On September 13, 1901, then–Vice President Theodore Roosevelt was finishing a hike up Mount Marcy when a runner found him with the news that President McKinley, shot a week earlier in Buffalo, was dying. Roosevelt rode by buckboard wagon through the night, switching teams three times, and arrived at the North Creek train station at 4:45 in the morning of September 14. It was on the platform there that he learned McKinley had died and he was now President of the United States. Route 28N from Long Lake to North Creek is now marked as the Roosevelt-Marcy Trail.
The town today is a small Main Street with real coffee, real food, and the headquarters for most of the area’s outdoor outfitters. It’s the easiest drive from camp for a “real town” day.
Coffee & Wi-Fi
Cafe Sarah
Price: $
Food score: 4/5 Logs
The croissants are flaky, layered, real butter. Get one with the iced coffee and sit on the front porch. The Wi-Fi is decent and the seating is comfortable if you need to get work done. Sandwiches and quiches are good for lunch. Open Thu-Sun, 7am-3pm. Closed Mon-Wed.
Izzy’s Market & Deli
Price: $
Food score: 5/5 Logs
The rosemary salt bagel is the reason to come. Order it as a breakfast sandwich with egg and bacon. The bagels are boiled and baked fresh every morning, and the deli case has whatever the owner felt like making that day. Limited hours. Thu-Sun only..
The Hungry Crow Market & Cafe
Price: $
Food score: 5/5 Logs
A market and café with food that punches way above the size of the kitchen. The sourdough is made in-house, the chicken pot pies come out of the oven all afternoon, and they scoop ice cream in the summer. Order the soup of the day if it’s a chilly afternoon. Open every day, 10am-5pm. One of the few places open on Mondays.
Food
Marsha’s Family Restaurant
Price: $
Food score: 4/5 Logs
The breakfast diner that opens early, fills you up, and gets you back on the road. Three eggs, bacon, hash browns, and pancakes for under $12. The waitresses have been there forever and they’ll call you “hon.” If you’re heading to a trailhead, this is the breakfast stop. Open every day 7am-3pm.
Wever Creek Diner
Price: $
Food score: 4/5 Logs
Biscuits and gravy that’ll set the rest of your day. The owner is friendly to the point of remembering your order on your second visit. Live music some evenings during the summer, usually a guy with a guitar, sometimes a small band. Closed Mon-Wed.
Timber & Thyme
Price: $$$
Food score: 5/5 Logs
The nice dinner option in North Creek. Inside the Gore Mountain lodge with big windows looking up at the mountain. Order the wings to start (they’re better than the burger places in town) and the gyros if they’re on the menu. Not cheap, but if you want a real sit-down dinner with cloth napkins, this is it. Closed Tuesdays.
Things to Do
Revolution Rail Co.
Pedal-powered rail bikes along the abandoned Adirondack rail line, right next to the Hudson. The bikes seat four — two pedalers, two passengers — and you cruise along the tracks through the woods at maybe 8 mph. Two routes: South River Run is 8 miles round trip and takes about two hours; the Northern Branch is shorter. It’s genuinely unique. There are only a handful of these in the country. Open weekends in summer. Book in advance; weekend slots sell out.
North Creek Depot Museum
The actual train station where Roosevelt learned he was president. The volunteers running it will tell you the whole story in detail if you ask, and they want you to ask. Photos, artifacts, the original telegraph equipment, the platform itself. A 30-45 minute visit, free or low-cost entry. Open weekends in early summer, then daily July through Labor Day except Wednesdays, 12-4pm.
Adirondack All Seasons Outfitters
The local gear shop where the staff actually use the gear they sell. Boots, packs, water filters, custom footbeds. The boot fitter can save your feet if your hiking shoes are wrong for you. Better selection and better advice than the chain stores. Open every day.
Beaver Brook Outfitters
The original Hudson Gorge rafting outfit. They run a 17-mile Class III-IV trip through one of the most beautiful river gorges in the East. About $100-130 per person, lunch included on the full-day trip. Also fly fishing trips and kayak rentals. Book at least a few days in advance.
North Creek Rafting Company
The same Hudson Gorge experience as Beaver Brook, run by a different family. Class III-IV rapids, full wetsuit provided, lunch on full-day trips. They also run tubing trips on calmer stretches of the Hudson if you want water without the whitewater.
Hooper Garnet Mine
$2 a pound for every garnet you dig out, and you actually find them. The mine is wide open and the guides hand you a pick. A two-hour tour with kids running around finding more than you do. Bring sturdy shoes. Surprisingly fun.
Gore Mountain Scenic Skyride
Take the chair lift to the 3,600-foot summit without the hike. The view at the top covers the Hudson Gorge to the south and Lake George to the east. Bring a sweatshirt as it’s noticeably cooler up there. There’s a deck for photos and a short loop trail at the summit if you want to stretch your legs. Open Wed-Sun in summer.
North Creek Ski Bowl Town Park
Free town park at the base of the ski mountain. Mountain biking trails, a small beach on a pond, basketball and tennis courts, and trail access up into Gore. The crowds head to the bigger spots so this is rarely busy. Good rainy-day or low-energy backup.
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