Adirondack Ventures explores the early man-made features that were introduced into New York States great mountain and lake region. With some 200 rare photographs, this book recounts the memories of those who took part in the development of the Adirondacks, an area that covers one quarter of the state. To open up these millions of acres, pathways and roadways and, later, small airports and railways were constructed. To enhance the use and enjoyment of the wilderness, bikeways and ski slopes, as well as amusement parks and golf courses, were built.

Archival photographs and text describe the history, social life and customs of the Adriondack Mountain region in New York.

The Adirondack region evolved over years from vast, impassable wilderness to a land of logging camps, tanneries, sawmills, and small settlements. By the end of the 19th century, the area grew again, becoming a tourist destination famed for its great hotels, quaint inns, cottages, and rustic cabins. The hotels and inns spread throughout the Adirondacks, beginning after the Civil War and continuing during the Gilded Age between World Wars I and II. The region drew the rich and famous, as well as workers and families escaping the polluted cities. This volume contains 200 vintage images of those famed accommodations that catered to years of Adirondack visitors. Most of the buildings seen in this book no longer exist, having been destroyed by fires, the wrecking ball, or simply forgotten over time. Adirondack Hotels and Inns provides a timeless look at the vacation retreats of the past.

The essential companion to the Adirondacks and beyond Returning in its eighth edition, this fully updated guide provides details of Adirondack Park’s history and geography, as well as the cultural, lodging, dining, and recreational opportunities that abound here and in its gateway cities (including Saratoga Springs and Glens Falls). Complete with reviews and recommendations from authors immersed in the region, detailed maps and gorgeous photography throughout, this is an invaluable guide for your next trip.

An illustrated travel guide to the Adirondacks that includes listings of accommodations and restaurants, tourist sites, entertainment and shopping, and special events, along with maps and a history of the region.

A comprehensive guide to the Adirondacks and beyond Completely updated, now in full color, this guide provides details of Adirondack Park’s history and geography as well as the cultural, lodging, dining, shopping, and recreational opportunities that abound here and in its gateway cities (including Saratoga Springs and Glens Falls). Full of unbiased critical opinions and candid reviews from an author who is immersed in the region; up-to-date, detailed maps; and gorgeous photos throughout—this is an invaluable guide for your next trip.

New York State’s famous Adirondack landscape is immense, spanning over six million acres of public forests, lakes, rivers, mountains, and private lands. In full color featuring hundreds of detailed maps and photos, Mapping the Adirondacks celebrates it all with the first clear account of the original surveyor who explored and fully comprehended it—Verplanck Colvin. “Everywhere below,” Colvin wrote, “were lakes and mountains so different from all maps, yet so immovably true.”His monumental accomplishment helped motivate the citizens of New York in 1894 to legally protect it for generations to come. As an eighteen-year-old budding travel writer, explorer and surveyor, Colvin began personally mapping a half-million acres of true Adirondack wilderness in 1865. Then, shortly after the state began partially funding his audacious project, Colvin reinvented himself as the “Superintendent" of a “Survey of the Adirondack Wilderness” and hired another equally intrepid surveyor to help—his ever-dependable friend Mills Blake. They extended the scope and granularity of their survey several times, hired hundreds of Adirondack guides and other talented people to assist, and devoted twenty-eight years to the challenge of professionally surveying the Adirondacks. Author Thatcher Hogan has carefully gleaned narratives and illustrations from Colvin’s notoriously dense annual reports and reassembled them with additional historic photographs to chronicle a compelling, true story of rugged exploration. After a novice’s explanation of Colvin and Blake’s surveying terms, the book follows their progress with one hundred of Hogan’s new maps and summit views. The Adirondack landscape remains formidable and fascinating—many of the views are those that Colvin first discovered. Along the way, Hogan uncovers a story of intense ambition, physical hardships, and a weatherproof friendship. The state’s meager investment in their work paid off many times over. Colvin and Blake’s surveys provided New York with the incontrovertible evidence needed to prevail in hundreds of complex Adirondack land disputes. Most significantly, it enabled the state to consolidate and expand its extraordinary Adirondack Forest Preserves—the prized mountains, forests, and waters of today’s beloved Park.