Bikes, hikes, and plenty of fish!
Heat Up With Cool ADK Adventures
1.
Tupper's top family rides
Biking is a great way to explore our town from a different perspective. Biking might be an easier way to navigate town if you are traveling with kids, or throw them in the car and head out on an adventure-packed day! I tried to narrow down my favorite bike rides as best I could, and I ended up with these four.
2.
An Adirondack icon
Summer evenings in the Adirondacks wouldn’t be the same without the haunting wail of common loons. The nighttime crescendo is usually a surprise to first-time visitors because nothing sounds quite like it. There’s the crackling of the fire, the lapping of waves upon the rocky shoreline, the chirps and grunts of various frogs, and then a hollow, low tone cuts through it all, rising in pitch to a high note that echoes off the nearby mountains as it fades into the valleys.
3.
Magical family memories
School is out, you've saved up some vacation time, and now it's time to take an awesome family vacation, one that your family will remember for years to come. So pack your bathing suits, cameras, and hit the road to the Whiteface region this summer. We have so many family-friendly options for fun that you might not want to go home! Here are a few of our favorites.
4.
Blissful fishing
Give a girl a fish and you will feed her for a day. Teach a girl to fish and you will give her memories that last a lifetime. I have been fishing for as long as I can remember and probably even before that. Family vacations to Paradox Lake included my mom and dad, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins. When my father tried to find a small reprieve from the chaos of our extended family under one roof, I often hijacked his quiet mornings on the lake, tagging along with a red Mickey Mouse fishing pole. Little did either of us know that those mornings on the lake would change the rest of my life.
Learning to fish on Paradox, I watched my father reel in pickerel, rainbow trout, largemouth and smallmouth bass. We would talk as I waited for my bobber to plunge beneath the surface; the anticipation of catching a big one making it hard for a five-year old me to sit still. Most trips I was too impatient to appreciate the stillness of the mind that fishing brings. Combing through tackle boxes, slowly my own collection of lures, hooks, and sinkers began to grow. When other girls were learning to french braid, I was learning to bait a hook with the cool and wiggly earth worms we purchased from the Sunoco Station or the bait shop in Schroon Lake.
5.
Adventure on two wheels
The smooth roads, rolling forests, and blue lakes of the Fulton Chain Lakes offer everything a road cyclist could ask for in a great ride. But do you crave a bit of adventure? Well, you can have that, too.
This easily accessible area of the Central Adirondacks offers two different routes in particular that let you experience the best of the many lakes and scenic views in the area. They cover a lot of the same ground, but while one sticks to pavement, the other will take you down a gravel road that will put you and your skinny tires to the test.
6.
No boat, no problem
Visiting the Lake Champlain Region boat less doesn’t have to put a damper on your fishing urges. From Ticonderoga to Port Henry there is a treasure trove of stunning places to fish without a boat!
7.
Getting hooked
If you've been searching for something different to do in Northern New York, the bait is over (This expose is a great oppor-tuna-ty to showcase fish-related puns). With a genuine interest and keen sense of adventure, I recently set off to visit the state Department of Environmental Conservation's (DEC) Chateaugay Fish Hatchery, located about 15 miles east of Malone, just outside the town of Chateaugay.
8.
Short treks, big gain
Sometimes, it seems like the epic, day-long mountain adventures get all the attention. Starting a hike in the wee hours of the morning, though, isn’t always my idea of a good time. Don’t get me wrong — tackling one of the High Peaks is a thrill. But on this particular Saturday, with a taste of finally-it’s-summer in the air, the goal was to play outside and get my feet dirty without ending the day exhausted. So I set my sights on a short trek beneath thick, green canopy, a follow-up dip into a cliffside lake and a day-end reward of a hearty meal and cold beer.