Your New Summer Vacation Destination

The Adirondack originated as a place of mystery, wildness, and unsuitability and it is crazy to think that now approximately there are 111,000 - 235,000 residents (Jenkins). Back in the 1800s the only people who dared to enter the vast mysterious Adirondack were trappers and hunters. It is quite interesting to think that the Adirondack, a place where almost no one entered, has transformed into a place where people go to escape the chaos of the world. Ebenezer Emmons played a role in transforming how people viewed the Adirondack. He turned this mysterious place into scenic beautiful place that people actually wanted to go visit. Good thing he had Charles C. Ingham along to sketch and paint the beauty Emmons saw in the Adirondacks. There is nothing more convincing than a picture. Doesn’t the attached image make you want to visit the Adirondack as well? Emmons and James DeKay became what I would like to call the fathers of making the Adirondack a summer vacation home. What originally started as just a trip to go hunting and enjoy the Adirondack, soon became popular camping trips among middle- and upper-class gentlemen. It was a place for these gentlemen to repair the “body and soul weakened by the stresses of modern life” (Terrie 12). Today the Adirondack has expanded on this idea and has become a destination to escape the city life and connect back with nature. By simply going on the Adirondack website, there is an emphasis put on “escape to the Adirondacks for…” (visitadirondacks.com). The list of reasons to visit the Adirondack is never ending. It is crazy to think that the Adirondak has transformed into a place where millions of people have visited.

Jenkins, Jerry 2004. The Adirondack Atlas: A Geographic Portrait of the Adirondack Park. Syracuse University Press / Adirondack Museum.

Terrie, Philip G. 2008. Contested Terrain: A New History of Nature and People in the Adirondacks.  Second Editon. The Adirondack Museum/Syracuse Univ. Press.

"Plan Your Trip | Official Adirondack Region Website" Visit Adirondacks. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Jan. 2016. <http://visitadirondacks.com/first-time-visitors>.