The Adirondacks, Please Remember to Do Your Part in Preserving These Lands
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OUTDOOR SAFETY AND ETIQUETTE ADIRONDACK FUN FACTS While enjoying the wonders of the Adirondacks, please remember to do your part in preserving these lands. By following the Leave No Trace Seven Principles, you can help ensure your own safety and protect the pristine beauty of the Adirondacks. 110 waterfalls, 2,000+ miles PLAN YOUR 1. PLAN AHEAD AND PREPARE 3,000 lakes, of trails, ADIRONDACK y Know the regulations and special concerns for the area you’ll visit. 1,400 primitive y Prepare for extreme weather, hazards, and emergencies. and 30,000 miles of ADIRONDACK tent sites, FOREST PRESERVE 2. TRAVEL AND CAMP ON DURABLE SURFACES rivers and streams y Durable surfaces include established trails and campsites, rock, gravel, dry grasses or snow. 200 lean-to ADVENTURE shelters MAP GUIDE y Good campsites are found, not made. Altering a site is not necessary. & 3. DISPOSE OF WASTE PROPERLY 200 peaks y Pack it in, pack it out. Inspect your campsite and rest areas for trash or spilled foods. Pack out all trash, leftover food, and litter. higher than y Deposit solid human waste in catholes dug 6 to 8 inches deep at least 200 feet from water, camp, and trails. Cover and disguise the cathole when finished. 3,000 feet in 4. LEAVE WHAT YOU FIND y Preserve the past: observe, but do not touch, cultural or historic structures and artifacts. elevation y Leave rocks, plants, and other natural objects as you find them. View From Mt. Arab Fire Tower y Avoid introducing or transporting non-native species. 78 trailered boat launches, 44 campgrounds, 44 day use areas y Do not build structures, furniture, or dig trenches. The 6-million-acre Adirondack Park is a unique mix of public and privately owned lands, with mountains, forests, lakes, 53 species rivers, and small towns and hamlets scattered throughout. The 5. MINIMIZE CAMPFIRE IMPACTS combination of more than 2.6 million acres of Forest Preserve y Where fires are permitted, use established fire rings or mound fires. of mammals, and more than 700,000 acres of privately owned lands under y Keep fires small. Use only sticks on the ground that can be broken by hand. conservation easements makes the Adirondacks the largest area of publicly protected lands east of the Mississippi River. y Burn all wood and coals to ash, put out campfires completely, then scatter cool ashes. WHITETAILWHITE DEERTAIL DEER BEAR BEAR 150+ species of The mountains are home to the headwaters of five major Common Loon watersheds, and the undeveloped natural landscape of the 6. RESPECT WILDLIFE breeding birds, Adirondacks is a haven for many plants, fish, and wildlife, some y Observe wildlife from a distance. Do not follow or approach them. of which are found exclusively in this area. y Never feed animals. Outdoor recreation and tourism are important to the 74 species of y Control pets at all times, or leave them at home. 20 fire towers, economies of the local communities, which are home to 130,000 permanent residents and 200,000 seasonal residents. butterflies and moths, Attracting 12 million visitors each year, the Adirondacks offers 7. BE CONSIDERATE OF OTHER VISITORS 2 locks, a range of recreation for every taste, from hiking, skiing, and y Respect other visitors and protect the quality of their experience. 35 species of CONNECT WITH NYSDEC: camping to fishing, hunting, and snowmobiling. Like a slower y Be courteous. Yield to other users on the trail. www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor pace? Try relaxing on a porch and watching the sun set over a 1 lighthouse reptiles and amphibians lake from the comfort of a classic Adirondack chair. Cindy Rodriguez credit: Photo Paul Smith’s College VIC y Let nature’s sounds prevail. Avoid loud voices and noises. Blue Mountain Lake GROUSEGROUSE FISHER FISHER WATCHABLE WILDLIFE ANIMAL TRACKS FISHING AND HUNTING CAMPING Want to hear woodland warblers, watch playful otters, or see signs of the elusive WHITE-TAILED EASTERN FISHING THE ADIRONDACKS CAMPING IN THE ADIRONDACKS GENERAL CAMPGROUND INFORMATION fisher? The Adirondacks contain a wide range of wildlife habitats where you In the Adirondacks, anglers can troll for lake From island camping to equestrian excursions, 518-457-2500 can spot these creatures and so many more. Add some of these popular wildlife DEER COYOTE WHITE trout, cast for bass or walleye, or fly fish for native each of DEC’s 44 Adirondack campgrounds www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/camping.html T viewing areas to your next visit: AIL DEER brook trout. The cold winters make for a long offer a unique experience regardless of age, WHITE ice fishing season as well. Here are some of the BEAR TAIL DEER interests, or outdoor skill level. NORTHEAST REGION WHITETAIL DEER BEAR fishing experiences found in the Adirondacks: WHITETAIL DEER White-Tailed Deer and Moose Eastern Coyote COYOTECOYOTE Cranberry LakeHARE has 70HARE miles of shoreline CAMPGROUND RESERVATIONS y Ausable Point BEAR BEAR from which you can fish for smallmouth and y The most commonly seen large-animalWHITE TtracksAIL DEER in The tracks of the eastern coyoteBEA areR similar to 1-800-456-CAMP (2267) Buck Pond medium-sized dog tracks, with four toe pads, claw largemouth bass, northern pike, black crappie, the Adirondacks, deer tracks are heart-shaped,BEAR https://newyorkstateparks.reserveamerica.com y Meadowbrook WHITETAIL DEER FISHER marks, and a rear pad. yellow perch, and brook trout. with a line down the middle.GROUSE Moose tracks are FISHER y Taylor Pond GROUSE BEAR Fulton Chain of Lakes offers eight lakes’ worth NORTHWEST REGION considerably largerWHITE versionsTAIL DEER of the same track. of fishing fun. Their deeper waters support lake y Wilmington Notch SNOWSHOE trout, rainbow trout, and Atlantic salmon, while y Cranberry Lake FISHER GROUSE Ausable Marsh GROUSE anglers targeting the shallower, warmer waters y Fish Creek Pond HARE HARE will find yellow perch, smallmouth bass, and COYOTE y Meacham Lake FISHERHARE GROUSE COYOTEGROUSE northern pike. SOUTHEAST REGION y Rollins Pond West Branch Ausable River is renowned for HUNTING AND TRAPPING y Crown Point Hunting and trapping have been part of the y Saranac Lake Islands HARE FISHER fly fishing for rainbow, brown, and brook trout. COYOTE FISHER Photo credit: D. Gordon E. Robertson, via D. Gordon credit: Photo Wikimedia Commons FISHER Catch-and-release sections and plenty of access Adirondack way of life since the first indigenous y Eagle Point people settled here. In the mid- to late-1800s, Varying/Snowshoe Hare HARE Fisher and American Marten through both Forest Preserve lands and private y Frontier Town TE SOUTHWEST REGION COYO The distinctive Y-shaped pattern of rabbit tracks The only difference in the tracks of these two large lands with public fishing rights make this a hunting also drew the first tourists to the GROUSE FISHER Adirondacks. Today, hunting still helps feed many y Alger Island y Lewey Lake y Hearthstone Point is created because the much larger back feet weasels found in the Adirondacks is the size, with popular and high-quality fishing experience. Gray Jay American Marten Pied-billed Grebe families and attracts those seeking the unique y Lake George Battleground Photo credit: USDA credit: Photo y y Photo credit: Mdf, via Wikimedia Commons credit: Photo Brown Tract Pond Limekiln Lake land ahead of the smaller front feet. The back feet fisher tracks being larger than the marten tracks. Pharaoh Lake Wilderness and the adjacent COYO WHITETAIL DEER BEAR experience of wilderness hunting. of the varying hare are even larger thanTE other Both show five toes on all feet, typically with claw Hammond Pond Wild Forest contain many y Caroga Lake y Little Sand Point y Lake George Islands (Glen, Long & Narrow FERD’S BOG, PIGEON LAKE WILDERNESS; TOWN OF INLET: Most of the Forest Preserve and many of the rabbits’, earning it another name: the snowshoe marks visible. The pattern is either a pair of paw remote waters with plentiful brook trout. Islands) Designated as an “Important Bird Area” by the National Audubon Society, this boreal bog is home to CO conservation easement lands are open to public y Eighth Lake y Moffitt Beach YOTE Great Sacandaga Lake is a great spot for finding y Lake Harris three-toed and black-backed woodpeckers, olive-sided and yellow-bellied flycatchers, northern parula hare. marks with one slightly in front of the other, or four hunting and trapping. Many serious big game walleye, but also contains other warmwater and y Forked Lake y Nicks Lake and palm warblers, Lincoln’s and swamp sparrows, and gray jays. With a short, 0.3-mile (one-way) trail prints in a repeated diamond-like pattern. hunters join hunting camps or camp in the y Lincoln Pond HARE that leads to a floating walkway and viewing platform, Ferd’s Bog is one of only a handful of publicly coldwater gamefish. y Golden Beach y Northampton Beach HARE backcountry via a free permit. y Luzerne accessible boreal bog habitats in New York State. Visit www.dec.ny.gov and search Adirondack BLACK Visit www.dec.ny.gov and search NYS Hunting & y Indian Lake Islands y Point Comfort Fishing, for more information. y Paradox Lake BEAR Trapping Regulations Guide, for big game, small MOOSE RIVER PLAINS WILD FOREST; TOWNS OF INLET AND INDIAN LAKE: y Lake Durant y Sacandaga y Putnam Pond The Limekiln Lake-Cedar River Road (the Moose River Plains Road) provides great access to this area game, waterfowl, and trapping seasons. y Lake Eaton y Tioga Point in the West Central Adirondacks. The area sustains healthy deer, bear, and moose populations with its y Rogers Rock low lying river valleys, hills and low mountains, and two 3,500-foot-high mountain summits.