I am looking for an area to rent a house on a lake or river that offers great places to paddle, trail biking and hiking. I already have a house for a week in Acadia (stayed there last year and loved it). We also rented on one of the Finger lakes and thought that was ok since it was close to my wife’s sister. We are thinking the Poconos,Adirondacks, Virginia etc. Any thoughts? BTW: Mostly quiet water paddling. Would like to stay within a 6 to 7 hour ride of Connecticut.
Adirondacks
God’s land !
has every thing you are looking for, but you need about ten years or more to do it all.
Cheers,
JackL
So is there one area better than another
Is there an area / lake that you would recommend in the Adirondacks?
VT
– Last Updated: Nov-26-07 8:43 AM EST –
Southern or central VT. Perhaps around Lake Bomoseen, or south near Manchester. Near Manchester you can paddle the Battenkill, or it's a short ride to Harriman or Somerset reservoirs and numerous smaller lakes.
Good hiking and biking is available in the area around Somerset Reservoir and the Long Trail runs fairly close to Manchester.
Adirondacks
– Last Updated: Nov-26-07 8:42 AM EST –
Cranberry Lake area is nice. If you stay near there you also have the Owsegatchie River nearby as well as Lows Lake and Tupper Lake.
Lots of hiking trails in the area too.
Western Maine
by Bridgton or Bethel or Rangeley.
Its only 30 minutes to the White Mountains and most every house has lake access.
About 5 hours from Southern CT.
Less tourist crazed than the Daks.
I live in the area. I spend about two weeks a summer teaching in the Adirondacks though.
2nd the Adks
If you decide on Adks you can check this site
http://www.adkbyowner.com/ for rentals
Agree that Cranberry L are has lots to offer but Wanakena on SW bay(flow) of lake is lots quieter & less busy. Bikes are restricted to Wild Forests (lots of such acreage nearby) & forbidden in designated Wilderness areas.
In addition to suggestions offered by Brian above, the S branch of Grasse, Raquette, & Little rivers are all nearby. Also uncountable lakes & ponds
Bring those Conn tourist $$$ here to St Lawrence Co !
Can provide lots more details suggestion if you like ?
This is all Great Information
Keep it coming. The planning will help me get through the winter. I am planning on buying a dry suit next March so I can start kayaking sooner.
North Conway, NH, White Mttns
– Last Updated: Nov-26-07 1:35 PM EST –
Old Man of the Mountain might have fallen off, but where else can you shop like a banshee, sales tax-free, no less, and climb the highest peak in the Northeast. Plus the Flume and other famous areas. Gorgeous any time of the year. Franky, no disrespect to other posters on here, but as a NE native from Mass, why would anyone stay in VT or Bethel ME when they could stay right at the White Mtns in a resort. Sure, it's busy in the summer, but not horrendous (certainly as compared to Adirondacks, it's a walk in the park).
http://www.visitwhitemountains.com/
Good luck.
Lake Winnipesaukee
I first started paddling while renting vacation houses at Lake Winnipesaukee and can recommend it highly. It is a big lake (21 miles long) with lots of bays and inlets and islands that are perfect for exploring by kayak. Power boat traffic is mostly in lanes that you can easily avoid, and is only bad on weekends, even in the summer. There are lots of areas with too many submerged rocks for power boats that are great for paddling.
Saranac
Saranac lake region of Adirondacks - more water and trails than you could possibly visit in a lifetime.
aaack North Conway
Bethel IS just outside of the White Mountains. As a matter of fact most New Englanders do not know that a significant part of the WMNF is in Maine.
Where else can you get Evans Notch, Albany Notch, and Mahoosuc Notch(dont try to mountain bike the latter…it requires dragging your backpack while crawling most of a mile) Plus Grafton Notch where there are some newly completed trail loops.
Sunday River has mountain biking too if you want to pay for downhill thrills; otherwise its all fair game for mtn bikes.
Not to dis North Conway (its where I have to shop) but its MUCH nicer Mon-Fri off season.
However there is Hurricane Mountain Road for the adventurous biker with legs.
more Adk info
check this 8.03mb link
http://visitadirondacks.com/pdf/waterways.pdf
It gives a great overview of many Adk paddling destinations (but there are lots more)
Yes, Lake George & “Lake Plastic” villages can be touristy, & the few most popular of 46 “hi” peaks crowded on summer weekends but there’s 6 million acres inside Blue line, 2.7 million of which is state owned “Forest Preserve” where logging has been banned since 1895.
W/ 3000 lakes & ponds & 30,000m of rivers & streams (who knows how many miles of trails?)you won’t get bored
I agree with Harl Ingford…
Lake Winnipesaukee
try moosehead lake
In either Greeneville or Rockwood Maine—its the best fresh water sea kayaking I’ve been on–35-40 miles long–between one and eight miles wide—like the ocean except no tides and you can drink the water–and once you leave the two villages above it is quite wild.–that plus 35 free campgrounds with outhouses, fire rings, and picnic tables.
ADKS
– Last Updated: Nov-26-07 7:54 PM EST –
Long Lake is kind of somewhat central to the lakes region and is close to many really nice backwater lakes like Little Tupper, Bog River Flow, Lows Lake, Lake Lila. It is close enough to the larger (motorized) lakes like Long, Tupper Lake, the Saranac lakes... there's also the classic Raquette River traverse from Long to Tupper Lake....
It's also within a short trip to the lakes further south like Indian Lake, Blue Mtn Lake and the Fulton Chain...... There is also some nice hiking in the area, the Northville Placid trail, Vanderwacker, Goodnow, the high peaks near Tahawus..... Shoot, I could go on..
As far as biking, lots of MTB trails in and around Inlet, (Inlet has been in Bike Magazine awhile ago)...
Jay
p.s. Brian: Hi Neighbor :)
2nd this one
– Last Updated: Nov-26-07 10:15 PM EST –
I would take Moosehead over Winnipesaukee any day unless you like to paddle by miles and miles of trophy homes. There are several peaks on the edges of the Moosehead that are excellent hikes then some great hikes if you drive over to Baxter State Park and Mt. Kathadhin to the east. For biking my guess is that there are numerous possibilities on the miles and miles of logging roads in the area. If something closer to Ct. is needed then look at Squam Lake just to the west of Winnipesaukee.
Other possibilities would be the Connecticut Lakes or Lake Umbagog. For Umbagog you have Grafton Notch to the south east for hikes and Phillips Brook region to the south west for mt. biking.
http://www.umbagogchambercommerce.com/business.php
Both of these lake regions are at the top of New Hampshire, but within your drive radius depending where you are in Ct.
Another possibility would be the shoreline of Lake Champlain.