Adirondack Trails with Tales: History Hikes through the Adirondack Park and the Lake George, Lake Champlain & Mohawk Valley Regions

by Russell Dunn

Overview

Twenty-six history hikes, paddles, bike rides and cross-country ski tours along beautiful trails in New York State’s Adirondack Mountain High Peaks and foothills, including the Lake Placid, Lake Champlain, Lake George, and Mohawk Valley regions. Hikes include tours of sites made famous by Adirondack guides, artists, writers, entrepreneurs, colonial settlers, and combatants in the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War. Visit abandoned iron mines and the ruins of tanneries, the famous Adirondack great camps and old resorts, lost villages, Native American, Revolutionary War, and French and Indian War battlegrounds, and the homestead of John Brown, catalyst for the Civil War. Included are Valcour Island, scene of America’s first naval battle, Fort Ticonderoga, His Majesty’s Fort of Crown Point, and geological marvels like Indian Pass, Canajoharie Gorge, Chimney Mountain, and the tufa caves of Van Hornesville. The history and natural history of the hikes are complemented with clear directions, maps, photographs, and vintage postcards."

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781883789640
Publisher:	Black Dome Press, Corporation
Publication date:	05/05/2009
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	1,021,950
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Russell Dunn and Barbara Delaney, both New York State-licensed guides, are the authors of Trails with Tales: History Hikes through the Capital Region, Saratoga, Berkshires, Catskills & Hudson Valley (Black Dome Press, 2006). Dunn is also the author of an ongoing series of guidebooks to the waterfalls of eastern New York State and western New England, including Adirondack Waterfall Guide: New York's Cool Cascades (Black Dome Press, 2003), Catskill Region Waterfall Guide: Cool Cascades of the Catskills & Shawangunks (Black Dome Press, 2004), Hudson Valley Waterfall Guide: From Saratoga and the Capital Region to the Highlands and Palisades (Black Dome Press, 2005), Mohawk Region Waterfall Guide: From the Capital District to Cooperstown & Syracuse (Black Dome Press, 2007), and Berkshire Region Waterfall Guide: Cool Cascades of the Berkshire & Taconic Mountains (Black Dome Press, 2008). He is also the author of Adventures around the Great Sacandaga Lake (Nicholas K. Burns Publishing, 2002), and a soon-to-be-published guidebook on kayaking the waterways of the Capital District Region.

Table of Contents

Map ix

Foreword Joe Martens xii

Preface: Evolution of a Hiking Guidebook xiv

Mileage xvi

Degree of Difficulty xvi

Caution and Safety Tips xvii

Acknowledgments xx

List of Hikes by Theme xxi

List of Hikes According to Level of Difficulty xxiv

Part I Champlain Valley Region 1

1 Valcour Island (Lake Champlain) 5

2 Coon Mountain (Westport) 22

3 Crown Point: Fort St. Frederic & His Majesty's Fort of Crown Point (Crown Point) 32

4 Fort Ticonderoga (Ticonderoga) 42

5 Ironville & Penfield Homestead (Ironville) 58

6 Rock Pond (Chilson) 64

Part II Lake George/Eastern Adirondacks Region 71

7 Rogers Rock (Hague) 73

8 Shelving Rock Mountain & Shelving Rock Falls (Shelving Rock) 79

9 Prospect Mountain (Lake George) 88

10 Fort George and Bloody Pond (Lake George) 97

11 Cooper's Cave & Betar Byway (South Glen Falls) 104

Part III High Peaks Region 119

12 John Brown's Farm (North Elba) 121

13 Mt. Jo & Mt. Van Hoevenberg (Heart Lake) 132

14 Adirondac & Indian Pass (Adirondac) 141

15 East Branch of the Ausable River & Adirondack Mountain Reserve (St. Huberts) 156

Part IV Great Camps 167

16 Santanoni (Newcomb) 168

17 The Sagamore (Raquette Lake) 175

Part V Route 30 Region 185

18 Paul Smiths (Paul Smiths) 186

19 Hooper Garnet Mine (Thirteenth Lake) 193

20 Chimney Mountain (Indian Lake) 197

21 Kunjamuk Cave (Speculator) 206

22 Griffin, Griffin Falls, & Auger Falls (Griffin) 211

Part VI Foothills of the Adirondacks: Mohawk Valley Region 217

23 Moss Island (Little Falls) 219

24 Tufa Caves & Waterfalls of Van Hornesville (Van Hornesville) 232

25 Canajoharie Gorge (Canajoharie) 237

26 Wolf Hollow (Hoffmans) 246

Postscript252

Adirondack Museums, Historical Sites, Interpretive Centers, and Other Historical Resources 253

Endnotes 257

Bibliography 280

Index 289

About the Authors 296

What People are Saying About This

Joe Martens

"Now, thanks to Russell Dunn and Barbara Delaney, visitors to the Adirondacks, guidebooks in hand, will be able explore its rich past as well as its unequalled scenery . . . and ponder its future. The breadth and variety of the stories in this compilation distinguish Adirondack Trails with Tales from other trail guides. The authors provide the reader with much more than trail descriptions; they provide understanding and context. This wonderful book will better connect visitors and residents with very special places and help them learn from the land."--(Joe Martens, President, Open Space Institute)

Fred LeBrun

"As Barbara Delaney and Russell Dunn illuminate in their history hikes, the trails of the Adirondacks offer a treasure trove of fascinating stories. This is a rich narrative, full of historical nuggets, but still very much a lucid and useful guide for feet on the ground. They have done an outstanding job once again."--(Fred LeBrun, Albany Times Union columnist)

Editorial Reviews

Russell Dunn and Barbara Delaney's Adirondack Trails With Tales proves that hiking trails possess far more than natural beauty. With the authors along as trail guides, hikers, bikers, boaters, and skiers can add an extra dimension of history to the scenery along the way. Their stories show that the Adirondacks have witnessed the achievements and tragedies of explorers, settlers, entrepreneurs, abolitionists, writers, artists, scientists, and warriors.