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Mount Pisgah (Saranac Lake) Multi-Use Trails

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It seems like this is finally the time that the snow may stick around. Some ski mountains are able to make snow so we can get on those trails as quickly as possible while others wait until Mother Nature helps with that base layer. I am still in autumn mode, even with shoveling snow. I am not so quick to pass up that beautiful time of year. I like the chilly nights and warmish days. That is why I live here. Every season is so different and I enjoy each one. Yes, even mud season. Look for more 33 easy hikes, snowshoe/XC trails swimming holes and over 300 activities in Adirondack Family Time: Tri-Lakes and High Peaks (covering Lake Placid, Saranac Lake and more) Recently my daughter and her friends had suffered through my list of errands and really needed a place to run around.  I didn’t want to get into a long hike and they didn’t either. My husband recommended the new trails behind the tennis courts at Mount Pisgah, Saranac Lake. What started as a quick jaunt, turned...

Ski or Ride FREE with NYS Third and Fourth Grader Passport

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This Adirondack Mama always thinks that I have stumbled upon the deal of the century, only to find that everyone is already in on the family fun. So just in case I am not the last person to find out that New York State is once again offering the FREE Ski and Ride Passport Program to all third (3rd) and fourth (4th) grade children, I’m here to let you in on the secret. The program was first established in 2000 to introduce children to skiing and promote a healthy lifestyle choice. The passport offers free lift tickets to 31  New York ski mountains including 7 Adirondack ski resorts and other discounts like soft drink coupons. Personally, the beverage option seems to cancel out the healthy lifestyle choice. On the other hand, perhaps it may help encourage a child to get off the couch and onto the slopes.

Easy Short Adirondack Family Fun Hikes: The Ladies' Mile at the Ausable Club

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By Diane Chase, Adirondack Family Time™ There are so many options for families and kids to hike in the Adirondack woods. Though my husband is a  Adirondack  46er a couple times over and still enjoys hiking the High Peaks, he also likes to share simple trails. One  favorite  place is  the Ausable Club's  “Ladies Mile.” My first thought was he was joking. There is such a thing as a ladies’ mile? Have I been walking a man-mile all this time and not knowing it? I am going to run a 5K and I’m not in shape. So if a ladies’ mile is shorter, I plan on requesting a few of them.  No such luck.  The Ladies’ Mile is a beautiful path, part of the private Adirondack Mountain Reserve (AMR) and  Ausable Club . Though the public has permission to hike in the AMR it is still private land and has strict rules to follow in order to have access. No dogs, camping or swimming. (Please do not leave the trails and carry out anything you bring in.)

“Red Army” Documentary skates into Lake Placid Film Forum November 7-8

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The Lake Placid Film Forum performed quite a coup in grabbing Gabe Polsky's film "Red Army" before its official national opening in New York next week. This award-winning film will be shown at the Lake Placid Center for the Arts for this weekend only, before being released to all major commercial movie houses.  Director Gabe Polsky, “Red Army” goes behind the Iron Curtain and tracks the Soviet Union’s hockey team domination to its unraveling at the Lake Placid 1980 Winter Olympic Games to its ultimate demise.  Co-Founder and Artistic Director Kathleen CarrolI first saw the ”Red Army” at a film screening during the New York Film Festival. She knew immediately that this would be an important film to show in Lake Placid with its focus on the Cold War Russian dominance of hockey, ties to the 1980 Winter Olympic Russian hockey team and the United States Olympic gold medal win, dubbed “The Miracle on Ice.” “I knew this film’s conn...

"Pippi Longstocking: A Family Musical" Brings Adventure to Saranac Lake's Pendragon Theatre

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(Saranac Lake) This year’s Rising Star Productions has found a new home for its fall children's musical at Pendragon Theatre . Over 30 area kids will be on stage to dance and sing their way through the pages of the classic 1945 Swedish book series “Pippi Langstrump” by Astrid Lindgren. This family-friendly show is a fun kids' activity, appropriate for all ages. The book series was adapted for the stage by Sebastian and Staffan Gotestam and became “Pippi Longstocking: The Family Musical.” This two-act play is directed by McCayla Quinn and focuses on the free-spirited adventures of the red-haired, self-reliant character Pippi (played by Robyn Rutgers) who lives with her horse and pet monkey in the Villekulla Cottage while her sea captain father (Simon Thill) is out at sea. “There are all sorts of hijinks throughout the show,” says Quinn. “Pippi stops thieves from stealing her pirate gold. She takes over the circus where she is stronger than Mighty Adolf, the strongest ...

Five (5) Spooky Adirondack Family Halloween Events

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Halloween is all about being scared so here are five ideas from mildly scary to an Adirondack fright night for all ages to enjoy! Enjoy these ghoulish ideas!  Halloween or All Hallows’ Eve is one of my favorite events. I love seeing all the costumes and creativity that goes into dressing up for a holiday that holds its roots in the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain. Some sources state the name Samhain originating from two Gaelic words, “sam” and “fain” meaning “end of summer.”  The harvest festival was to bring an end to the harvest and gesture in the beginning of the cold of winter. With superstition and religious undertones, Halloween was also a time that people thought the divide between worlds thinned and the dead could return to cause mischief such as crop failure and famine. All Hallows’ Eve also precedes the Christian festival honoring its saints. Now we celebrate with candy, costumes and a bit of the harvest with numerous activities, some for the brave of ...

Easy Short Adirondack Hikes: Inlet Raquette Lake (NY) hikes: Cathedral Pines

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Cathedral Pines Distance  0.1 mile Dedicated to the memory of  Malcolm L. Blue ,  a young navigator of the 8th  Air Force ,  is a plaque affixed a stone monument. The walk is relatively level with a few uphill treks but no significant gain/loss in elevation. Watch out for roots which are plentiful. The monument is just a few minutes’ walk from the highway.  This hike isn't just for  kids, but is an easy Adirondack family hike is  a quick wooded walk for all level of hiker including grandparents or with your dog. The plaque reads: “This tree, Created by God and  Old When Our Country Was Born , Fine and  Straight-Grained Like  the  Boy Himself , is Dedicated in Memory of 2nd  Lt. Malcolm L. Blue , Navigator of a  Liberation Bomber With Eight Air Force . Killed in  Action Over France June  2nd, 1944.  Few Men Have Earned  so Fine a Memorial.”  The treasure t...