Related: RASTA’s Support Backcountry Skiing in Vermont
The expansive trail and lodging system would be the first of its kind and would connect the 5 townships of Indian Lake, Long Lake, Newcomb, North Hudson, and Minerva. So far, the plan is only in the concept phase and a number of things need to happen before skiers, canoers, and hikers find themselves traversing the Adirondacks in what would be the longest single hut-to-hut system on the east coast.
“The vast, six-million acre Adirondack Park – with its peaks and valleys, summits and fire towers, lakes and ponds, trails and forest tracts, rivers and streams, bustling villages and quiet hamlets, all spread throughout its patchwork quilt of public and private land – could have scores of lodgings linked to hundreds of miles of community-based trails. Imagine the possibilities!”– N.Y. D.E.C.
Hut To Hut Stats:
- 154 miles of rivers
- 485,000 acres of Forest Preserve Land
- 341,000 acres of private land
- 26 Multi Day Routes from three to seventeen nights, including paddling trips
- 49 Proposed Lodgings – 34 on Private Land, 7 on Easements, 2 on the Forest Preserve and 6 “Undetermined”
“Lodging proposed on private land as an integral component of any of the proposed routes will only be implemented based on the interest and cooperation of willing landowners” – N.Y. D.E.C.
$25 Million of economic stimulus – the plan points out that 4 “Eco-Lodges” along 80 miles of trail operated by Maine Huts and Trails has generated $25 million across 2 counties and in just 7 years.
Cream of the Crop: Route 21
“A 17-night, 16-day adventure. The route, comprised of 6 sections with nights in each of 6 Adirondack villages, takes hikers along 4 major Adirondack rivers, including the wild Hudson, up and over more than 10 mountains, including 4 summits with fire towers, and to 2 of the finest waterfalls in the state” – N.Y. D.E.C.
