Adirondack Park

Location:   Upstate New York
Year:   1892

Adirondack Park is the largest State Park and Forest Preserve in the contiguous United States. At 6.1 million acres, it is as large as the entire State of Vermont, and larger than the National Parks of Yellowstone, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Glacier, and Great Smoky Mountains combined.

Originally belonging to the Mohawks of the Iroquois Six Nations Confederacy who still have land claims in the Park, the area was only lightly settled by Euro-Americans over the centuries. The area today has a permanent population of less than 150,000 people in scores of scattered hamlets. 

Mount Marcy, at 5,344 feet, the highest point in New York State

The entire Adirondack Range, (including the highest point in the State, Mount Marcy) lies within the Park, the borders of which are delineated by "The Blue Line," an undemarcated boundary. 

Harris Lake

 The Park has 3,000 lakes, 30,000 miles of streams, 2,000 miles of trails, and less than 5,000 miles of paved roads. 

Lake Tear-Of-The-Clouds with Mount Marcy rising in the background

The mighty Hudson River rises in the Park, at Lake Tear-Of-The-Clouds.

Keene Valley

The Park has grown over the years as the State and private citizens have added land to the area through grants. About one-sixth of the Park is designated as Virgin Wilderness, wherein no development is allowed. Five-sixths of the Park is designated as Forest Preserve, permitting limited development and limited logging. 

Both Essex County and Hamilton County lie entirely within Adirondack Park. The latter is the most sparsely populated County in the eastern United States (population 3 people/sq. mile, approximately 5,000). There are no traffic lights in Hamilton County.  

Adirondack Park is recognized worldwide as a model for maintaining wilderness areas coexistent with human habitation.