There’s something special about XC skiing in the backcountry. Especially in the Adirondacks. The snow-covered forest is gorgeous. Quiet. Peaceful. Serene. Magical.

Here are all the places we’ve been around Lake Placid. Ranked in order of our personal favorites, but they’re all great.

Gulp. I’m just going to put this out there. Many of the restaurants on Lake Placid’s Main Street are mediocre at best.. This might ruffle some feathers, but I’m going to go down the line and give you this girl’s personal opinion. A few of these are actually on Mirror Lake Drive, but they're all on the main sidewalk that goes around Mirror Lake. Oh, and I’m skipping the bakery, ice cream, candy, chocolate, popcorn, jerky and places that only serve wine/beer without a full menu.

We spend about 4 months a year in Lake Placid — typically a month in the late winter or early spring, and a longer stretch in the summer and fall for 3-4 months. So we get plenty of opportunity to try new restaurants, visit long-time favorites, and give some places a second try even if we didn’t enjoy it the first time around. At the end of each visit, I typically post our experiences. This recap is based on the restaurants where we ate in 2025.

We spend about 4 months a year in Lake Placid — typically a month in the late winter or early spring, and a longer stretch in the summer and fall for 3-4 months. So we get plenty of opportunity to try new restaurants, visit long-time favorites, and give some places a second try even if we didn’t enjoy it the first time around. At the end of each visit, I typically post our experiences. This recap is based on the restaurants where we ate in winter (February and March) 2025.

We had a blast skiing Whiteface Mountain in Upstate New York this 2024/2025 season and wanted to share a few tips and tricks.

We spent about three months at our house in Lake Placid this year. As always, we visited some of our favorite restaurants and tried new ones. Here’s a run-down of memorable meals in and around Lake Placid, and a few that weren’t so great.

Since the Adirondack Rail Trail opened in 2023, bike rental shops have popped up making it easy to enjoy this outdoor activity. Our first outing on the trail was riding from Lake Placid to Saranac Lake. It’s an awesome bike trail through woods and fields, and along ponds with mountains in the distance.

We love hiking the Adirondacks, but it can be hard to know where to begin for new visitors. Here are three amazing hikes at varying difficulties for your first trip.

November and December are a wonderful time to visit Lake Placid. Festive and bright!

Stick season has arrived in Lake Placid. It’s the time between fall and winter … after the leaves have dropped and before the snow consistently covers everything. Basically, the hardwood trees look like sticks. Not everyone’s favorite season, but it’s great timing if you want to avoid the crowds and extend your hiking season. For those visiting Lake Placid in October and November, here are some pre-holiday activities to consider.

We spent about four months at our house in Lake Placid this year, with trips in January, April-May and August-October. As always, we visited some of our favorite restaurants and tried new ones. Here’s a run-down of memorable meals in and around Lake Placid, and a few that weren’t so great.

In late September I hiked the Cranberry Lake 50, a 50-mile loop around Cranberry Lake, about an hour west of Lake Placid. I knew there had been bear activity reported in the area, and prepared accordingly. Sure enough, I had my first bear encounter (outside of being in a car). Here’s what happened and my lessons learned.