You’re inside the largest publicly protected area in the contiguous United States. With 6 million acres, the Adirondacks are bigger than Yellowstone, Yosemite, Glacier, and Grand Canyon combined. About 2.5 million acres are state-owned “Forever Wild” Forest Preserve, protected by the New York State Constitution since 1894. The other 3.5 million is private land within the Park boundary, including towns, farms, and camps like Northern Frontier.
Camp Contact:
Camp Office: (518) 251-2322
Camp Address: 7791 NY-28, Indian Lake, NY 12842
The Tip Sheet
Weather: Mountain weather changes fast. A sunny morning hike can turn into a thunderstorm afternoon. Check forecasts at weather.gov.
Battery pack: A 10,000mAh portable charger is worth its weight in gold on hike days. Bring a car charger too.
Driving: Deer are everywhere, especially at dawn and dusk. Black bears cross roads. Moose are rare but real, especially up by Long Lake. Don’t speed.
Closed days: A lot of the smaller spots are closed Mondays and Tuesdays. Check online before driving anywhere on those days.
Local events: The Adirondacks have constant summer events including, festivals, garage sale weekends, concerts at the Lake Placid Center for the Arts, Hudson River celebrations in North Creek. Check these sites before any day off:
- Indian Lake events: indianlakeadk.com
- North Creek events: gorebyfoot.com or visitgore.com
- Lake Placid events: lakeplacid.com/events
- Adirondack Experience museum events: theadkx.org
Curfew: You need to be back (in bed) by 11pm. Which means you should be returning to camp no later than 10:30pm.
Before You Leave Camp
A few things worth handling while you’ve still got camp Wi-Fi.
Download offline maps. Cell service in the Adirondacks is famously bad. Open Google Maps, search “Adirondack Park,” tap your profile, hit “Offline Maps,” and download the whole region. AllTrails works the same way (Pro version required for offline).
Save the map. See The Map of this guide for the Google Maps starred list.
The drive into camp. Three miles of dirt road. If you’re getting back after dark, take it slow. Deer, potholes, and the occasional moose are real.
Quick Geography
You’re staying at OK Slip Pond, smack in the middle of the park off Route 28. Here’s what’s around you:
| Town | Distance | Time |
| Indian Lake | 13 mi | 20 min |
| North Creek | 17 mi | 25 min |
| Wevertown | 22 mi | 30 min |
| Blue Mountain Lake | 23 mi | 35 min |
| Long Lake | 30 mi | 45 min |
| Speculator | 35 mi | 55 min |
| Pottersville | 40 mi | 50 min |
| Lake George | 50 mi | 1 hr 15 min |
| Old Forge | 55 mi | 1 hr 20 min |
| Glens Falls | 60 mi | 1 hr 25 min |
| Keene valley | 65 mi | 1 hr 30 min |
| Lake Placid | 75 mi | 1 hr 50 min |
| Saranac Lake | 85 mi | 2 hr 5 min |
Camp is located on Route 28. East takes you toward North Creek, Wevertown, Warrensburg (I-87) and eventually Lake George. West takes you toward Indian Lake, Blue Mountain Lake (Route 30), Old Forge, Long Lake, Saranac Lake, and Lake Placid.
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