Looking for a little advice

I am a newbie here, but would like some advice. I am from Minnesota and am in the process of planning a trip in the upstate NY, Vermont and New Hampshire area. We have never been to these parts and would like a little direction as to what are the good spots to check out.

We will be traveling mostly so won't be located in one location too long.

So if you could give me some advice on
Camping spots
Day hikes
canoe spots/ with rental

That would be much appreciated, we are not totally inexperienced hikers but no where near professional, so keep that in mind.

Thanks in advance
winonanick

More Info?

Can you provide a little more information as to how long you're travelling, when you're travelling etc. Can you give some idea of what general areas w/i NY, VT and NH you'll be in? Also, what kind of day hikes are you interested in? 5 mile loops or 35 mile pemi traverses?? There's just so much to do in the New York / New England Area that it'd be tough to rec'd stuff without more info.

Good Luck!

Regards,

Dr. Wu

Putnam Pond is a nice campground north of Lake George.
There are many trails and ponds to explore.

http://www.reserveamerica.com/

More info

Sure-

My group will be 2 or 3, we will be traveling late June to Early August. Spending from 10-14 days out there.

I am going to be looking at graduate schools along the way. So we are thinking of stoping in the Adirondacks, for 2 days tops, then traveling into Vermont and New Hampshire, probably spending another 3-5 days here.
We are looking for hikes that can be done in a day, so probably like 3-5 mile hikes, possibly to a peak. I am thinking just day trips, something we can set up a camp site one night, leave the next mornig to hike or canoe and return to the same sight for the evening. So nothing too intense.

Hope this helps

winona nick did you go to camp winona??

If you need to rent a canoe try http://www.canoeoutfitters.com/adks.html
also check out the different routes they have listed in the Adirondacks.
As you travel east through Vt. there is Killington or Pico for day hikes and in New Hampshire you can start at Lake Sunapee and climb Mt Sunapee and than over to Mt Washington for a long day hike.

Depending on where in NY you will be you can choose either some of the nice 4000-footers or the just as nice Souhtern ADK small peaks. If I had to choose and keep in mind there are MANY MANY nice peaks to choose from . . . here is how I would break it down, if peaks are what you are looking for . . .

NY:
Near High Peaks - Algonquin and Wright - moderate
Southern ADKs - Hadley for a short dayhike
Tongue Mountain Range for a longer hike

VT:
Camel's Hump
Mansfield
Abraham and Ellen

NH:
Depending on where in the White Mountains you will be
Lincoln and Lafayette for a long trip
Jackson and maybe add Pierce for an easier trip
Carter Dome with a stop into Carter Notch Hut for a moderate trip

ME:
Any of the AT from Rangeley to Stratton
Baxter State Park

Disclaimer: My "ratings" of difficulty are based on my personal fitness level so you may not find them appropriate.

Have fun and let us know how it goes !!!

sli74

In Vermont I'd camp at Little River State Park. Very near Camel's Hump and Mt Mansfield.

In NH: Sugarloaf Campground in Twin Mountain. You can climb Mt Hale (4.4 RT) or head over to Zealand Hut. Dolly Copp CG near Pinkham's Notch will give you easy access to Imp Face - some of the bet views in the Whites.

Others will have much better suggestions than I could for NY.

Lots of good ideas here but hey, it really is a great place to play in the woods. Until you hit salt water, it will seem like there is always something else worth seeing just over the next hill. Just allow a little extra driving time. West/east and back, sometimes you really can’t get there from there.

In Vermont, I can vouch for Smuggler’s Notch SP for Mt. Mansfield and Camel’s Hump and Gifford’s Woods SP for the Mt. Killington area as being very nice campgrounds. Actually, very nice is the norm for all of the Vermont State campgrounds I’ve seen. I scouted Little River for future use and didn’t see a single bad site. Also, the Vermont campgrounds often offer both tent sites and lean-tos. Hint: unless it’s super buggy and you have no protection, grab a lean-to. For hiking sources, check out the Green Mountain Club web site.

For two people in the White Mountains, it’s often a wash between the USFS and State campgrounds. For more than two, the USFS is usually the better deal because the rates are for the site rather than per person, but be sure to spend some time exploring the links below. Also, the USFS campgrounds are often sited farther from the main roads and thus are rather quiet at night. Only a few of them have showers but don’t let that be your deciding point. You can walk into any State campground in the Whites and use the facilities there, as well as the AMC’s Pinkham Notch Visitors Center. Armed with only a roll of quarters, you can be fresh as a daisy in the Whites. Midweek, you likely won’t need reservations and, given the two or three day lead required for reservations, you should be able to find a site on a Friday by mid day and claim it for the weekend. Holiday weekends may be a bit trickier, however, and possibly impossible. For hiking guides, get the AMC White Mountain Guide and/or The 4000-Footers of the White Mountains.

I don’t canoe but suspect it must be pretty good northeast of the Whites. From Berlin NH to Stratton ME, it seems that every other vehicle has something floatable strapped to its roof. And there is great hiking, too. Sli74 mentioned the AT from Rangeley to Stratton. You can day-hike this terrific area from Rangeley Lake SP or Cathedral Pines Campground in Eustis. Better yet, try an overnight up the AT to Horns Pond Campsite in the Bigelows and out the Firewarden’s Trail the next day. You’ll love it. All you need to know is in the Maine AT Guide.

Post a tentative trip plan before you leave. I’m sure many will chip in with more specific advice.

http://www.nhparks.state.nh.us/ParksPages/parks.html
http://www.visitmaine.com/category/acc_camping.php
http://vtfpr.anr.state.vt.us/parks/
http://www.greenmountainclub.org/
http://www.mountainwanderer.com

winonanick

The central ADK offers some very nice hiking and canoeing, away from the typical vacation cowd.

Make your base camp at Lake Durant, near by day hikes to Blue Mtn and Castle Rock. The Adirondack Museum is not to be missed.

For a more rustic experience, rent a canoe and paddle out to a DEC campsite on one of the many islands in Blue Mtn Lake.

Canoe rentals are available at Lake Durant campground, or at Blue Mtn Lake Outfitters.

If you're into whitewater there's the Hudson River gorge - do it yourself or go with one of the outfitters.

http://www.dec.state.ny.us/website/do/camping/campgrounds/lakedurant.html
http://www.adkmuseum.org/
http://www.adirondackwhitewaterrafting.com/

~Martin

They drained waterbury reservoir for repairs, so I woudn't stay at Little River state park in Vermont this summer. Unless you really want to hike in each state, I might skip the hikes in Vermont (Mansfield or Camels Hump are nice, do them midweek), and focus on hiking in NH instead. So I would canoe in the adirondacks, sightsee in Vermont, and hike in NH.

In Vermont, I would look into staying in a campground on Lake Champlain, like Burton Island (super popular and nice, book now) or Grand Isle, or go all the way over to Maidstone Lake (and hike in NH from there). Actually, I would stay in a hotel or something in Burlington too, and take in some of the fun of hanging out there. I haven't been there since it became a state park, but Green River reservoir would have canoe rentals and is very nice for canoe camping (but something in the St. Regis area of the Adirondacks would be cheaper, less crowded, and easier for canoe camping). I would consider renting sea kayaks and playing on the lake too.

Personally, I wouldn't go anywhere near Lincoln and Lafayette in NH in the middle of summer. You can't imagine how crowded those hikes can be on a weekend. I would hike midweek in the north presidentials like Adams or Jefferson (but they are not easy day hikes at all) or something more off the beaten path in that area.

Lincoln and Lafayette:

I have hiked these on a summer weekend and not seen anyone till I was on my way down OBP . . . the trick is a super super early start !!!

But if you have weekdays free, hike then instead with an early start and you should be able to avoid the bulk of the crowds.

sli74

Winonanick,
I suspect if you're looking at grad schools you'll be hitting areas like Syracuse, Albany, (maybe Plattsburgh?), Burlington, Hanover, Durham? In that case, you'll probably not want to have to drive too far to find your camping/hiking/canoeing spots, or you'll have no time for them.

I'd always suggest camping at the state parks. They don't have the packed-in RV setup that private campgrounds have. I've encountered a few exceptions, including Maple Hill Campsites in Bristol - about an hour south of Burlington - a really pretty, isolated campground within a very short drive of the trail up Mt. Ellen, which is a moderate, pretty hike, maybe 6-8 miles round trip (it's been a while since I did it, can't remember exactly). This campground is fairly close to Camel's Hump as well, which has a patch of alpine tundra at the top although it's often crowded on weekends - their website is http://www.sover.net/~maplehil/

For moderate hikes not far from the main routes you'll be driving, here are a few:

I-87 north from Albany
Giant Mt. is 6 miles round trip, very steep 4,000-footer but really beautiful, maybe 15 minutes from the interstate, 2 hours north of Albany

Tongue Mt. Range - lots of options for short or long hikes; this ridge sticks out into Lake George from the northern end, maybe 1.5 hours from Albany

Rte. 4 between NY and NH
Pico/Killington near Rutland - you'll hike through some ski areas but the woods are quite pretty and the views are nice

Rte. 9 between NY and NH
The Long Trail/AT crosses here and although it doesn't go over any major peaks, there are a lot of pretty woods in this part of the state

I-89 from Lebanon to Concord
Mt. Kearsarge - easy hike for an afternoon or morning, big bald area on top of the peak, about a half hour NW of Concord

Mt. Sunapee - Lake Solitude a really pretty pond on the way up, ski area at the top with views, maybe 45? minutes NW of Concord

I-93 north of Concord

Mt. Cardigan is about a 6-mile round trip hike, big bald area on top with good views of the White Mts. - probably an hour from Concord, with the dirt roads - I could be wrong on the time estimate

Stinson Mt. in Plymouth, another good afternoon hike, about 4 miles round trip, views of the southern White Mts., 1 hour from Concord

Cannon Mt. or the Kinsman Mts. in Franconia Notch - both routes pass beautiful Lonesome Lake w/views of Franconia Ridge, views at the tops, only about 6 miles round trip for Cannon, a bit longer for the Kinsmans, 1.5 hours north of Concord

All kinds of other hikes in the Whites. I won't go into those - other people have done that.

Have a great trip

Thanks

Thanks for all the info. . .keep the ideas coming.

By the way umsaskis, you have our route down pretty good! good guessing

proszach said:

winona nick did you go to camp winona??

Click to expand...

no i did not, not a lifelong winonan

From this ex-Gopher to another soon-to-be:

1. Go immediately to Barnes & Noble or some other source and buy
(a) the AMC White Mountain Guide, plus
(b) the individual Delorme state atlases for NY, VT, and NH.
The WMG is essential for trip planning in the Whites (best maps and trail descriptions, hands down) and you'll be using it frequently down the road if you end up in these parts. The Atlases are likewise essential for getting around; even the locals need them. (NH has a state policy of hiding the highway numbers and street names in a fashion reminiscent of the former Soviet Union.) Forget about estimating travel times for any east-west segments other than the NY Thruway -- it cannot be done accurately, even by the locals. Just plan on everything taking longer on the road. (It's like driving across northern WI, but worse.)

2. There are several canoe rental locations in eastern NH along Rte. 16, from Ossipee up to North Conway. There is nothing like the BWCA landscape in Northern New England outside Maine, except the farthest northern reaches of NH. Expect motors on virtually any NH waterway. You might want to post an inquiry on Paddling.net and the AMC forum(under Paddlers) for site-specific info.

3. No matter what anybody else tells you, the bugs in the Northeast are not as bad as the Arrowhead. But come prepared anyway for black flies, mosquitoes, and deer flies.

Send me a Private Message if you have any other specific questions.

Hiking in the Adirondacks you could base yourself at the Adirondack Mountain Clubs Adirondak Loj and climb Phelps (moderate), hike through to Avalanche Pass, climb Algonquin and Wright or Mount Marcy.
Canoeing, there are mulitple opportunities in the Adirondacks. The St. Regis Canoe area, the Bog river, Little Tupper Lake provide superb canoeing without the problems of motorized craft.
In Vermont I definitely recommend Camel's Hump of their 4000 footers. In New Hampshire, probably the one trip I would recommend most for a first timer would be going up the Bridle Path to Lafayette proceeding across the ridge and descending the falling waters trail (or whatever it is called).
The closest thing to the boundary waters in these states are definitely the Adirondack canoe areas which are primarily in the northwestern quarter of the beautiful Adirondack Park, where you can take extended trips into wilderness areas (especially the five ponds wilderness) without the fear of motor boats. There is nothing comparable in NH or Vt.
Check out www.adk.org for the Adirondack Mountain Club website.