We have never been to the Adirondacks and would like to find a nice State campground on a lake for some good touring kayaking. Any ideas out there. I haven't been on the board in a very long time. Hi again to all. Thanks,
PI
Quote from: PIWe have never been to the Adirondacks and would like to find a nice State campground on a lake for some good touring kayaking. Any ideas out there. I haven't been on the board in a very long time. Hi again to all. Thanks,
PI
You may want to take a look at this campground.
http://nysparks.state.ny.us/parks/info.asp?parkID=119 There is much good kayaking all over the state. Our family also kayaks in the Finger Lakes area of the state. We will be camping this August in the 1000 Islands area. There is plenty of good kayaking there also. If you're bold, you can even kayak on the St. Lawrence River. We'll be staying at
http://www.landonbay.org/camp.htm. for a week. We haven't made reservations yet, but are looking at arriving around Aug. 7. $144 Canadian for a week isn't a bad price. Join us for all or part, if you wish.
Hey there PI - nice to see you here again! We miss camping with you guys a lot! :D
I know andym86 always talks about Cranberry Lake... I've never been there, but I would trust him 100%.
As a side note, we might head up to Plymouth, MA sometime early in the week of May 1st... drop me an email and maybe we could get together?? Hope all is well and talk to you soon!
Quote from: dthurkYou may want to take a look at this campground. http://nysparks.state.ny.us/parks/info.asp?parkID=119 There is much good kayaking all over the state. Our family also kayaks in the Finger Lakes area of the state. We will be camping this August in the 1000 Islands area. There is plenty of good kayaking there also. If you're bold, you can even kayak on the St. Lawrence River. We'll be staying at http://www.landonbay.org/camp.htm. for a week. We haven't made reservations yet, but are looking at arriving around Aug. 7. $144 Canadian for a week isn't a bad price. Join us for all or part, if you wish.
Thanks for the assistance....we will surely check it out. If we will be in the area we will let you know.-PI
Before we got the PU and now the HTT, DW & I canoe-camped every summer in the 'Dacks. I heartily recomend Cranberry Lake. It's a DEC cg, no hookups but water faucets are located around the cg. If you can get a waterfront site then great, but you can launch a canoe or kayak at the swimming beach also. A few miles west of the cg on the north side of Rt 3 is a lake with a boat launch run by the power company that's a nice paddle. There's also the Carry Falls reservoir off Rt 56, a damed-up part of the Raquette River.
Another cg is Fish Creek / Rollins Pond. We prefer Rollins Pond, it's a bit more rustic, the sites are wider apart and have some vegetation between them. If you can find a copy of "Adirondack Canoe Waters - North Flow" by Paul Jamieson (Adirondack Mountain Club) it covers Cranberry Lake & the St. Regis Canoe Area around Rollins Pond.
I do *not* recommend the Saranac Lakes in the summer - waayyyy too many power boats for me. If you want to do the Saranac River, you can arrange a shuttle from St. Regis Canoe Outfitters in Saranac Lake.
You may also want to try Little Tupper Lake. It opened to the public a few years ago & is a nice day trip. It's only down side is that it can get pretty windy.
Feel free to PM or email me if you want.
Quote from: mboppBefore we got the PU and now the HTT, DW & I canoe-camped every summer in the 'Dacks. I heartily recomend Cranberry Lake. It's a DEC cg, no hookups but water faucets are located around the cg. If you can get a waterfront site then great, but you can launch a canoe or kayak at the swimming beach also. A few miles west of the cg on the north side of Rt 3 is a lake with a boat launch run by the power company that's a nice paddle. There's also the Carry Falls reservoir off Rt 56, a damed-up part of the Raquette River.
Another cg is Fish Creek / Rollins Pond. We prefer Rollins Pond, it's a bit more rustic, the sites are wider apart and have some vegetation between them. If you can find a copy of "Adirondack Canoe Waters - North Flow" by Paul Jamieson (Adirondack Mountain Club) it covers Cranberry Lake & the St. Regis Canoe Area around Rollins Pond.
I do *not* recommend the Saranac Lakes in the summer - waayyyy too many power boats for me. If you want to do the Saranac River, you can arrange a shuttle from St. Regis Canoe Outfitters in Saranac Lake.
You may also want to try Little Tupper Lake. It opened to the public a few years ago & is a nice day trip. It's only down side is that it can get pretty windy.
Feel free to PM or email me if you want.
Thanks so much. Your info is very helpful. We enjoy touring the coves and really enjoy the quiet of kayaking and watching for wildlife. Appreciate it. PI
Are there any 10 mile lakes there or are they all huge? just curious
Quote from: PIThanks so much. Your info is very helpful. We enjoy touring the coves and really enjoy the quiet of kayaking and watching for wildlife. Appreciate it. PI
Are there any 10 mile lakes there or are they all huge? just curious
I'm not sure what you're asking. Cranberry is one of the larger lakes in the Adirondacks, its main body is maybe 2-1/2 miles wide but the "arms" stretch for 6-7 miles or so. Little Tupper Lake is about 5 miles long.
Rollins Pond is about 2 miles long but there are any number of ponds & lakes to paddle there. Rollins Pond cg is a good base for exploring the St Regis Canoe Area & the Saranac lakes.
If you have a kayak cart(s) with large wheels you have more options. I have a lightweight Kevlar canoe that DW & I use for camping or day tripping, carrying between ponds isn't too bad compared to a 70# aluminum canoe.
There is also the Fulton Chain of lakes (First Lake thru Eighth Lake) along with Blue Mountain Lake. There are a couple of DEC public cg's along the lakes but our hearts are in the Cranberry & Rollins Pond areas.
The DEC cg link is:
http://www.dec.state.ny.us/website/do/camping/index.html Also check out
//www.topozone.com for topo maps of these areas.
A good local attraction if you have time & want to drive is the Adirondack Museum in the town of Blue Mountain Lake (
http://www.adkmuseum.org/). In the town of Tupper Lake a new museum is slated to open July 4th. (
http://www.wildcenter.org/). You can also climb a restored fire tower at Mt Arab, it's about a 1-mile hike in.
Hello All - I am in the are of Cranberry Lake and it is a wonderful place to camp. I can't say enought good things about Cranberry Lake. I also noticed in one of the other posts, someone mentioned St. Lawrence. Hmmm, trying to find something good to say. Nope can't find anything, but you might enjoy it.
Also, noticed Rollins Pond and Fish Creek posts - these are beautiful places also and we have camped at them and plan on going back.
Lot's of great places in the Adirondacks, keep checking them out.
Quote from: PIWe have never been to the Adirondacks and would like to find a nice State campground on a lake for some good touring kayaking. Any ideas out there. I haven't been on the board in a very long time. Hi again to all. Thanks,
PI
Rollins Pond/ Fish Creek are also our favorites for kayaking. We also kayak Moreau Lake and Lake Luzerne, which are both state park camping grounds. Both are near Saratoga Springs. Moreau is small and has a few nice little coves for relaxing paddling. No motor boats allowed at Moreau or Luzerne.
We are going to be first time campers in that area. Rollins Pond over Memorial Day weekend. Hope to paddle "til our arms drop"!
Hopefully we're not swatting Black Flies til our arms drop!!!
It looks like a nice place to camp and paddle. We'll know more in a month!
Quote from: garym053We are going to be first time campers in that area. Rollins Pond over Memorial Day weekend. Hope to paddle "til our arms drop"!
Hopefully we're not swatting Black Flies til our arms drop!!!
It looks like a nice place to camp and paddle. We'll know more in a month!
Hey GaryM.-Let us know how you like it. I don't know when we will start camping this year..but I would like to try some different places and I heard that the Adirondacks are beautiful.
PI
Okay, I'll post something on May 30th 0r 31st!
I forgot! Check out this link...http://www.ahwagacanoe.com/links.htm for an area paddle club. Many of the members of this club have paddled in the Adirondacks area. Someone here would be able to give you good advice for kayaking in the area you'll be in.
The most recent issue (June, 2006, Vol. 66 No. 6) of Trailer Life magazine has a really nice article specifically devoted to canoeing and kayaking in the Adirondack Park of New York State. Many different areas are described, along with several outfitters and different areas and types of camping. Sounds like this would be exactly what you're looking for. :)
Quote from: dthurkThe most recent issue (June, 2006, Vol. 66 No. 6) of Trailer Life magazine has a really nice article specifically devoted to canoeing and kayaking in the Adirondack Park of New York State. Many different areas are described, along with several outfitters and different areas and types of camping. Sounds like this would be exactly what you're looking for. :)
Gee, thanks, I will check it out.
Quote from: PIWe have never been to the Adirondacks and would like to find a nice State campground on a lake for some good touring kayaking. Any ideas out there. I haven't been on the board in a very long time. Hi again to all. Thanks,
PI
PI I missed this post when you first made it. How are you doing. I sure hope you guys will come and camp with us again.:)
Quote from: tlhdocPI I missed this post when you first made it. How are you doing. I sure hope you guys will come and camp with us again.:)
We are doing well thank you. I did email you --a little note.
It is nice to be back as I haven't been on PUT in a while. Maybe we can meet up somewhere this summer again. We do have a good time with you guys.
PI
Hi Gary
I have camped there many times. It offers a variety of paddleing types. Small ponds with short portages or a long paddle on the Saranac Lakes. Rollins Pond is an overflow campground for the larger DEC campgroud of Fish Creek. Beutiful area. If you like to hike there is a small mountain called Ampersand that has great views of the whole area. Blackflies could be a problem
Rick
Hi Rick,
Thanks for the info. We like to paddle a lot, but also like hiking. Figured that Black Flies would be a problem, they usually are no matter where we go! Maybe they all drowned in all the rain!
Black flies can be a major problem. The rule of thumb is that they're gone by the July 4th weekend.
The semi-shakedown for the HTT is this weekend. We're taking it to one of the Scout camps for a volunteer work weekend. I'll give a black fly report when I get back!
Black Flies were a big problem! I would not go back in May or June again!
Rollins Pond was a very nice campground. There is some privcy between sites. (Fish Creek Campground resembled a trailer park/tent city. Sites are very close, I would not camp there.) The showers were clean, free, and hot! The bathrooms, were clean and plentiful, although the one closest to us did not have a working faucet in the sink.
There is so much paddling to do in the area!!! Water everywhere! Unfortunately, not much wildlife. We saw two Loons, including one that was sitting on the nest. (In VT they would have had warning signs around the nest so you wouldn't accidently disturb it!), we saw several Ducks and a pair of Geese. Pretty disappointing actually! (We're used to paddling Umbagog Lake in NH and seeing Moose, Eagles, Osprey, Loon, almost daily while we're there.)
Gas up in Tupper Lake or Saranac Lake before you get there as it's 30 miles RT to the nearest Gas Station! Wood is NOT sold at the Camp ground. They said Vendors would come through selling wood, but we finally ended up driving the 30 miles for gas and stopping to buy wood. The peron selling the wood said that they guy who had sold the wood in the park last year said he wasn't going to do it again. There is a private campground about 1/4 to 1/2 mile South of Fish Creek entrance that opened up on Saturday and had wood, water, etc.
To sum it up: Am I gald I went- Yes. Will I go back- Probably Not, It's about a 5 hour drive for us, and I want to see more wildlife!
Jut not as many moose here as in VT and NH! When we were at Fish Creek last summer, we saw mostly water fowl. Eagles here are more at Blue Mountain Lake (goldens) and bald headed eagles at the upper end of the Sacandaga.
We camped Moreau Memorial Day weekend. We had mosquitoes but no black flies.
Good to hear that people like Cranberry. We're going there for the first time this weekend.
I'm new here, btw. We just bought a '98 Jayco PU. I'm so glad I found what seems to be a great place for advice, recommendations & good conversation. :)
Well, Cranberry Lake SP was just as great as everyone said. We will definitely go back. The water was gorgeous, and so much to do!!! We hiked up Mt. Arab & climbed the fire tower, then checked out 7 waterfalls along the Grasse River. The last day, we hiked Bear Mountain. Awesome, absolutely awesome. :) If you canoe, kayak, fish, etc. this place is perfect.
Bathrooms were very clean, showers were hot & had private stalls. Saw several deer, tons of birds (including woodpeckers) and frogs. Less wildlife than I expected, though. The sites in our loop were very private, but I noticed that others are closer together. I would defnitely try to get a waterfront site next time - we could see the water through the trees from our site, but there were several others that wer directly on the water - I have them circled on the camp map for the next trip. ;)