Over the years I’ve participated in countless incredible snowmobiling adventures around the world with our crew but a trip with my little bro, Mike, was long overdue.
Individually, Mike and I have both had memorable experiences riding in Upstate NY, so when the call came for an opportunity to visit the Adirondacks region once again, we jumped at the chance to go together.
Departing from our headquarters in Central/Northern Ontario, we were looking at about a six-hour drive to Lake Placid where our adventure would commence. For reference, Lake Placid, NY is about a three-hour drive from Canada’s capitol city of Ottawa and only two or three hours from New York State’s capitol of Albany as well as the Vermont state line.
Lake Placid, infamous for twice hosting the winter Olympics and USA Men’s improbable Olympic hockey Gold Medal in 1980, is a stunning and picturesque town set in the middle of the Adirondack mountains.
The finest place to stay there is the Crowne Plaza Hotel, situated atop the town’s signature vista overlooking the many quaint shops, restaurants and, of course, the Adirondack mountains with Mirror Lake in the background. Truly breathtaking!
For us though, the best part about staying at the Crowne Plaza was the abundance of parking for snowmobiles and trailers with immediate and easy access to the main snowmobile trails.
For this trip, we hooked up with Sara-Placid Sled and Spoke in Saranac Lake and rented a pair of sweet Polaris Patriot 650 Switchback XC’s. Sled and Spoke has a fabulous fleet of new Polaris sleds to rent and it is located right on the Rail Trail in Saranac Lake, just a few miles from Lake Placid.
Our sleds were perfect for this adventure and we can’t thank Sled and Spoke enough for being so awesome to work with and helping us get on the trails quickly.
There are many advantages to renting sleds in NY and we definitely recommend looking into SledandSpoke.com
Off to the Races
The first morning, after a solid night’s rest and hearty breakfast at the Crown Plaza, we rode directly from the parking lot onto a short jack-rabbit trail linking to the wide-open Rail Trail (C7B) towards the town of Saranac Lake and eventually Tupper Lake. The Rail Trail from Lake Placid through Saranac Lake, with a fresh dumping of snow from the night before, got our blood pumping.
There’s plenty of places to stop for food along the Rail Trail, like RiverTrail Beerworks in Saranac Lake where we popped in for one of the best dining experiences on the trip. As you pass through Saranac Lake you’ll eventually come across a well-known snowmobilers’ meeting spot called Charlie’s Inn.
From here, you can head west to Malone, NY but this time we continued straight ahead towards Tupper Lake to fill up with fuel and turned around for another fun trek back to the Crowne Plaza in Lake Placid to warm up and walk just down the hill to town for dinner.
And Now for Something Completely Different
On our second day, we packed up the sleds in the trailer and took a 50-mile jaunt over to the infamous Adirondack Hotel in Long Lake where we would set up base and explore more technical riding around Newcomb and Indian Lake.
Riding directly from the parking lot of the Adirondack Hotel, we quickly hooked up to the C7B trail system and were lucky enough to be the first down the pipe after the groomer. Thank you, Indian Lake Snow Warriors! Needless to say, the pure peanut butter smooth trails were some of the best we’ve ever experienced all the way to Newcomb and Indian Lake. We’re not worthy!
Once we got to Indian Lake, we filled up the sleds and grabbed a quick bite across the street at Indian Lake Restaurant so we could get back to those incredible trails leading to Long Lake and some chill time at the Adirondack Hotel home base. The trails were just a sweet on the way home.
If you haven’t snowmobiled in the Adirondacks in Upstate New York, you’re really missing out. Take your significant other to Lake Placid for more relaxed riding and plush accommodations and go with your buddies for a more down-home, die-hard snowmobiling experience in Long Lake, Indian Lake and Newcomb. We enjoyed every second in both areas and we’re willing to bet you will too.
Visit AdirondacksUSA.com
