My family and I (4) are going to New York the last 2 weeks of August and are interested in doing some canoeing/kayaking on some flatwater for a week. We would like to have semi wild experience wiht islands, as I am used to the BWCA/Quetico. I saw something about the LCPT, but cannot find anything. We also saw some references about Lake Gorge. Any info would be great on rentals, routes, etc.
Devin
Little Tupper
is a good place. no power boats and has islands. It’s mostly undeveloped except for a house, a camp and the ranger station. Lake George is huge and mobbed with power boats in season. You’d be shocked. Off season I hear it’s nice. St. Regis Canoe Area would also be good but generally involves carries. If you are spending time off the water, I highly recommend the Adirondack Museum in Blue Mountain Lake.
Lowes Lake
Lowes Lake is very pleasant with only a short carry over the upper dam. There is an eagle who lives on the lake and several bears. The south side of the lake has sevral nice sites with no bear activity the times I’ve been there. You’ll see a few canoes and there’s a Boy Scout camp but overall pretty quiet and wild.
If you really want a workout there is a 3 mi carry to the Oswegatchie River at the end of the lake but the fishing on the other side is worth it.
Hope you find a good spot.
Check under places to paddle on this
site. One place that is in there is this one http://www.paddling.net/places/showReport.html?510. You can also check out this site another good batch of info on it. http://www.canoeoutfitters.com/
We were heading to the area until the campground never wrote our reservation in their book after I called to make them. So we had no place to stay and changed our minds We are now going to Acadia instead. You can get more info by doing a web search there are lots of nice areas there. Have fun
I second Lows Lake/Bog River
Just got back from my second 4th of July trip there (4th trip there in two years) and even when the parking lot looks full, it seems that there are plenty of open sites and it’s not crowded on the water. I usually stay on the north side sites where plenty have sandy beaches. There’s only one small cabin on the lake and even though motors are allowed on the Upper lake they are few and small since they have to be paddled in the lower lake and carried over the dam (I like the float planes too). Definitely a wilderness experience with plenty of exploring to keep you busy for a week. If you are going there from the south, the closest place to rent canoes would be Long Lake marina in the town of long lake, but I believe there are plenty of places to rent from in Tupper Lake which is about 15 miles north of the access road.
you can rent from
Mountainman Outdoor in Old Forge and Inlet, St. Regis Outfitters in Floodwood and also Lake George Kayak in Bolton Landing.
Nova Scotia
My wife and I are starting to think about heading to either Acadia or Nova Scotia/New Brunswick instead of New York and are wondering if anyone has any ideas of Canoeing/Sea Kayaking in these areas?
Thanks,
Devin
You might like the
St, Regus wilderness canoe area just north east of Tupper Lake
are you canoe camping?
where to go depend on type of camping and how flexible your time is. By mid August things start to quiet down a bit and even popular areas are less busy. Lake George Is and Saranac Lake Is are state parks with reservable sites. Good if you need to know exactly where you are going to end up. But Lake George is big and busy with lots of motorboats. Are you willing to carry? Then Saint Regis is really nice. All the things others said are good. I like Lows Lake. Sites in most areas require you to move every 3 days if you don’t have a permit to stay longer. If you want to camp in a campground in a quiet area with good paddling try Buck Pond. We just spent a week there with our local paddling club. My favorite place for car camping is Fish Creek Ponds but it will still be too busy in August, although we did camp at Rolins Pond in July last year and it was fine.
just to confuse the issue, you might consider the Sait Lawrence River. The Canadian side has beautiful island camping. And depending on where in NY you are visiting it is really more accessable than the Adirondacks.