Adirondack Park

Autumn in the Friends Lake area of the Adirondacks.

Hiking on Mount Jo in the Adirondacks.

Canoeing on one of the many lakes in Adirondack Park.

Adirondack Park, operated by the state of New York, is about the size of Vermont and contains more than 6 million acres of private and public lands.

A little more than half of the park's total acreage in northern New York is public land.

Summits can reach 5,344 feet and there are 2,300 lakes, 1,200 miles of rivers, 3,000 ponds, 2,000 miles of hiking trails, resorts, nearly 100 campgrounds and ski areas.

There are 42 entrances to the park and two interpretive centers (at Paul Smiths and at Newcomb) that offer nature trails, educational programs, exhibits and traveler information services.

Adirondack Park was created in 1892 by the New York State Legislature, which enacted measures that guaranteed the state's public lands will remain forever wild.

The park has expansive blocks of backcountry interspersed with private homes, villages and tracts of corporate forest lands under active management.

Interstate Route 87 passes through the Adirondack Park along its eastern side, originating in the Albany area and continuing north to the Canadian border. There are more than 40 other roads entering the park. As a result, there is no "entrance gate," and no admission fee. Fees apply at state campgrounds, but hiking, canoe and boat access on state lands are free.

The Adirondacks are home to black bears, white-tailed deer, common loons, mergansers, bald eagles, beavers, coyotes, fishers, bobcats, brook and lake trout, land-locked salmon and more.

Beginning in 1981, several moose have wandered into the Adirondacks from Canada and Vermont. A few are still here and some have produced young. A number of the new arrivals are being collared with radio monitors, and studies are being made to determine whether a large, self-sustaining moose population can survive in the Adirondacks.

Park forests are comprised of hardwoods and softwoods, including maple, black cherry, beech, balsam fir, hemlock, Scotch and red pine and spruces of several varieties.

Woodland wildflowers such as showy ladyslippers bloom in the spring, while many waterways are graced with white and yellow water lilies throughout the summer.

There are several alpine summits in the Adirondacks where rare plants thrive under adverse conditions. Hikers are cautioned to stay on paths or bare rocks when visiting these summits.

The Adirondacks are part of the Canadian Shield. Contrary to popular belief, these mountains are not old, worn down peaks, but relatively young mountains born as a result of orogeny, or uplift, followed by etching and carving by mile-high glaciers. Scientists believe there is a geologic "hotspot" beneath the Adirondacks that is causing continuing uplift. The mountains continue to grow at the rate of 1.5 millimeters annually.

While the mountains themselves are young, the rock of which most are formed, anorthosite, is among the oldest of the various types found on earth.

Both visitor centers are open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free. The center in Paul Smiths is on Route 30, 12 miles north of Saranac Lake. The center in

Newcomb is on Route 28N, 12 miles east

of Long Lake.