It's interesting, at least to us, that we seem to be returning to the state of New York for at least one trip each summer. The state of New York is quickly becoming one of our favorite places to visit. And there are good reasons why. There is such a wide variety and number of things to see and do there! You can go to the mountains or a beach on a lake or the ocean. The state abounds with hiking trails, waterfalls, biking trails and lakes to kayak in - all the things we enjoy doing most. And of course, there is a lot of history to be found in our neighbor to the north.
In July 2026 we visited the Adirondack Mountains in New York with our daughter and her family. We packed as much as we could into our week-long stay, but left knowing we would need to return because there was still so much to see and do. What follows are descriptions of the campground we stayed at, some of the places we visited and things we did along with links to more information in case you want to visit.
July 19-26, 2026 - Spacious Skies Adirondack Peaks Campground - North Hudson, New York
We chose Spacious Skies Adirondack Peaks Campground in North Hudson, New York as our base during our week in the Adirondacks because it was within an hour long drive from all of the places we planned to visit. That was important considering the high price of gasoline during our travels.
Spacious Skies Adirondack Peaks is a full service campground and has a wide variety of amenities. The campground has 99 full hook up, 28 water and electric and 7 tent sites. In addition there are 24 cabins and 3 yurts for those who don't have a tent or RV.
It's a family-oriented campground with plenty of amenities to keep kids busy. Some of the amenities are a campground mini train, mini golf, gem mining, three playgrounds, two swimming pools, a game room, a kayak and canoe launch, and a swimming beach.
There's a large camp store with an attached laundry room. The camp store carried some basic groceries, snacks, camping supplies and a lot of souvenirs. They also sold hand-dipped ice cream inside the store - an added treat for ice cream lovers like us!
Spacious Skies also sells propane, ice and firewood. It has onsite food service and onsite trash pick up. It's much like a KOA and there are several other Spacious Skies Campgrounds in the eastern half of the United States.
Would we stay there again? We would consider it if we planned to stay in that particular area of the Adirondacks again. We did a full YouTube video review of the campground and you can find it by clicking here.
July 20, 2026 - Crown Point, NY & Chimeny Point, VT State Historic Sites
The area surrounding the Lake Champlain Bridge is rich in history in the states of New York and Vermont. Two historic sites, one in New York and the other in Vermont, are located at each end of the bridge.
First we visited Crown Point State Historic Site in New York. The site was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1968. It's the home of the Crown Point Public Campground, the Champlain Memorial Lighthouse, Fort St. Frederic and the British Fort of Crown Point.
The Champlain Memorial Lighthouse, also known as the Crown Point Lighthouse was built in honor of French explorer Samuel de Champlain who discovered Lake Champlain. You have to enter the campground, and possibly pay a fee to get to the lighthouse. We climbed to the top of the lighthouse for the view out over the lake and the mountains rising in the distance.
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After we finished at the lighthouse, we crossed over the road to explore the British Fort of Crown Point, the larger of the two forts located here. Construction of the fort started in 1759 after the British took control of the area from the French. During the Revolutionary War it was captured by the American colonists, but later taken back by the British and held by them until the end of the war.
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You can also explore the ruins of the French Fort Saint-Frederic and a museum containing models and original artifacts, but we were there late in the day and the museum was closed. Interestingly, while seaching for information on this fort for this post, I found a link on the Vermont History website. That's how intertwined the two states' history is in this area!
Next, we crossed over the Champlain Bridge into Vermont. The bridge was built in 2019 to replace an older bridge, built in 1929.
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| Champlain Bridge |
Chimney Point State Historic Site is located at the eastern end of the bridge. The site has a visitor center inside a 1785 Tavern, but it was also closed during our visit. There's also a picnic area, dock for access to the lake, and interpretive signs along a path across the bridge to Crown Point, New York. We found some great views across the lake to the lighthouse.
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Both of these sites are great places to visit if you happen to be in the area. If you want to watch a brief video of our visit to these two historc sites, click here.
July 21, 2026 - Olympic Sites In and Around Lake Placid, New York
The village of Lake Placid, New York is a great place to visit if you're a fan of winter sports or the winter Olympics. The village is located in New York's Adirondack Mountains near the lake of the same name.
Lake Placid is home to the historic Olympic Center, site of the 1932 and 1980 winter Olympic games. It's the only North American location to have hosted 2 separate winter Olympics. The Olympic Center was originally built in 1932 for that year's games and expanded for the 1980 games. It's still used year round for public recreation.
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Inside the center is a museum featuring a huge selection of winter Olympic artifacts and interactive displays. Visitors can spend hours looking at the displays and reading all the information on the panel boards.
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On the building's second floor we were able to step inside the Herb Brooks Arena, site of the 1980 championship Men's Ice Hockey game between the United States and Russia. The U.S. team made up of amateur and collegiate players managed to defeat the heavily favored Soviet Union 4–3. The game is fondly remembered as "the miracle on ice" because no one expected the U.S. to win the gold in this event.
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| Herb Brooks Arena |
Outside the arena's second floor entrance was a balcony overlooking the speed skating arena across the street. We could also see the ski-jumping towers off in the distance.
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After finishing our exploration of the Olympic Center and the museum we walked up into the village to explore the many shops and boutiques that line both sides of the main street through the village. In the center of town is Mirror Lake, a scenic body of water with a trail around the shoreline and mountains in the distance.
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| Mirror Lake |
Our next stop in Lake Placid was to see the nearby Olympic Ski Jumping complex we had seen in the distance from the Olympic Center's balcony. The 100 and 128 meter ski jumps were built for the 1980 winter games. You can take a skyride in gondolas to the base of the ski jumps, and then an elevator to the top of the 128 meter jump. You can also ride a zipline above the path of the 100 meter jump. We didn't ride the gondola or zip lines because we had plans for other rides later.
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| Olympic Ski Jumping Complex |
Just a short drive outside of Lake Placid is Mount van Hoevenberg, site of the bobsled, skeleton, luge and cross country skiing Olympic events as well as a training center for winter sports. Visitors can also find hiking trails, an indoor rock climbing complex, mountain biking trails, and the main object of our visit - the cliffside coaster. The cliffside coaster is a fun way for visitors to learn about Olympic History while riding alongside the historic 1980 bobsled track. Our son-in-law and granddaughter both rode the coaster while the rest of us watched. You'll have to watch our YouTube video (see link below) to see them ride the coaster.
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Our last stop on the "Olympic Trail" was a visit to the Whiteface Mountain Ski Center. The center hosted the 1980 Olympic alpine skiing competitions.
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| Whiteface Mountain Ski Center |
We rode on the 8 passenger Cloudsplitter gondola for a 15 minutes ride from the base of Whiteface Mountain to the top of Little Whiteface Mountain. Little Whiteface Mountain summits at 3,676. To get to the top of the 4,867 foot tall Whiteface Mountain, you have to take a toll road to a tower and take an elevator to the top. We decided to make that trip the next time we visit the Adirondacks.
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When we arrived at the top of Little Whiteface, the views of the surrounding mountains, blue sky and puffy white clouds were stunning! It was well worth the cost of the gondola ride!
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For more photos and a video of our visit to Lake Placid and all the above mentioned Olympic venues, click here. The rest of our Adirondack adventures will appear in our next blog post.
* All photos and videos are the property of the blog owners unless otherwise noted. *
