Adventures in Saranac Lake, NY

Saranac Lake is a short drive west of Lake Placid and feels like a different trip entirely. Where Placid is an Olympic village with a Main Street, Saranac Lake is the paddling capital of the Adirondacks - a working town at the edge of a chain of connected lakes and ponds with 87 island campsites scattered across them. If your family’s idea of a good time involves a canoe, this is the base.

Why Families Love Saranac Lake

Saranac Lake Islands Camping is the headline. The state maintains 87 primitive island campsites across Lower, Middle, and Upper Saranac Lakes, each with a fire ring, privy, and picnic table, and you paddle to yours. Kids get to feel like actual explorers claiming an island for the night. The Lower Saranac launch is the easiest access point for a first attempt. Loons calling at dusk and zero light pollution overhead is the part parents remember. Everything you bring has to fit in the boat, so pack accordingly - this works best with kids 5 and up.

Not ready for that? Fish Creek Pond Campground is one of the biggest and most popular campgrounds in the Adirondacks, with 355 sites along the water and direct paddling access to a chain of connected ponds. There’s a sandy beach with a lifeguard, water that warms up by midsummer, a campground store, and recreation programs - which collectively make a multi-day stay with young kids far easier than roughing it. Waterfront sites let you launch a canoe from your tent. Book months in advance for summer.

Floodwood Pond is the day-paddle version, and it’s free. A network of small motor-free ponds connected by short portages, ringed by forest, calm and clear, with loons, herons, and beavers regularly turning up. The appeal for kids is the sense of discovery - paddling through a narrow channel into a pond you couldn’t see from the last one. Lean-tos and campsites along the ponds make overnight trips possible if the day trip goes well.

For a land day, Ampersand Mountain is a 5.4-mile round trip to a bald rock summit with a full 360-degree panorama of lakes, ponds, and the High Peaks. It’s free, and it’s a legitimate challenge - the final stretch involves steep rock scrambles that adventurous older kids love and younger ones will find genuinely hard. Figure five hours car to car. Best for kids 8 and up with some hiking experience, and bring lunch.

A Paddling Weekend

Day 1: Set up at Fish Creek Pond. Swim at the beach, let the kids meet the neighbors, paddle out from your site in the evening when the water goes flat.

Day 2: Drive over to Floodwood Pond for a half day of pond-hopping and portages. Early morning is best for wildlife. Back to camp for the afternoon.

Day 3: Either hike Ampersand (start early, it’s a full day) or, if your crew is ready and you’ve reserved a site, load the boats and paddle out to an island on the Saranac chain for a night.

Getting There and Parking

Saranac Lake is in the north-central Adirondacks, and everything on this list is within about half an hour of town. Parking is refreshingly simple here: free lots at the public boat launches on each lake, a parking area at the Floodwood Pond put-in, and campsite parking at Fish Creek. The exception is Ampersand, where the trailhead lot on Route 3 between Saranac Lake and Tupper Lake is small and fills up on nice weekends.

Best Time to Visit

Late June through early September for camping and swimming, when the water is warm and the campgrounds are open. Late May through October covers Ampersand. Two honest warnings: Adirondack blackflies peak in late spring and early summer, so bring bug spray, and paddling weather changes fast - check the forecast, and don’t cross open water on a windy day with kids in the boat.