I'm starting to plan my next adventure and am looking for recommendations for a 4 or 5 day trip with no or minimal portaging in the ADKs. Thanks in advance!
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Recommendations for ADKs August/September 4-5 Day Trip with minimal portaging
- Thread starter alsg
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Lows Lake can fit your criteria, as could Little Tupper and Round Lake just be wary of the wind and waves on LTL
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If you're looking to base camp, I will second Stripperguy's recommendations. If you're looking to move, and you're willing to do one long carry (what they call portages in the Adirondacks) I would recommend going from Long Lake down to Tupper Lake. The one carry you'll have is relatively long but eminently doable and it's around Raquette Falls. There are campsites at both ends of the carry with the better choices, in my opinion, at the base of the falls. This would allow you to walk over with your gear, set up camp and then return for your canoe after you've had a decent break. This trip is about 45 miles and allows for side trips up the Cold River or off into the Stony Creek ponds area. The first stretch of this trip is all lake and then, once you enter into the Raquette River, it's all downstream to the end.
That's all for now. Take care and until next time...be well.
snapper
PS - Another option is the Oswegatchie River. It's in in/out trip but there are lots of campsites along the way. Very pretty trip but be prepared to pull over the occasional beaver dam or downed tree. With the proper attitude, it just adds to the adventure.
That's all for now. Take care and until next time...be well.
snapper
PS - Another option is the Oswegatchie River. It's in in/out trip but there are lots of campsites along the way. Very pretty trip but be prepared to pull over the occasional beaver dam or downed tree. With the proper attitude, it just adds to the adventure.
I just spent 4 days at Round Lake and really enjoyed it. You can split your time between Round and Little Tupper since you can paddle between them.
Here's some photos from my visit. I camped at sites 1 and 4.
Nice photos, TrailBlaser!!!
Thanks!
G
Guest
Guest
Little Tupper/Round Lake/Rock Pond (the latter the only portage-in of the three, which makes a nice exploratory daytrip) would fit the bill.
I would avoid a summer weekend put-in. Or even a take out; it is a popular place with ADK day paddlers, the HQ lot fills up fast on summer weekend mornings, even the side of the road drop off at Sabattis 10A gets filled. Plus the launching/landing beach at the HQ isn’t all that wide when it gets crowded and inconsiderate.
On the other hand. . . . .
A pre-dawn driveaway from Maryland will get you there by noon or 1pm on a Monday or Tuesday, and the summer day is still long to pack, paddle in, find an open site and get set up ands comfy.
The haul into the launch at the Whitney headquarters couldn’t get much easier than that gentle slope to short sandy beach launch. Easily cartable with some gear in the canoe too for a still quicker AM get-away.
For 4 or 5 days you will need to move camp once. There are twenty some sites on Little Tupper, another 9 or so on (portage in) Rock Pond at the south end or Tupper, 11 more on paddle-in Round Lake at the north end. A lake day paddle to check out open sites before you have to move camp is a worthy endeavor to see where you might go next.
If only you knew someone who had visited all 40 sites. Someone anal; who had not just visited, but kept score sheets with 7 different criteria grades for each site, denoting Max Tent Capacity, Landing Ease, Views & Proximity, Buggieness, Swimming Potential, Site Wander-ability, a combination of Sun/Shade.
Someone survey anal enough to enlist three independent-minded graders to assist, and average their scores. Sometimes averaged with considerable passionate discussion and debate; paddling to visit and grade empty sites is good family (or group) fun, with plenty of scoring banter opportunities.
Someone so seriously WTF anal enough to put all of that into a spreadsheet, with percentages and macros, who would revisit and blind rescore some sites to see how the results compared from year to year (always within 5%). Someone anal enough to keep multiple score sheets and Tupper area map copies with sites numbered in their files.
Someone who has your address. Someone who promises not to send you DougD postal embarrassments.
The small print reads (Re-order with your preferred flavor and smell and receive a 10% discount)
Your Whitney Wilderness site map and score sheet are in a plain, unadorned white envelope. I need to hit the Post Office tomorrow anyway, or Doug won’t get his Smegma Samples in time to celebrate National Simplicity and Eat Your Jello Day on the 12[SUP]th[/SUP]. I’d hate to let him down.
https://nationaltoday.com/july-12-holidays/
Seriously, I think you would be pleased with the 3 lake/pond possibilities on Little Tupper. Enough to go back; there are a dozen B+ or better campsites there for a 4-person group and a couple dozen more for a solo paddler with tent and tarp You will hardly touch the possibilities in 4 – 5 days and will need to go back.
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Thanks, Mike. And my
postal carrier thanks you, too.
postal carrier thanks you, too.
Stillwater reservoir has dozens of primitive sites, many with nice sand beaches. You could easily spend a week there, but you have to reserve your desired designated camp site in person at the launch site (not offered to reserve online). There are extensive hiking opportunities into the adjacent Five ponds and Pepperbox wilderness areas. You can also visit Beaver River, a unique village (with restaurant/bar and store) that is only accessible by boat or special rail car.
Wind can be a problem there too, as it is on Little Tupper.
https://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/34382.html
Wind can be a problem there too, as it is on Little Tupper.
https://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/34382.html
G
Guest
Guest
Stillwater, with some luck, can be great. There are more coves and deep arms for sites off the main lake body. We have about half of the Stillwater sites graded with the same criteria format.
The downsides to Stillwater. It too can be crowded busy at the launch. It is motor-boatable, with what that brings to a crowded launch. It has fishermen; there are very few on Little Tupper.
And mostly it has (or had) a “reservation” system in which you chose a site at the launch, flip the site # tag from “unoccupied” to “occupied” and takes your chances site-sight unseen unless you had been there before.
Ying & yang Stillwater site story, and my worst and best motor boater experiences all in one afternoon.
Many (many) years ago we were at Stillwater with another family, four canoes, four adults, four very young bow paddlers. We flipped a tag, hoped for the best and paddled half way up the lake.
We were 100 yards from our selected site, four canoes strung out in an arrow line pointed directly at that site, when a motorboat with a three young couples blew past us, landed on the beach and hurriedly began unloading gear and coolers.
Paddling up I say “Ah, sorry, but we flipped the tag for #12”
Some bullpucky reply while continuing to quickly unload.
“No, this is Popple Point, we flipped the tag before we left”, says I, looking at the map to be sure.
They did not respond and kept unloading. They had laid claim and were not budging.
Back to the launch we paddle. Flip another tag and hope for the best, an island site on the other shore. Paddle half the length of the lake again (3[SUP]rd[/SUP] time that day) and find a teeny, muddy site with room for a single tent.
WTF do we do now? We had passed a site on the other end the island, up on a high bluff. It was occupied, be we can paddle down and ask when they are leaving.
Friendly guy and his son camped there with a small motorboat hails us before we say a word. “Hey, we saw you paddle past, what’s up?” say he.
I explain that we’ve been up and down the lake thrice and are just wondering how long he is staying, ‘cause we need to find a site soon.
“Tell ya what, hop in my boat and I’ll motor you around to check some of the nicest sites on the lake”
He did, and there were some very attractive unoccupied sites.
“Lemme take you to one more, I think it is the nicest site on the lake”.
And it was.
“Ok” say he “Here’s what we’ll do. Motor back to the launch with me, flip the tag for #23 and I’ll run you back to the rest of your party in the mudpit”
15 minutes later we had flipped the tag for #23 and were back ready to paddle across the lake.
“Tell ya what, take yer time and paddle across. I’m gonna motor over to #23 and sit on the site ‘til you get there”
A day or two later we saw him again on his way out. Or he came over to see us. “Hey, I got a lot of ice left in the cooler. Do you want it?”
Gawd bless the motor boaters. Sometimes.
I used to paddle and camp on Stillwater sites a lot in the 1970's and never had a problem with site selection. I'd go out wth the wife, two small kids, a bassett dog and all of our gear for several days in a Grumman. The tag reservation system was designed to avoid problems of people paddling (or motoring) out, only to find their favorite or secondary sties already occupied. AFAIK, it has worked well, except for an occasional jerk camper squatter. The ranger's home and office is right there behind the sign in board, but he/she may not often be there during the day. Since then I have mostly used Stillwater as a pathway to reach other destinations and ponds much farther inland. Note that here, as in most of the public lands of the Adirondacks, with few exceptions you are legally allowed to primitive camp virtually anywhere, as long as you set up no closer than 150 feet from water bodies, trails , or roads.
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