Past Lake George, US 9 enters the Adirondack Park. The next of the highway runs through the eastern section of the largest protected area east of the Mississippi, with vast tracts of Forest Preserve kept "forever wild" per the state constitution. Accordingly, US 9 remains a two-lane rural road, often very close to the Adirondack Northway, a section of Interstate 87, throughout the park. Development, traffic and population are minimal, the surrounding land is heavily wooded and the two roads cover very long distances between very small towns.