The Village of Lake Placid was incorporated in 1900 and is located in the Town of North Elba in the Adirondack Mountains in the northwestern corner of Essex County, New York. The Village is internationally known having proudly hosted the Winter Olympics twice in 1932 and 1980 and is the site of the “Miracle on Ice” when the USA men’s hockey team defeated the heavily favored USSR team to go on and win the Gold Medal in the ’80 Olympics. Lake Placid is also home to one of only three year-round United States Olympic Training Centers and periodically hosts world-class competitions in downhill and Nordic skiing, biathlon, ski jumping, luge, bobsledding, skeleton, speed skating and figure skating.In a setting offering incredible views of the Adirondack Mountains including New York State’s highest peak at Mt. Marcy, Lake Placid provides a plethora of outdoor activities from downhill skiing on Whiteface, the Olympic Mountain, to cross-country skiing, year-round hiking, fishing, ice-climbing, cycling, kayaking, canoeing, swimming, and snowmobiling. The Village of Lake Placid annually host the Empire State Winter Games in February, the Lake Placid and I Love New York Horseshows in late June, and the Lake Placid Ironman in July.
History of Lake Placid
Recreational and competitive winter sports have long been associated with Lake Placid. This quaint Adirondack village hosted two Olympic Winter Games in 1932 and 1980, but the area’s history as the nations first winter vacation destination actually spans over 100 years!Popularity of the Adirondack Region as a destination soared in the late 1800s when the nation’s most wealthy and influential citizens built their Adirondack Great Camps here. The social elite would “vacate” the stifling summer heat of Northeast cities for the cool Adirondack air. Yes, this is the origin of the word – it’s where vacations began.The cool Adirondack air had other benefits. Nearby Saranac Lake is best known as a pioneer health resort in the late 1800’s, as Dr. Edward Livingston Trudeau found that the fresh mountain air provided a perfect environment to cure tuberculosis.
Recreational opportunities
Lake Placid is well known among winter-sports enthusiasts for its skiing, both Alpine and Nordic. Whiteface Mountain (4,867 ft/1,483 m), in nearbyWilmington about 13 miles (21 km) from Lake Placid, offers skiing, hiking, gondola rides, and mountain biking, and is the only one of the High Peaks that can be reached via an auto road. The area has one of only sixteen bobsled runs in the western hemisphere, and is one of the few places in the contiguous United States which offers dogsled and sleigh rides.In 2010, U.S. News & World Report rated Lake Placid as one of the “6 Forgotten Vacation Spots” in North America.Many people use Lake Placid as a base from which to climb the 46 High Peaks in the Adirondack Mountains; those who complete these climbs may join the Adirondack 46ers.Lake Placid built its first golf course in 1898, one of the first in the United States, and has more golf courses than any other region in the Adirondacks Destinations guide in USA. Many of its courses were designed by well-known golf course architects, such as John Van Kleek, Seymour Dunn, Alexander H. Findlay, and Alister MacKenzie. The geographic features of the Adirondacks were considered reminiscent of the Scottish landscape in which the game was invented, and thus a fitting canvas for original play, or “mountain golf.”Lake Placid is near the West Branch of the Ausable River, a well-known stretch of water for fly fishing. More than six miles (10 km) of the West Branch is year-round catch-and-release, artificial-lures-only water.
What you Can do at Lake Placid
Visit Lake Placid and invent your own perfect day. Sheltered among the Adirondack Park’s six million acres, the alpine village offers endless opportunity for outdoor recreation, unique attractions, shopping, dining and a variety of fun Lake Placid family activities.We have mountains to climb, rivers to fish, serene lakes to kayak and vast evergreen forests to explore—discover the many Lake Placid outdoor activities. Bring your bike and cruise through the region’s dramatic landscape, from quiet country roads to scenic mountain passes. Or pack your clubs and play a round on some of the beautiful Lake Placid golf courses—the region boasts 13 including five signature championship layouts. Lake Placid is a Awesome Place For Vacations.
Directions
Take the NY State Thruway (I-87) north to the Adirondack Northway (Exit 24 in Albany). Follow 87 to Exit 30. Pick up Rt. 9 north and follow it for two miles to Rt. 73. Continue on 73 for 28 miles to Lake Placid area. Drive time from NYC: 5 hrs, Albany: 2 1/2 hrs.
