Adirondack camping

In the introduction to Craig Gilborn’s book, Adirondack Camps, Paul Malo, an architect and Adirondack architecture specialist, wrote that at this time of year “we yearn for a place where no grass demands mowing, where woodland trails wait to be explored, streams to be paddled, mountains to be climbed—a place with few urbane amusements, but many serene lakes. Who is not thrilled by the first glimpse of distant mountains? Who does not still react with childlike anticipation approaching the Blue Line, awaiting the familiar sign: Entering the Adirondack Park?”

Camping out is surely one of the oldest traditions in the Adirondacks and dates well before RV parks with sewer hookups and campsites with tent pads and electrical outlets. When Native Americans first came to what would be known as the Adirondack Mountains, they came as campers to hunt and fish before returning to their homes.

The early Adirondack guides were campers who hunted, fished and explored the region and then earned a living as paid hosts for city folks, whom they led on wilderness hunting and fishing trips. The guides also set up camps on these trips, cooked meals and provided entertainment. Early settlers in the region may have had houses in town, but they also had favorites camping sites on the Fulton Chain of Lakes and other more remote areas.

Not unlike today’s campers, they enjoyed the change of scene and routine. Living outdoors means getting away from the everyday and finding rewards in nature for the body and the soul.

City people suffering from tuberculosis were sent by their physicians to the Adirondacks to heal from the effects of their illness. The lean-to for sleeping outdoors was part of Saranac Lake pioneer settler Dr. Edward Livingston Trudeau’s Wilderness Cure for TB until elaborate cure porches replaced the practice.

Camping out today may be more modernized, organized, institutionalized and commercialized, but it is still possible to enjoy a hike, commune with nature, enjoy a campfire and sleep under the stars.