History, Natural History & the Arts
As part of its ongoing effort to welcome hikers to the “Home of the High Peaks,” the Town of Keene will be starting its hiker shuttle to the Garden trailhead at 7 am, this Saturday, July 17, 2021.
This town service gives hikers access to one of the most popular daily and overnight hiking areas in the Adirondacks – for only $10. [Read more…] about High Peaks Keene Hiker Shuttle Restarting Saturday
Memorial Day Weekend is one of the biggest hiking weekends each year in the Adirondacks. Trailhead parking areas will fill up early and overflow crowds are expected throughout the High Peaks Wilderness Area.
In an effort to help disperse crowds beyond the High Peaks Wilderness Area to lesser used and known trails and hikes across the Adirondacks, Protect the Adirondacks has published online trail guides to 100 terrific destinations throughout the Adirondack Park. These online trail guides provide maps and information for 100 trails in all corners of the Adirondacks Park. [Read more…] about 100 Adirondack Hikes to Avoid Weekend Crowds
The institution of a permit system at the Ausable Club’s Adirondack Mountain Reserve surprised and confused some hikers and would-be hikers. Many didn’t realize that third most popular High Peaks Wilderness Area access point, through the Club’s lands in the Upper Ausable Valley, was privately owned.
A similar situation holds at the Johns Brook Valley, another popular access point just northwest. That area is owned by the Adirondack Mountain Club (ADK), it faces similar parking challenges and is just as susceptible to a future permit system. [Read more…] about Adirondack Park Permits: Could Johns Brook Valley Be Next? Some History
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is urging hikers to postpone hikes on trails above 2,500 feet until high elevation trails have dried and hardened. As snow and ice continue to melt at high elevations, steep trails can pose a danger to hikers due to thick ice and deep, rotten snow. Thin soils are susceptible to erosion and sensitive alpine vegetation can be easily damaged. [Read more…] about DEC Issues Adirondack Mud Season Trails Advisory
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the Ausable Club have announced a pilot reservation system to access the Club’s private lands, the Adirondack Mountain Reserve (AMR). Since 1978 the State has held a conservation easement on Club/Reserve lands which allows limited access to some of the more popular places in the Adirondack Park’s High Peaks Wilderness Area.
A press release from DEC cited “reliable access” and public safety along Route 73 among the reasons for the change. The pilot program is slated to run for three years according to DEC. [Read more…] about DEC, Private Club Piloting High Peaks Hiker Reservation System
The High Peaks Strategic Planning Advisory Group (HPAG) has submitted its final report on promoting sustainable recreation in the Adirondack Park to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Basil Seggos.
Comprised of various stakeholders, including some with expertise in local government, recreation, natural resource protection, business, and tourism, in 2019 the HPAG was tasked with providing DEC with recommendations on how to address critical issues associated with increased public use of High Peaks resources in order to protect these areas in the short and long term, as well as for future generations. [Read more…] about High Peaks Advisory Group Submits Final Report
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced that backcountry downhill skiers, snowboarders, and others who may traverse slides or steep, open terrain in the High Peaks Region of the Adirondacks should be aware of and prepared for avalanche conditions.
The Adirondack Mountain Club has closed Adirondak Loj and the High Peaks Information Center, both at Heart Lake in the High Peaks, indefinitely over COVID concerns.
[Read more…] about Adirondack Avalanche Warning, Adirondak Loj, Information Center Closed
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Forest Rangers respond to search and rescue incidents in the Adirondacks. Working with other state agencies, local emergency response organizations and volunteer search and rescue groups, Forest Rangers locate and extract lost, injured or distressed people.
What follows is a report, prepared by DEC, of recent missions carried out by Forest Rangers. [Read more…] about Man Rescued After 30-Foot Fall At Giant Mountain, Adirondack High Peaks
The Open Space Institute (OSI) has announced the permanent protection of forested land in the Towns of Chesterfield and Lewis in Essex County. [Read more…] about 2,200 Acres Protected In Split Rock Wildway, Eastern Adirondacks
The Adirondacks are prone to powerful windstorms, isolated tornadoes, and occasional hurricanes, derechos, and microbursts. Perhaps the second most destructive of these in modern Adirondack history (next to the 1998 Ice Storm) occurred in November, 1950. [Read more…] about Remembering The Big Blowdown of 1950