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Julie Goodblood Clark: Whiteface in the morning sun. Taken from Rt 86. Become a fan of Adirondack.net on Facebook, submit your photo on our wall with #Adirondacks in the description & check weekly to see if yours was chosen.
The Adirondack Park
The Adirondack Park is a very unique parcel of land, and has been for hundreds of years. The Adirondacks are the only mountains in the eastern United States that are not geographically Appalachian. In the late 19th century, it was known as the most prestigious resort area in the country. In the 1900s, the Adirondacks became the only area in the western hemisphere to host two Winter Olympic Games. The Adirondack Park is the only wild lands preserve in the U.S whose fate is decided by the voters of NY, the state which it resides in.
Most of the Forest Preserve lands in the Adirondacks are classified as either Wilderness, Primitive, or Wild Forest.
With 6 million acres of Wilderness, Primitive, and Wild Forest Areas, there is virtually no limit on the enjoyment that can be found here. Hiking, Biking, Whitewater Rafting, Paddling, Fishing & Hunting, Skiing and Snowboarding are just a few of the favorites across the area, with many more activities available!
Adirondack Park History
The 6-million-acre Adirondack Park was established by the New York State Legislature in 1892, and has evolved in to a patchwork of public and private lands, where thousands of people live, work and play in a protected environment of mountains, forests and streams.
The private lands are primarily part of the the Adirondack Forest Preserve, a diverse system of State Lands created in 1885 by an act of the New York State Legislature as a conservation effort to stem widespread tree cutting that supported the many lumber, paper, leather tanning, and iron mining industries that predominated the 19th century landscape, as well as ensure the major transportation corridors of the day — the Hudson River and Erie Canal — would not suffer reduced flows from continued logging. This was one of the earliest acts of public land preservation in the nation.
In 1894, the Adirondack Forest Preserve was further strengthened by when these now often quoted words were added to the New York State Constitution:
Now that you have visited the website, visit the Adirondacks!