§ History · The Almanac · 23 Figures · 15 Terms

The Adirondack almanac.

The Park, in figures — the bedrock, the trails, the water, the law — plus a glossary of the local vocabulary every newcomer eventually has to decode.

The Timeline→The Longform→

§ The Park

By the numbers.

The Adirondack Park is the largest publicly protected area in the contiguous United States — bigger than Yellowstone, Yosemite, Glacier, and Grand Canyon combined, and the only one carrying constitutional protection since 1894.

src · APA6,000,000+acres in the Adirondack Park

src · NYS DEC2,600,000acres of state-owned Forest Preserve

src · APA3,400,000acres of private land within the Park

src · APA9,375square miles — larger than Yellowstone, Yosemite, Glacier, and Grand Canyon combined

§1894year 'forever wild' was written into the NY Constitution (Article XIV §1)

§1971year the Adirondack Park Agency was established

§103towns + villages partly inside the Blue Line

src · APA, 2020 estimate130,000year-round residents inside the Park

§12counties partly inside the Blue Line

§ Trails & Peaks

The high country.

Forty-six peaks above (or, as the 1925 Marshall survey mismeasured them, around) 4,000 ft. The country wraps a million acres of state Wilderness around them, and the trail system that climbs them is older than most of the trees.

src · Marshall brothers' 1925 survey + ADK 46ers46official High Peaks above 4,000 ft

src · USGS5,344 ftMt. Marcy — highest summit in New York State

src · USGS4,322 ftLake Tear of the Clouds — source of the Hudson

src · NYS DEC~2,000miles of marked hiking trail across the Park

src · NYS DEC~136lean-tos in the Forest Preserve

src · NYS DEC~30fire towers still standing; ~24 staffed in summer

src · Adirondack 46ers Club~14,000registered 46ers as of 2024

src · NOAA200+ inaverage annual snowfall in the High Peaks

src · NOAA−52°Fcoldest recorded NY temperature — Old Forge, 1979

§ Water

Three thousand lakes.

More than half of the Hudson's flow originates inside the Blue Line, including the source itself — the strangely named Lake Tear of the Clouds, on Marcy's south shoulder, 4,322 feet above sea level.

src · APA~3,000lakes & ponds inside the Blue Line

src · APA~30,000 miof brooks, streams & rivers

src · USGSLake George32 miles long, often called 'the Queen of American Lakes'

src · USGSCranberry Lakethe third-largest lake fully within the Park

src · NFCT740 miNorthern Forest Canoe Trail — Old Forge, NY → Fort Kent, ME

§ Land-Use Classes

How the state lands are classified.

The 1972 State Land Master Plan (administered by the APA) sorts every acre of the Forest Preserve into one of these classes. Each carries a different rulebook — what you can build, ride, and harvest, and what you can't.

Wildernessthe strictest APA land-use class — no motorized use, no permanent structures except lean-tos. ~1.1M acres.

Wild Forestthe largest classification — non-motorized recreation primary; some snowmobile + administrative road use. ~1.3M acres.

PrimitiveWilderness-equivalent management with site-specific exceptions (e.g., a non-conforming road to be phased out).

Canoespecifically managed for canoe-access waterways. The St. Regis Canoe Area is the marquis example.

Intensive Usedeveloped sites — campgrounds, ski centers, day-use areas (Whiteface, Gore, Mt. Van Hoevenberg).

§ Records & Superlatives

Highest, deepest, oldest, coldest.

5,344 ftHighest summit — Mt. Marcy (Tahawus) · Town of Keene · USGS

4,322 ftHighest natural lake in NY — Lake Tear of the Clouds · source of the Hudson

32 miLongest lake straddling the Park — Lake George (boundary; partially in Park)

≥400 ftDeepest water in NY — Lake Champlain (boundary; partially in Park)

1894Oldest Forever-Wild constitutional protection in the US — NY Article XIV §1

1932 + 1980Only two-time Winter Olympics venue in the US — Lake Placid (until 2034 SLC)

−52°FColdest recorded temperature in NY — Old Forge, Feb 18 1979 (NOAA)

200+ inHighest average annual snowfall in NY — High Peaks region; even higher on Whiteface upper

§ Glossary

Speaking Adirondack.

Vocabulary the Park insists on. If you're reading a High Peaks trip report and the writer says they bushwhacked the col below the slide on the way to the krummholz, this section is for you.

ADKTwo things, both common: (1) the Adirondack Mountain Club, founded 1922, the principal advocacy + recreation organization; (2) shorthand for the region itself (license plates, hashtag, common usage).

Blue LineThe boundary of the Adirondack Park, drawn on early state maps in blue. Today it encloses ~6 million acres of mixed public Forest Preserve and private land.

BushwhackTravel off-trail through unbroken forest. Required to bag the trailless 46ers (Couchsachraga, Allen, Cliff, Marshall, Redfield, Gray, etc.). Map + compass skill assumed; GPS now common.

ColA saddle between two peaks. The Adirondack High Peaks have famous ones — the col between Marcy and Skylight, between Algonquin and Iroquois, between Saddleback and Basin.

Forest PreserveThe state-owned public lands inside the Park (and the Catskill Park). Protected by Article XIV §1 of the NY Constitution since 1894 — 'forever kept as wild forest lands'.

Forever WildShorthand for Article XIV §1 of the New York State Constitution: 'The lands of the state, now owned or hereafter acquired, constituting the forest preserve as now fixed by law, shall be forever kept as wild forest lands. They shall not be leased, sold or exchanged, or be taken by any corporation, public or private, nor shall the timber thereon be sold, removed or destroyed.'

Great CampLate-19th to early-20th-century private wilderness estates built in the Adirondacks by industrialists — Sagamore, Santanoni, Topridge, Pine Knot, Kamp Kill Kare. The vernacular (peeled-log columns, twig railings, stonework chimneys) was largely invented by William West Durant.

Hardwood lineThe elevation (~2,800–3,500 ft in the Adirondacks) above which northern-hardwood forest (beech, birch, maple) gives way to balsam fir + red spruce. A hike that crosses it usually feels noticeably cooler and quieter on the upper side.

Heath bald / alpine zoneThe treeless or krummholz zone above ~4,000 ft on the High Peaks — Marcy, Algonquin, Skylight, Wright, Whiteface, Cascade, Haystack, Gothics. A vanishingly small habitat (~85 acres total in NY) and very fragile; ADK summit stewards police rock-hopping during the busy season.

Herd pathAn unmarked route worn into the land by hikers' feet. The standard way to summit the trailless 46ers. Often unsigned, sometimes braided, occasionally lost — getting comfortable on a herd path is most aspiring 46ers' hardest skill.

KrummholzGerman for 'crooked wood'. The gnarled, wind-stunted spruce/fir zone just below the alpine. On Marcy and Algonquin the krummholz makes a knee-high tunnel for the last quarter-mile to the summit.

Lean-toThree-sided log shelter on DEC trail systems. First-come, first-served, no reservations, free to use. About 136 stand inside the Forest Preserve; the trail crews maintain them.

Slide / slide pathAn exposed rock face on a peak's flank, scoured clean by a debris-flow event. The High Peaks have many; some (Wright, Macomb, the Trap Dike on Colden) are climbing routes, most are scars.

Trailhead stewardA volunteer or paid staff member at a busy trailhead who checks weather forecasts, hands out maps, demonstrates Leave No Trace, and reminds people to wear actual hiking boots. Run by the 46ers Club, ADK, and the High Peaks Strategic Planning Advisory Group.

46erA hiker who has summited all 46 official High Peaks. Maintained by the Adirondack Forty-Sixers organization since 1937; ~14,000 registered as of 2024. Winter 46er, Single-Season 46er, Trailless 46er are sub-titles.

Sources9 cited

NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, Region 5 (Ray Brook)

Adirondack Park Agency — State Land Master Plan + APA Act

Adirondack Council — annual State of the Park brief

Adirondack Mountain Club (ADK) — High Peaks Information Center reference materials

Adirondack Forty-Sixers Club

USGS — peak elevations + watershed boundaries

NOAA — climate data + record temperatures

Paul Schneider, “The Adirondacks: A History of America’s First Wilderness” (Henry Holt, 1997)

Phil Brown / Adirondack Almanack archive