from the United States of America after the American Revolution...
, modern day Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
. Citizens of the Mohawk Nation, numbering around 125,000 today, now live mostly north of the Saint Lawrence River in Canada along with the other member nations of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy
Iroquois
The Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an association of several tribes of indigenous people of North America...
. The Iroquois are now in the midst of land claims proceedings over parts of the state of New York.
The thinking that was to lead to the creation of the park first appeared in George Perkins Marsh
George Perkins Marsh
George Perkins Marsh , an American diplomat and philologist, is considered by some to be America's first environmentalist, although "conservationist" would be more accurate...
's Man and Nature
Man and Nature
Man and nature; or, Physical geography as modified by human action is a book written by George Perkins Marsh in 1864.It is one of the first works to document the effects of human action on the environment and it helped to launch the modern conservation movement. Marsh argued that ancient...
, published in 1864. Marsh argued that deforestation could lead to desertification: referring to the clearing of once lush lands surrounding the Mediterranean, he asserted "the operation of causes set in action by man has brought the face of the earth to a desolation almost as complete as that of the moon."
The idea for the park itself first occurred to surveyor Verplanck Colvin
Verplanck Colvin
Verplanck Colvin was a lawyer, author, illustrator and topographical engineer whose understanding and appreciation for the environment of the Adirondack Mountains led to the creation of New York's Forest Preserve and the Adirondack Park....
in 1870, while taking in the view from atop Seward Mountain
Seward Mountain (New York)
Seward Mountain is a mountain located in Franklin County, New York, of which it is the highest point.Seward Mtn. is named after William H. Seward , Governor of New York , and United States Secretary of State ....
. He wrote to the state government that action was necessary to protect the forests or it would be wasted, which would lead to the drying up of the water needed to keep the Erie Canal
Erie Canal
The Erie Canal is a waterway in New York that runs about from Albany, New York, on the Hudson River to Buffalo, New York, at Lake Erie, completing a navigable water route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes. The canal contains 36 locks and encompasses a total elevation differential of...
in operation. Three years later he was appointed to a committee formed to consider how to do this.
While his term 'Adirondack Park' led to some derision and fears from longtime residents of the area that they might be bought out and evicted, proponents of the idea began to use 'Adirondack Forest Preserve' instead. Both terms continue in use to this day, with the former referring to the land inside the Blue Line and the latter to that portion owned by the state.
In 1878, Seneca Ray Stoddard
Seneca Ray Stoddard
Seneca Ray Stoddard was an American landscape photographer known for his photographs of New York's Adirondack Mountains. He was also a naturalist, a writer, a poet, an artist, and a cartographer. His writings and photographs helped to popularize the Adirondacks.Stoddard was born at Wilton, in...
produced a topographical survey of the Adirondacks that was influential in the creation of the Park.
Serious efforts to protect this land began in 1882, when businessmen in New York began to be concerned about the effects of widespread logging. Without trees, the many steep slopes on the mountains in the region were likely to erode, and the silt from the slopes could conceivably have silted up the Erie Canal and the Hudson
Hudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
itself, choking off New York State’s economic backbone.
In 1885, legislation declared that the land in the Adirondack Park and the Catskill Park was to be conserved and never put up for sale or lease. The park was established in 1892, due to the activities of Colvin and other conservationists. The park was given state constitutional protection in 1894, so that the state-owned lands within its bounds would be protected forever ('forever wild'). The part of the Adirondack Park under government control is referred to as the Adirondack Forest Preserve. Further, this became a National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
in 1963.
On September 18, 2008, The Nature Conservancy
The Nature Conservancy
The Nature Conservancy is a US charitable environmental organization that works to preserve the plants, animals, and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive....
purchased Follensby Pond - about 14600 acres (59.1 km²) of private land inside the park boundary - for $16 million. The group plans on selling the land to the state which will add it to the forest preserve once the remaining leases for recreational hunting and fishing on the property expire.
Comparison of selected data from 1900 and 2000
| Year: |
1900 | 2000 |
|---|---|---|
| Area of the Park | 2800000 acres (11,331.2 km²) | 6000000 acres (24,281.2 km²) |
| State-owned area | 1200000 acres (4,856.2 km²) (43%) | 2400000 acres (9,712.5 km²) (40%) |
| Travel time, New York City to Old Forge | 6.5 hours by railroad | 6 hours by car |
| Permanent park residents | 100,000 | 130,000 |
| Length of public road in the park | 4154 miles (6,685.2 km) plus 500 miles (804.7 km) of passenger railroad track | 6970 miles (11,217.1 km) |
| Industry | 92 sawmills, 15 iron mines, 10 pulp/paper mills | 40 sawmills |
Data compiled by the Adirondack Museum
Adirondack Museum
The Adirondack Museum, located on NY-30 in the hamlet of Blue Mountain Lake in Hamilton County, New York, is a museum dedicated to preserving the history of the Adirondacks...
, Blue Mountain Lake, New York
Blue Mountain Lake, New York
Blue Mountain Lake is a rural hamlet in the Town of Indian Lake of Hamilton County, New York located at the intersection of New York Routes 28 and 30 with a population of 146 according to the 2000 United States Census. Blue Mountain Lake also refers to the lake on the banks of which the village is...
Today
American Beaver
The North American Beaver is the only species of beaver in the Americas, native to North America and introduced to South America. In the United States and Canada, where no other species of beaver occurs, it is usually simply referred to as "beaver"...
, the fisher
Fisher (animal)
The fisher is a medium-size mammal native to North America. It is a member of the mustelid family, commonly referred to as the weasel family. The fisher is closely related to but larger than the American Marten...
, the American marten
American Marten
The American marten is a North American member of the family Mustelidae, sometimes referred to as the pine marten. The name "pine marten" is derived from the common but distinct Eurasian species of Martes...
, the moose
Moose
The moose or Eurasian elk is the largest extant species in the deer family. Moose are distinguished by the palmate antlers of the males; other members of the family have antlers with a dendritic configuration...
, the Canadian lynx, and the osprey
Osprey
The Osprey , sometimes known as the sea hawk or fish eagle, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey. It is a large raptor, reaching more than in length and across the wings...
. Not all of these restoration efforts have been successful yet. There are 53 species of mammals that live in the park.
The park has a year-round population of about 130,000 people in dozens of villages and hamlets
Hamlet (place)
A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...
. Seasonal residents number about 200,000, while an estimated 7-10 million tourists visit the park annually. It is estimated that 84 million people live within a day's drive of the park.
There are more than 3,000 lakes and 30,000 miles (48,000 km) of streams and rivers. Many areas within the park are devoid of settlements and distant from usable roads. The park includes over 2000 miles (3,218.7 km) of hiking trails; these trails comprise the largest trail system in the nation. With its combination of private and public lands, its large scale and its long history as a place people have tried to coexist with nature, many see the Adirondacks as a model for the ways natural areas with human populations can be protected into the future. There are parks in India and other countries that use the Adirondacks concept.
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation is responsible for the conservation, improvement, and protection of natural resources within the U.S. state of New York. It was founded in 1970, replacing the previous Conservation Department...
(DEC) is responsible for the care, custody, and management of the 2700000 acres (10,926.5 km²) of public (state) land in the Adirondack Forest Preserve. The Adirondack Park Agency
Adirondack Park Agency
The Adirondack Park Agency was created in 1971 by New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller as a governmental agency that performs long-range planning for the future of the Adirondack Park. It oversees development plans of private land-owners as well as activities within the Adirondack Forest Preserve...
(APA, created 1971) is a governmental agency that performs long-range planning for the future of the Adirondack State Park. It oversees development plans of private land-owners, as well as activities within the Forest Preserve
Forest Preserve (New York)
New York's Forest Preserve is all the land owned by the state within the Adirondack and Catskill parks, managed by its Department of Environmental Conservation. These properties are required to be kept "forever wild" by Article 14 of the state constitution, and thus enjoy the highest degree of...
. Development by private owners must be reviewed to determine if their plan is compatible with the park.
This system of management is distinctly different from New York's state park system, which is managed by different agencies, primarily the state's Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation
New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation
The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation operates :*168 state parks*35 state historic sites*76 developed beaches*53 water recreational facilities*27 golf courses*39 full service cottages*818 cabins...
. While it is frequently referred to as a state park, the Adirondack Park has much more in common with a national forest
United States National Forest
National Forest is a classification of federal lands in the United States.National Forests are largely forest and woodland areas owned by the federal government and managed by the United States Forest Service, part of the United States Department of Agriculture. Land management of these areas...
: it mixes private and public land and has year-round residents within its boundaries in long-established settlements. 'Adirondack Park' was Verplanck Colvin
Verplanck Colvin
Verplanck Colvin was a lawyer, author, illustrator and topographical engineer whose understanding and appreciation for the environment of the Adirondack Mountains led to the creation of New York's Forest Preserve and the Adirondack Park....
's original term for the area; it and the park itself predate by several decades the formal establishment of state parks in New York.
Accessibility
The southern side of the park is closer to major population centers, and lies just north of the New York State ThruwayNew York State Thruway
The New York State Thruway is a system of limited-access highways located within the state of New York in the United States. The system, known officially as the Governor Thomas E. Dewey Thruway for former New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey, is operated by the New York State Thruway Authority and...
(Interstate 90). Interstate 87 (the Adirondack Northway
Interstate 87
Interstate 87 is a Interstate Highway located entirely within New York State in the United States of America. I-87 is the longest intrastate Interstate highway in the Interstate Highway System. Its southern end is at the Bronx approaches of the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge in New York City...
) traverses the eastern side of the park between the Capital District of New York and Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Canada. The northern and western portions of the park are somewhat more remote, but can be reached from Interstate 81
Interstate 81
Interstate 81 is an Interstate Highway in the eastern part of the United States. Its southern terminus is at Interstate 40 in Dandridge, Tennessee; its northern terminus is on Wellesley Island at the Canadian border, where the Thousand Islands Bridge connects it to Highway 401, the main freeway...
, NY 3, NY 28, and US 11. The park is also served by the Adirondack Regional Airport
Adirondack Regional Airport
Adirondack Regional Airport is a public use airport located four nautical miles northwest of the central business district of Saranac Lake, in Franklin County, New York, United States. The airport is owned by the Town of Harrietstown...
, Amtrak
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...
's Adirondack Route
Adirondack (Amtrak)
The Adirondack is a passenger train operated daily by Amtrak between New York City and Montreal. The trip takes approximately 11 hours to cover a published distance of , traveling through the scenic Hudson Valley and the Adirondack Mountains...
along the shores of Lake Champlain
Lake Champlain
Lake Champlain is a natural, freshwater lake in North America, located mainly within the borders of the United States but partially situated across the Canada—United States border in the Canadian province of Quebec.The New York portion of the Champlain Valley includes the eastern portions of...
, the Adirondack Scenic Railroad
Adirondack Scenic Railroad
The Adirondack Scenic Railroad is a tourist railway located in Adirondack Park that runs during the summer months from Utica to Thendara, and from Saranac Lake to Lake Placid...
from Utica to Lake Placid, and the Saratoga and North Creek Railroad
Saratoga and North Creek Railroad
The Saratoga and North Creek Railroad is a shortline railroad that operates in the upper Hudson River region in New York State's Adirondack Mountains that began operation in July 2011....
.
See also
- Adirondack MountainsAdirondack MountainsThe Adirondack Mountains are a mountain range located in the northeastern part of New York, that runs through Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Hamilton, Herkimer, Lewis, Saint Lawrence, Saratoga, Warren, and Washington counties....
- Adirondack MuseumAdirondack MuseumThe Adirondack Museum, located on NY-30 in the hamlet of Blue Mountain Lake in Hamilton County, New York, is a museum dedicated to preserving the history of the Adirondacks...
- Adirondack Park Visitor Information CenterAdirondack Park Visitor Information CenterThe Adirondack Park Agency created two Visitor Interpretive Centers in the late 80s and early 90s. Due to state fiscal and budgetary constraints Gov. David Paterson marked them for closure effective Dec...
- Natural History Museum of the AdirondacksNatural History Museum of the AdirondacksThe Natural History Museum of the Adirondacks is a natural history museum that opened July 4, 2006 in New York state's Adirondack Park. The museum and the exhibits were designed by The Office of Charles P. Reay with the St. Louis architectural firm HOK...
- List of Wilderness Areas in the Adirondack Park
- List of New York state parks
External links
- Adirondack Regional Tourism Official Tourism Site
- Pure Adirondacks A Guide to the Adirondack Experience
- New York Adirondack Park Agency
- New York Department of Environmental Conservation
- The Adirondack Mountain Club
- The Adirondack Museum
- A Central Park for the World
- Protect the Adirondacks!
- The Adirondack Council
- The Natural History Museum of the Adirondacks
- The Wildlife Conservation Society's Adirondack Program