Sunday, July 10, 2011

Lake in the SE Region of Adirondack State Park

Yesterday when we drove to Blue Mountain Lake, I wanted to stop and see Thirteenth Lake also, but we couldn't find the road that went to it. Today we were going to back track on Hwy 28 a bit, so we looked harder this time, and found it. The map said to turn on Hwy 78, but we never saw Hwy 78, going or coming yesterday. We found that Thirteenth Road off off  Hwy 28, in the very small town of  North River, took you to the Lake.

There are four sites of primitive camping off a 1/4 of a mile trail to the lake. No big boats are allowed on the lake. If you like to canoe or kayak, this is a perfect lake for that.



The lake has Rainbow Trout, Brown Trout, and Atlantic Salmon, and Sucker.A sign was posted to check the fishing rules for this lake, before you fish.





Thirteenth Lake is two miles long. There is private property across the lake, with home and lots for sale.

We walked over to the beach area, before we left. There were a couple of kids swimming out in the water.



We decided to drive around  the lake a bit, and saw a sign directing us to Garnet Hill Lodge.

Joe went inside to see what the lodge was all about.

I decided to walk out in the back of the lodge to see the view, while Joe was inside.

This is a view of Thirteenth Lake below.

The lodge has benches around a fire pit for beautiful evening views, and campfire time.

Here is a close up of the Lake and surrounding mountains.

A look back at the lodge. The lodge was built in 1936.

Your stay will cost between $115 to $185 a night. We were told we should stop on our way out of  the area at the Garnet Studio. At first we got a little lost just trying to find our way back to Thirteenth Road. About 3 miles on Thirteenth Road, we saw a sign for Garnet Studio. We went up a hill past a few residents, and didn't see any more signs, but since there was no where to turn around, we kept going up. At the top we were dead ended at another resident with a small shop on the end of the house. The shop has many piece's of jewelry  made with Garnet. They told us that the Gore Mountain Mine was the biggest producer of Garnet in the world. Which is located very close to that area. They also told us that we should go on the Gore Mine Tour, for $11.95 each. What you find in the mine, you keep for $1 a pound. Because we are leaving tomorrow, we will have to add it to our future adventure list. The couple are lapidaries, and were very nice. If you are in the area, tell them Joe and Diane, the full time RVers from Iowa, sent you.

We then took Hwy 28 NE to the town of Indian Lake, and turned south on Hwy. 30. After about five miles, we saw Indian Lake to the east of Hwy 30. We took a side road off of Hwy. 30 to a residential area, so I could stop for a picture. Indian Lake is a  4,365 acre Lake with 49 miles of shore line.  The lake sits at 1,650 feet, and has many different kinds of fish from Brown Trout to Salmon. Indian Lake is called the Moose Capital of New York, because many have seen them around this lake.


This house sits across the street with the view of the previous picture.

I told Joe, I was going to buy this house when I win the lottery, because it had such a spectacular view, and it looked like it would have many rooms for family and friends who came to visit us. It also had a very large side and back yard for my future goats and chickens.

Down the street was this house. I took the picture, because I have seen so many gate, fence and porch designs  with tree limbs and trunks. There have been so many more that were much better, but I missed the shots while we were driving by too fast.



Our next stop on Hwy 30 was Mason Lake.

Mason Lake is a small and shallow lake. It has a dozen camping spots around the lake.

This is another good fishing and kayaking lake.

After Mason Lake we drove to the town of Speculator. The town has a population of 350 and sits on the northeast corner of  Lake Pleasant.



Speculator Park on Lake Pleasant.



Lake Pleasant is 4 miles long and 1 mile wide.

Close up of previous picture.



At Northville we turned east onto Hwy 4 and crossed a bridge over the Great Sacandage Lake. Joe saw some gas for $3.75 and pulled into the gas station. Joe said, " Wow, look at those old gas pumps."

He hopped out to get some gas, and a young kid walked out and pumped our gas. That was a blast from the past. I can't remember the last time someone pumped me gas into my car, for free.

Shortly after we left Northville we came to another bridge that crossed the Great Sacandage Lake again.

This Lake was a valley before 1920, that had resorts, golf courses, amusement parks, and theaters. The valley flooded often by the Hudson and Sacandage River, causing costly damage to homes. In 1920, the valley was dammed and filled with water.

After we crossed the bridge, we drove NE along this lake for miles, and miles.

The lake is 29 miles long and up to 5 mile wide.

We continued our drive along the Sacandage Lake, and then another 18 miles to our home in Warrensburg/ Lake George.  The day was a 150 mile drive, in total, which is more than we usually do.There was no other  shortcuts, to do the loop drive. If you are looking to go fishing or any water sports, this is the place to go! There are many other lakes in the SE region of the Adirondacks, but we just don't have that much time to explore them.

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