This [reprinted with permission] article from Forbes is part of this journalist’s continuing series revealing “Hidden America”— worthy travel destinations unknown by most people.
Deep inside Adirondack Park, which encompasses one-third of the land in New York State, there’s a little-known academic institution, Paul Smith’s College. A three-minute drive from campus is a geographic wonderland with unique walking trails that are open to the public free of charge during most months.
The Paul Smith’s Visitor Interpretive Center (VIC), located 20 miles west of Lake Placid, offers 25 miles of trails, including six miles of interpretive nature trails. The VIC includes a 60-acre marsh, five ponds, several brooks, swamps, bogs and a northern hardwood forest.
Unlike many rocky northeastern trails, the VIC trails are relatively soft on the feet, and boardwalks lead visitors through the wetlands. There is no charge in spring, summer and fall. In winter, the trails are groomed daily for cross-country skiing and snowshoeing, and a daily or seasonal pass must be purchased.
Several trails feature wetland ecosystems. The one-mile Boreal Life Trail has a lengthy boardwalk through a northern bog. Native orchids bloom in July, and a variety of boreal birds live in this habitat.
The VIC opened in 1989 as a state-funded facility—a place where visitors could learn about the natural ecosystems of the 6-million-acre Adirondack Park. After New York State curtailed funding in 2011, Paul Smith’s College, which owns the land on which a main VIC building stands, assumed management of the VIC. The college expanded the trail system and continued many nature programs for visitors.
Numerous such programs are scheduled throughout the year—some free of charge, others for a fee. In the summer, for example, there are naturalist-led walks, mushroom walks, wild-edible walks, bird walks and canoe trips. There are also regular yoga sessions.
The VIC hosts the annual Great Adirondack Birding Celebration on the first weekend in June, the Science, Art Music Festival in late April and the ADK Fungi Fest and Adirondack Rural Skills and Homesteading Festival in the fall.
For students interested in attending Paul Smith’s College, there are more than 20 bachelor’s degree programs. The college, which has about 750 students, says it aims “to develop career-ready graduates through hands-on, personalized education.” It aims “to educate, research and advocate on issues that improve our planet and the lives of the people that inhabit it, and help the Adirondack region be ecologically and economically sustainable.”
Stoller is an award-winning journalist who pioneered investigative travel journalism and became USA TODAY’s only investigative travel editor. His articles have been quoted in numerous newspapers and on CNN, ABC’s Good Morning America, NBC’s Today Show, Oprah and other TV and radio shows.