Northville-Placid Trail

Last Friday at dinner, Phil Terrie talked about running into an Adirondack Adventure trip on the Northville-Placid Trail. Part of that trail goes right on the border of his property (which, he pointed out, does not have "No Trespassing" signs). He mentioned hiking parts of the trail for short periods at a time, and meeting other hikers who have passed through his property. The Northville-Placid Trail itself is actually 133 miles long, stretching from Northville on the Southeastern border of the park all the way to Lake Placid.

This trail is the longest continuous "trail" in the Adirondacks (although it includes a bit of road walking and bushwacking), and every year, hikers attempt to hike the entire stretch in one go. Most people plan to take 8 to 10 days, but because of the difficulty of the terrain almost all take closer to two weeks. Many hikers that begin the thru-hike end up stopping part of the way through because they are unprepared for the difficulty of the terrain and the distance from any post office or food supply.

I think the idea of a thru-hike across the Adirondacks is very interesting, mainly due to the complexity of regulations on the Forest Preserve that we have been discussing in class. The trail intersects private property, wilderness, wild forest, and other types of zones designated by the APA, but the entire trail is managed by the DEC. I think that the trail is a good example of something cohesive in a park that is such a patchwork of wildly different environments.