A Glimpse of the Hudson River Ridin’ The Rails

How about getting a great little workout, in our gorgeous Adirondack Park, all the while sitting on your bum, with some spectacular views and scenery thrown in as a bonus?

Then get on over to North Creek for some rail biking with the Revolution Rail Co. Under your own steam (pun intended) you’ll either be on a double or quad rail bike. The light weight bikes, made in Vermont, are easy to ride. Unless it’s a scorcher outside, you will barely break a sweat.

 Pro tip: bring a back pack with drinks and snacks, bug spray and sun protection, (There’s a Tops on Main Street a minute away from the Revolution Headquarters. You’ll need to book in advance because this is a popular attraction and reservations fill up days ahead.  After the waiver signing and a safety briefing, you’ll board a  bus at the North Creek Railroad Station, where Theodore Roosevelt's Midnight run ended. It’s a school bus with the “S” missing – so you are actually on the Cool Bus. (Our driver reminded us.) After a short ride north your carriage awaits on the rails to take you on your adventure.

 Another safety briefing follows. The Revolution crew wants you to have a great time so they explain in a lot of details how to optimize your seat adjustment for a smooth and effortless ride. And important things like how to break. Each bike has a basket for a couple of backpacks and an umbrella to share for two riders. The tours go rain or shine.

You are encouraged to spread out during your ride  -- this is not some form of twisted dodge ‘em cars  -- which gives everyone the chance to feel like they have the rails to themselves. The historic tracks were once used by local mining companies, but never carried passengers.

Our group of four took the 4pm tour where the late day sun light showcases the mighty Hudson for a perfect Nat Geo Cover photo op.

For most of the ride you’ll be under a canopy of trees, with the Hudson River on your right on the outbound. Minutes into the ride you’ll get a view of the Barton Mines Hudson River Plant. A few miles later you’ll get your first crossing of the Adirondack Railroad Bridge.

Everyone slows down. Some folks whip out their iPhones  and begin snapping away a series of selfie, social media ready pics for posting. If  you fear dropping your device into the Hudson, the Revolution Rail Bike folks will take a couple of pics of you and your group on the return trip. (They are available for free on their Flickr site).

After the bridge crossing, the body of water on your right is the Boreas River. A little further down is the halfway point of your trip, where you head on down to the river to enjoy those cold drinks and snacks you have packed. The break allows not only for pictures standing on rocks in the middle of the shallow river, but gives the Revolution crew time to  turn your rail bikes around. It’s about a 20 minute process. There’s also a rustic bathroom.

There are no hills to pedal up, but you will feel the pull of the slight inclines, which means you’ll be picking up speed on the way down as you give your legs a rest.

The whole trip takes about 2 and a half hours, but allow for more time. You’ll  ride about 7 miles round trip. This is a  unique experience for couples, group and families. There’s fun swag and souvenirs in the main office. Check out all of the details here: Revolution Rail Co. . Phone: (518) 251-2345

The State of Schroon Lake 2020

Many folks we’ve spoken to over the summer have commented how busy Schroon and Paradox Lakes have been this season.

On some weekends we’ve witnessed day long water craft induced wakes on Schroon. To get a spot at Dog Beach arrive early. The Dock Street boat trailer lot fills up quickly, with the Town Hall parking lot absorbing the overflow. The Schroon Lake Marina has moved a ton of inventory, according to co-owner Craig Kennedy. And we’ve seen a lot more smiling faces  on stand up paddle boards, kayaks and canoes than in previous years.  Maybe this is  due to the pandemic, with folks staying local.

The fact is our lakes and gorgeous Schroon town beach continue to be a huge draw, and the number one attraction pulling in tourists dollars to our local towns. And the reason our lakes are  so popular are the pristine waters, the result of three  organizations working together. Volunteers from The Paradox Lake Association, The East Shore Schroon Lake Association and The Schroon Lake Association (SLA)  are tireless in their efforts to protect our bodies of water.

Filmmaker and Lake Steward Christian Gratto

Recently the Schroon Lake Association hosted a virtual  educational presentation on the state of the lake, hosted by SLA president Marg Granger.

You can watch the presentation above by clicking the video above or click here.

Mark reminds us of the origins of why the SLA was formed in 1911. That’s when the government planned to turn Schroon, Paradox, the hamlet of Adirondack, Horicon and Severance into a gigantic reservoir. Citizens fought hard and won to stop the plan. Years later the fight continues. The enemies today are invasive species and pollutants getting into the lake.

Even during this pandemic, the work of the SLA continues: water sampling, stewards manning boat launches and boat washing stations, the mapping of the lake bottom to detect areas of invasives and monitoring sand and silt levels washing into the lake from the Schroon River.

The video is well worth watching. Christian Gratto did a fine job editing multiple interview and graphic elements. He also makes a cameo talking about his duties as a lake steward at the Schroon Lake Boat Launch

Paradox Lake Steward Wilden Bruce

You’ll also hear from several experts and volunteers, including Neil Chippendale, who gives a very informative and easy to understand demo on the technology used to “bottom map”  Schroon Lake.  Paradox Lake steward Wilden Bruce talks about boat inspections and two milfoil harvesters from the Invasive Solutions Dive Company explain why they remove this invasive by hand. You’ll come away with a greater understanding of just how important our lake associations are to the well-being of Paradox and Schroon Lakes.

Neil Chippendale demonstrates technology used to “bottom map” Schroon Lake

The SLA  is always looking for volunteers. If you don’t have the time, your donations will go a long way to help preserve our lake for generations to come.

Check out these SLA links for information on  Volunteers, new Members, and their  Fundraising activities. Please visit these pages to see what YOU can do to help!

Experts from the Invasive Solutions Dive Company are interviewed by SLA’s Roger Friedman

Schroon Laker Update

G’day All:

It’s been about a week since we last updated Schroon Laker. On that sunny Wednesday last week the world was rapidly changing and continues to do so at warp speed. Our memories of that day include watching Schroon Lake’s kite skater sluicing on the ice, the walkers  -- with and without dogs --  joggers and runners, hoofing  up and down Route 9 and the noise from construction crews at Pitkins and the new 9 Mile Coffee Building.

(Pitkins is getting a total make-over and 9 Mile Coffee was getting ready for a soft opening, now planned sometime in the future.)

That day we ran into Joel Friedman ad Tony Kostecki, both optimistic about the future.

Up the road in North Hudson, Paradox Brewery Founder Paul Mrocka was overseeing canning of what they had in their finishing tanks. Production is on hold for a couple of weeks.

Two nights before we were with folks enjoying a glass at Sticks and Stones, the last night Steve and Gary had a full service.

Our last stop was at the Dollar General, where a large semi was being unloaded for much needed supplies, including, we were told, toilet paper.

Our family is hunkered down in Montclair, New Jersey, with everyone safe. I’m working remotely as the Senior Broadcast Producer for CBS News 48 Hours, helping our staff get the show on the air each week from our remote offices and edit suites: that would be our living, dining and bedrooms, kitchen tables and whatever space is available. Our two sons are occupied and our daughter, a senior at Syracuse, is finishing her year via online and video classes. Like millions of young men and women, there will be no traditional graduation coming up in May.  

So I’m now back on the Schroon Lake grid, and will continue to report on happenings around town. We pray that everyone in greater Schroon is safe and well, and like you we can’t wait to get back to what life was like before COVID-19 became part of our vocabulary.

And if there’s are sure signs that summer is around the corner, it’s that email from Craig at the Schroon Lake Marina asking when we’d like our boat back in the water…and that shelf full of sun screen at the DG.

If you’ve got news to share, drop us an email at schroonlaker@me.com or leave us a note in comments.

Popular ADK Attraction Rail Explorers May Soon Be Off The Rails For Good

The Rail Explorers bike rides -- one of the most popular attractions in the Adirondacks baased in Saranac Lake -- will soon be making their last trip down the rails.

That’s the word from the Australian owners, Mary-Joy Lu, and her husband, Alex Catchpoole, who fear plans by the state to remove the track they use will destroy their business.

“We’d really love to stay here, but the future is uncertain," Mary-Joy told Schroon Laker last week.

Read more in our Fall Fun in The Adirondacks 2016 section.