7 March 2022
Sometimes you make a plan and sometimes that plan changes. The winter weather in the Adirondacks is ever changing so sometimes you just have roll with it, as we did today. Our last minute change of destinations brought us out to Newcomb, NY, where we began our hike to Great Camp Santanoni on Newcomb Lake. When we reached the parking lot in the morning it was cloudy, cold and windy, but by the afternoon it was warmer and sunny with blue skies.
The trail from the Santanoni Preserve is a former road from the days when the Pruyn Family would make their way out to their camp. It is relatively flat with minimal elevation. There were signs posted requesting hikers to either ski or snow shoe, so we snow shoed the entire trail (about 9.5 miles round trip).
About a mile in you reach the old farmstead, with beautiful stone buildings and the remnants of the barn that burned down in 2004.
As we continued along the way to the great camp we passed a number of points interest with posted information telling about the farm, how the complex came to be created, and the activities the Pruyn family enjoyed with their guests.
We eventually came to a bridge that went across part of the lake before reaching the camp itself. With the wind blowing it stirred up some snow that went dancing across the frozen surface. As cold as the wind was, it was worth the stop to watch.
We continued on to the great camp and its grounds. The old buildings are beautifully preserved, from the old glass windows to the doorway details. The porch is quite expansive and looks down to the lake. As beautiful as it is in the snow, it must be spectacular to see in the spring/summer/autumn months.
While exploring the grounds I came across the time line of Santanoni in relation to the rings on a tree which was really cool to see.
Currently The Friends of Camp Santanoni are continuing their work to keep preserving this historically rich national landmark. Info can be found here: https://aarch.org/product/friend/
Newcomb Lake itself is stunning and vast, and feels very secluded surrounded by forest and mountains. To the north is a fabulous view of the camp’s namesake, Santanoni peak.
This hike is part of the Experience Newcomb Intermediate Hiking Challenge: https://www.discovernewcomb.com/experience-newcomb-patches/
It is also one of the harder hikes (because of the distance) in our very own ADK Lakes and Ponds Challenge: https://expeditionmidlife.com/adirondack-lakes-ponds-challenge/
The trail offers the option to loop around the entire lake, but because we were in snowshoes, we cut it down to an out and back. There is so much to see and do here that one trip is not enough and I definitely plan on returning in warmer weather.
~Christy