The Adirondack Mountains are a group of mountains in northeastern
New York State, bounded by the Canadian border on the north, the Mohawk
River valley on the south, the St. Lawrence River and Black river valleys
on the west, and the Lake Champlain area on the east.
About half of the total acreage of the Adirondack Mountain range
is part of the New York State forest preserve. More than 2.4 million
acres of forest preserve land have been incorporated into the Adirondack
Park where particular conservation and recreation efforts have been focused.
The park, which has a total of about 6 million acres, is privately held.
This area occupies the central portion of the mountain range and is very
scenic. In the park is Mount Marcy, the highest summit in the park
and in the state. There are forty-five other peaks more than 4,000
feet high, among them Algonquin Peak and Skylight, whiteface, and Haystack
Peaks.
The region has hundreds of large and small lakes, they include,
Lake Placid, George and Schroon, Cranberry, Upper and Lower Saranac, and
Raquette Lakes. The Hudson, Ausable, and the Black rivers rise in
the Adirondacks, and numerous streams cut through the mountains.
The Adirondack Park is thickly forested with spruce, pine, and Hemlock
and with some types of deciduous tress. Wildlife is abundant, although
some of the larger species are diminishing in number. Click
here for more information on the Adirondack Park.
There are five separate mountain ranges in the Adirondacks.
They run through the whole length of the Mountain Belt of the Wilderness.
These ranges are about eight miles apart, and run parallel with each other.
They are a group of peaks joined together by immense ridges, which rise
continually higher and higher toward the north until they culminate in
the highest peaks of the Adirondacks.
The most easterly of these five mountain ranges in the Mountain
Belt is the Palmertown or Luzerne range. It begins at Ticonderoga,
on Lake Champlain, runs down on both sides of Lake George, forming the
beautiful highlands that surround that lake, and stretching southward across
the upper Hudson, which breaks through it just above Glen Falls, and terminates
in the rocky forest-covered hills that bound the village of Saratoga Springs
on the north. In this mountain range are Mount Defiance, which rises 750
feet above the lake. French Mountain of this range rises more than
2500 feet above tide water, and overlooks Lake George. Mt. Kettle
Bottom also makes up this mountain range, whose highest peak is called
Senongenon.
The next range is the Kayadrossera. It extends from Crown
Point which is the old Indian Tekyadoughnigarigee "Two Points" on Lake
Champlain, down through Warren into Saratoga county. Lake Scarron
lies in the valley to the west of this range. Mount Pharaoh, whose
Indian name is Ondewa it its highest peak, being 4000 feet above the sea.
The third range of the mountains in the Great Wilderness is the
Scarron Range. This range begins in the promontory of Split Rock
on Lake Champlain in Essex county. It runs through Warren into the
southeast corner of Hamilton, and ends in the eastern part of Fulton county.
Scarron (Schroon) lake lies at the foot of this range, and Scarron River
winds through its deep valleys. From this lake and river the range
derived its name.
The fourth chain is the Boquet range, named from the river that
waters its base in Essex county. The highest mountain in this range
is Dix Peak, in North Hudson, Essex county, which rises 4916 feet above
the sea level.
The fifth range of mountains in the Mountain Belt of the Great
Wilderness, is the Adirondack chain proper. This fifth range extends
from Point Trembleu, near Port Kent, on Lake Champlain, through Essex,
Hamilton, and Herkimer counties, and ends on the Mohawk River. This
chain is more than a hundred miles in length. It divides the waters
that flow northerly into the St. Lawrence from those that run southerly
into the Hudson. Mount Marcy, the old Indian Tahawas, is 5402 feet
above the sea. Other mountains in this range are Mount McIntrye,
Mount Haystack, and Mount Skylight. On the south side of Mount Marcy
is a pond or pool. It is 4326 feet above the sea. A mile south
of it is its twin pool called Moss Lake, which is 4312 feet above sea level.
These sister lacklets are the highest pond sources of the Hudson. Click
here to see the altitude of the Adirondack Mountain Peaks.