Adirondack Park Visitor Interpretive Center

For an excellent introduction to the Adirondacks, step into this large and informative center (Rte. 30, 518/327-3000, 9 a.m.–5 p.m. daily, free admission), one of two run by the Adirondack Park Agency (the second, smaller center is in Newcomb). Inside you’ll find exhibits on everything from logging camps and Trudeau’s Sanatorium to the region’s problems with over-use and acid rain.

Three different slide shows run continuously throughout the day, while information about trailhead locations and canoe routes is available on computerized touch-screen stations that provide free printouts. Out back are a butterfly house and interpretive trails leading through a 60-acre marsh.

White Pine Camp

After years of deterioration, the great camp that served as President Calvin Coolidge’s summer White House in 1926 reopened to the public in 1995 (White Pine Rd., a half mile east of the Rtes. 86/30 intersection, www.whitepinecamp.com, 518/327-3030). Built in 1907, the camp overlooks Osgood Pond and contains about 20 asymmetrical buildings complete with soaring rooflines, unusual angles, and skylights. In the main cabin, exhibits explain the site’s history and architecture, while among the surrounding outbuildings are a tennis house, indoor bowling alleys, and a Japanese teahouse. There are also six renovated guest cottages that are available for rent by the week.

Tours of the camp are offered at 10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. on Saturdays July–Labor Day (adults $9, seniors $8, kids 5–15 $5). Reservations are necessary; call Adirondack Architectural Heritage at 518/834-9328.

© Avalon Travel and Sascha Zuger from Moon New York State, 5th Edition