Northville Placid Trail

[NPT Community Resources]

Northville Placid Trail Community Resources:

Our goal is to guide the NPT hiker to local businesses and other hiking information and resources that could be useful when planning a hike on the NPT in addition to providing timely hiking information on this website.

Pardon our dust - We'll probably be working on this section for a while. Have a suggestion
for a useful link to add here? Please contact us. We want this section to be helpful and thus
appreciate your help in making it so and will continue to add additional links and resources
that we think you will find value in. Thanks.

Community Information - These are the local communities along the NPT with links to their official websites.

Sacandaga Lake, NY - Regional guide to the Sacandaga Lake region, including local business directory, things to do around the lake, history, regional weather, community calendar of events and seasonal guides.
Northville, NY - Recreation/Tourism, Merchant Directory, History and more. Northville is the official southern terminus of the NPT.
Hamilton County Dept. of Economic Development and Tourism - Official site for Hamilton County, the birthplace of rustic Great Camp architecture and home to the Adirondack Museum, known as the Smithsonian of the Adirondacks. There are 750 miles of free snowmobile trails, hundreds of lakes, streams and waterfalls and unrivaled opportunities for birding and wildlife watching.
Piseco/Lake Pleasant/Speculator, NY - The NPT goes right through Piseco, NY with a 3 mile road walk. Lake Pleasant and Speculator are further east of Piseco but have more stores and accommodations. This site is operated by the Adirondacks Speculator Region Chamber of Commerce.
Blue Mountain Lake, NY - Blue Mountain Lake is a 3 mile hike on Route 28/30 from the NPT. There is a Post Office, gas/convenience store and an outfitter store.
Long Lake, NY - Official website for Long Lake with information about the area, lodging, restaurants, businesses and more. The Long Lake Tourism Department can be reached at 518-624-3077. Information about Long Lake can also be found on the Long Lake NY Wordpress Blog.
Lake Placid, NY - New York's Olympic Region is one of the great playgrounds of North America, offering year-round fun and excitement. Nestled in the northeastern portion of the Adirondack wilderness of New York State, the rugged mountain scenery, heavy winter snows, and a pleasant summer climate combine to make the Lake Placid region a popular tourist year-round resort. Two other good websites for information about Lake Placid, NY are the Lake Placid Area Guide and the Visitors Bureau's website.

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Business and Attraction Information - I'm a firm believer in supporting local businesses and urge you to help with the economic development of these areas by visiting these facilities when you can. I know they will appreciate it. Let them know you found out about them here. Thanks.

NPT Shuttle Service - Tom Haskins operates an NPT Shuttle. Email Tom and he will be able to respond with up-to-date information on rates, availability, and more information about shuttle service for the NPT hiker.

Northville, NY

Adirondack Country Store, 252 No. Main St., Northville, NY12134 -Since 1988, the Adirondack Country Store on No. Main St. in Northville has offered a diverse collection of Adirondack gifts, home decor and clothing. The extensive book collection includes the ADK Mt. Club (NPT) Guides and maps as well as numerous books on hiking, topo maps and general Adirondack books. Conveniently located across from the Grand Union for any last minute needs.

Upper Benson, NY

Trailhead Lodge, Upper Benson, NY - (Please note that the Lodge is not currently open this winter) The trailhead Lodge B & B is located in Upper Benson, within an easy hike of the Upper Benson trailhead register for the NPT. Situated at the southern end of New York's most pristine hiking trail, the Northville Placid Trail, it provides a perfect place for hikers to begin or finish their trips. I have stayed here numerous times on both the beginning of a hike north and after a hike southbound. The proprietors, John and Jane Washburn, are eager to make your stay as enjoyable as possible and also allow hikers to leave their cars at the Lodge rather than at the trailhead if you are concerned about potential vandalism while your car sits unattended.

Piseco, NY

Oxbow Inn, Piseco, NY - My favorite place on the NPT when I'm craving a good ol' burger and fries after eating trail food for several days. My favorite, the "Blue Mountain Burger" - a 1/2 pounder with blue cheese and bacon, along with a nice cold one. Just a short 3/4 mile walk east from the intersection of the NPT and Route 8 in Piseco.
Oxbow Lake Motel, Piseco, NY - The Oxbow Lake Motel is situated on New York State Route 8 approx. 1 mile east of the intersection of the NPT and Route 8 in Piseco. The motel offers affordable rentals by the night, weekend or longer periods. It is located next to the Oxbow Inn.
Casey's Corner, Piseco, NY - 518-548-3556, 1753 State Route 8, Piseco. Located within view of the NPT just east of the intersection of the NPT and Route 8, Piseco. The owner, Jaqui Casey, offers Pizza, Deli, Coffee, Snacks, Beer, Dairy, Tobacco, Gas, Kerosene, Diesel, Liquor. Open year round.
Irondequoit Inn, Piseco, NY - The Inn is located 100 yards off the trail - just west of the intersection of County Rd. 24 and Haskells Rd., and just west of the Piseco post office. It has accommodations ranging from a B & B Inn to cabins and campsites as well as a restaurant. They currently allow NPT hikers free use of a primitive campsite that also includes access to hot showers. They also will provide shuttle service if they have the time for the southern section of the NPT from Upper Benson to Lake Durant. Call them for more information - 518-548-5500
NY State Campgounds, Piseco, NY - There are two separate sections to the Little Sand Point Campgrounds which are located on Piseco Lake in Piseco, NY. These are located approx. 1 to 2 miles from the NPT and are located past the Irondequoit Inn and campgrounds west on Route 24, Old Piseco Rd., from where the NPT heads north on Haskells Road. I haven't stayed here but suggest you check out the Irondequoit Inn and their campground first (see above). Its closer and free.

Blue Mountain Lake, NY

NY State Campround, Lake Durant, Blue Mountain Lake, NY - Excellent campground. The NPT goes right through it. Whether you stay there or not, check out the hot showers in season. They are now free and although they are for campers to use I'm sure no one will bother you if you are merely hiking through and need a little clean-up for everyone's sake.
Blue Mountain Rest, Rt. 28/30, Blue Mountain Lake, NY - The adventure, charm and beauty of the Adirondacks at affordable rates, Blue Mountian Rest is a popular travel destination in the Adirondacks.
Ol' Station, Convenience Store, corner of Route 28/30 and 28N, Blue Mountain Lake - A small gas/convenience store located approx. 3 miles from the intersection of the NPT and Route 28/30. Open seasonally. Phone: 518-352-9010
Blue Mountain Outfitters, Blue Mountain Lake, NY - Blue Mountain Outfitters is located in the hamlet of Blue Mountain Lake where you will find a full retail store and canoe, kayak and guideboat livery located on the shore of Blue Mountain Lake. Whether you are on the water or in the woods for a day or for an extended trip, they offer everything you need for your outdoor enjoyment. Also open seasonally.
LaPrairies Lakefront Cottages, Blue Mountain Lake, NY - These charming lakefront cottages have a magnificent view of the surrounding mountains and lake, knotty pine walls, wool braided rugs and hand quilted quilts.
Adirondack Museum, Blue Mountain Lake, NY - the Adirondack Museum is renowned for the breadth of its collections that include historic artifacts, photographs, archival materials, and fine art documenting the Adirondack region's past. Twenty-two exhibit spaces and galleries tell the stories of the men and women who have lived, worked and played in the largest wilderness area east of the Mississippi River. Also open seasonally.

Long Lake, NY

Corner Motel, Long Lake, NY - Located just a couple hundred yards south of the corner of Routes 28N and 30 North across from the Long Lake Post Office. Pet friendly for you dog lovers. Decent place to stay. Mail your supplies to the PO or direct to the motel and spend a night at the Corner Motel. For more information about the owner, Fred Wilson, here is a link to a blog by Elliot and Roderick Young from their bicycle trip across the USA. Scroll down to the bottom half of the page for a report from their stay at the Corner Motel in 2010. We stayed there 12/3/2010 with our dog, Fletcher. This is an old motel built in the 1950's but it is clean and reasonable and an easy 1.5 mile hike from the NPT.
Stewart's Convenience Store, Long Lake, NY - located at the corner of Routes 28N and 30 North approx. 1.5 miles from the NPT.
Hoss's Country Corner, Long Lake, NY - A nice store for groceries, gifts, camping and hiking supplies. About a 1.5 mile hike from the NPT at the corner of Routes 28N and 30. They also have an awesome book store with hiking guides, maps, and more. Hoss's also rents and sells bear canisters. They aren't required on the NPT but there are bears, squirrels, chipmunks, raccoons, and other critters who would love to share your food.
Shamrock Motel and Cottages, Long Lake, NY - I've stayed here many times over the years. Clean rooms, reasonable rates. No dogs unless they know you. This is a newer motel than the Corner Motel and another 1/2 to 3/4 mile walk past the Post Office. Call to see if they will allow a dog.
Long Lake Dinner/Owl's Head Pub, Long Lake, NY - A favorite place for breakfast for us but great anytime of the day.
Adirondack Hotel, Long Lake, NY - I've stopped here to dine numerous times and have never been disappointed. In fact, I even once bribed a fellow camper at Lake Durant State campgrounds, by buying him his dinner, during one of my thru-hikes of the NPT. I really needed comfort food after eating freeze-dried meals for 10 days.
The Cellar Restaurant & Pub, Long Lake, NY - Another favorite place for breakfast - great food, reasonable price, super staff

Lake Placid, NY

Bookstore Plus, Lake Placid, NY - Good source for the ADK NPT Guidebook and National Geographic Maps as well as other great books on hiking and the Adirondack Mountains. Among my favorites are three books by Larry Weill, a former Wilderness Park Ranger on the Northville Placid Trail who relates stories from his several years patrolling the NPT from Piseco to Wakely Dam. The three books are: "Excuse Me, Sir...Your Socks Are On Fire"; "Pardon Me, Sir...There's a Moose In Your Tent"; and his latest written with his daughter, Kelly Weill, "Forgive Me, Ma'am...Bears Don't Wear Blue."
Art Devlin's Olympic Motor Inn, Lake Placid, NY - We have stayed here many times with our dog, Fletcher. Really nice rooms, continental breakfast, reasonable rates, convenient location, and dogs allowed. Can't ask for more than that.
T-Max N Topos Hostel, Lake Placid, NY - Formerly the Jackrabbit Hostel - New owners, David and Terri, are awesome hosts. Best hiker rates around. Expert hiking advise - local shuttle service.

Tupper Lake, NY

The Wild Center, Tupper Lake, NY - Natural History Museum of the Adirondacks - Located no where near the NPT but on the way between trail heads and well worth visiting. Tupper Lake is located north of Long Lake and West of Saranac Lake. The Wild Center is a not-for-profit organization overseen by a Board of Trustees with the assistance of its Advisory Board. The Center is located on a 31-acre site in the Town of Tupper Lake, NY near the geographic center of the Adirondack Park. The Adirondacks are unique in the world. Surrounded by people, they house great expanses of nature interspersed with small towns and communities. They can be an example for a future where man and the rest of the natural world find better ways to coexist. The center has indoor and outdoor exhibits as well as hiking trails.

Guide Services -

Adirondack Foothills Guide Service - Sheila Young - NYS Lic. #1747 - Established in 1982, Adirondack Foothills Guide Service is a family-owned and operated outdoor guide service. Sonny and Sheila Young, both New York State Licensed Outdoor Guides, have lived and worked in the Saranac Lake area of the Adirondack Park since 1989. Both have served as President of the New York State Outdoor Guides Association, and have won several awards in service to that organization. They are founding members and trustees of the Search and Rescue of the Northern Adirondacks team. Sonny and Sheila are Certified Interpretive Guides, credentialled by the National Association for Interpretation, providing leadership and excellence in the advancement of heritage interpretation as a profession.
Muddy Boots Wilderness Guide Service - Bill Luppino - 315-360-0359 - email - PO box 375, Mohawk, NY 13407 - Bill is a licensed guide and a member of the ADK Mountain Club and NYSOGA, The NY State Outdoor Guides Assoc. (See below for more info on NYSOGA). He guides/hikes throughout the ADK's but focuses on the Southern ADK's especially in the winter. Trip offerings include day hikes, multi-day backpacking trips, camping and canoe trips during the warm seasons. In the winter months offerings include snowshoe trips, cross country skiing and winter camping.
New York State Outdoor Guide Association - New York State offers the absolute finest in Licensed Professional Guides through NYSOGA, the New York State Outdoor Guides Association. Guided hunting, fishing and camping trips are still available, as are a wealth of other opportunities including nature studies, whitewater activities, rock climbing and numerous winter recreational pursuits. Employing a professional guide can afford the vacationer the opportunity to utilize their time most efficiently. Gary Ives of the N.Y.S. Dept. of Environmental Conservation explains the benefits of hiring a licensed guide,"Guides can save you the pitfalls of learning by trial and error in a new country. Not only can they help you on where to go, but also on where not to go."
If you are a NYS Licensed Guide who specializes in guiding on the Northville Placid Trail, please let us know as we will add a link to you and your website here.

Adirondack Mountain Club - Official website of the Adirondack Mountain Club.
Adirondack Explorer - The Adirondack Explorer is a nonprofit magazine supported by contributors, readers, and advertisers, and devoted to exploring, protecting, and unifying the Adirondack Park. I personally subscribe to this magazine and highly recommend that you do too.
Discover the Adirondacks Series - With the publication of the first book in 1974, the Discover the Adirondacks series of eleven four-season, multi-use guides has allowed the outdoor explorer to discover all of the Adirondack Park, from the most popular trails to the most hidden destinations. These are the essential guides for anyone with a desire to experience a wilderness adventure in the Adirondack Forest Preserve. Bill Ingersoll has hiked and backpacked in the wildernesses of Montana, Wyoming, New Mexico, and California, but feels most at home in the grand forests of the Adirondacks. He became a co-author for the Discover series in 2000 and has now become the series' publisher.
Adirondack Life Magazine - Adirondack Life is a regional magazine covering the six-million-acre Adirondack Park of northern New York State. It explores the region's people, places, history, wildlife, environment and public issues, and provides readers with ideas for activities and outdoor recreation throughout the vast park.
Central NY Hiking website - Very nice website with lots of information about many different hiking opportunities in New York State.
Adirondack Forum - This is a forum operated and funded by the ADKhighpeaks Foundation, a non-profit charitable organization with the purpose to provide financial assistance to individuals or organizations whose activities provide a benefit to the New York State Forest Preserve and the people that use it. There is a Northville Placid thread under the "Hiking and Skiing the Adirondacks" section. NPT hikers frequently use this forum to report their hikes and to obtain information from other members of the forum about hiking the NPT.
Adirondack High Peaks Forum - This is a forum similar to the Adirondack Forum where members share valuable information about hiking including the Northville Placid Trail.
Adirondack Almanack - Now in its fifth year, Adirondack Almanack is the work of some 20+ veteran local writers, journalists, and outdoor enthusiasts from around the Adirondack region and beyond. John Warren founded Adirondack Almanack in 2005 and oversees the day-to-day operations of the site. Check it out for information, essays and links about Adirondack Culture, Politics, History, and the Environment. The sire also contains a section, "Current Conditions in the Adirondack Park".
WNBZ Radio - On September 11, 2007 WNBZ marked its 80th anniversary of broadcasting to residents of Saranac Lake, the Tri-Lakes and beyond. The station first went on the air on September 11, 1927 through the efforts of Earl J. Smith and William Mace. Located at 107 Broadway, WNBZ went live with a power of just ten watts. A lot has changed since then, but the mission remains the same - WNBZ is here to serve the community.
North County Public Radio - Based in Canton, NY, in St. Lawrence County, NCPR operates a network of 32 transmitters broadcasting to the entire Adirondack North Country, western Vermont and southeastern Ontario. The commercial-free format includes a wide variety of programs from National Public Radio and more.
New York Outdoors Blog - A blog by well-known authors Rich and Sue Freeman. They have written and published 14 outdoor recreation guidebooks for Central and Western New York State. They’ve criss-crossed the region in search of hiking trails, biking trails, trails to waterfalls, cross-country ski trails, snowshoeing trails, and backpacking trails. The result was a company they formed to formalize their “play time” called Footprint Press.
The Wilderness Photography of Gary F. Dean - Gary's passion is to capture the beauty of New York State on film. He is a freelance photographer who travels to some of the remotest areas, to bring back photographs that capture the essence of New York's wilderness.
Parks and Trails New York - Parks & Trails New York is the only organization working statewide to protect New York's parks and help communities create new parks. Founded in 1985, Parks & Trails New York has grown from a small group of park advocates to over 5000 members and supporters from every region of the state.

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