Anyone here been to Lake George

[complain jane]

in the winter/spring? Anything to do there?

[jody]

1. Which Lake George? There are several. n/t

[Lavender Brown]

2. Lake George, NY?

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

13. Yeah.. I've been there before.

We crossed over Lake Placid in a ferry. We went camping at the state park there once when we were in the area. I think there's a small amusment park not too far away. I remember going there too. I can't remember what it's called.

I prefer the White Mountains in New Hampshire. There's lots more to there, especially in terms of hiking. There's also more to see and more campgrounds to choose from. Lake George wasn't the all that bad though.

Another good one in Maine (where I'm from) is Mount Blue State Park in Weld, ME. There's a state camp ground with swimming and a few mountains to climb in the area. It's much easier to get a camping space at Mt. Blue State Park than it is at some place like Baxter State Park or Acadia National Park. Those other two usually require reservations, but we have been to Mt. Blue State park several times with out reservations and have always been able to get a space. Tumbledown Mountain is good hike, especially for beginner hikers. There's a pond (Crater Lake) at the top of the mountain, which is really neat. There's an island in the middle of the pond that you can swim to also. I guess some people go fishing in the pond. Actually, you can go a little higher than the pond, but the view is pretty good at the pond. Mount Blue is the largest mountain in the area. There are a few other mountains in that area too.
http://www.maineinn.net/interactivehikingmap.htm

Yeah, I know you didn't ask about Maine but I thought I'd offer up the info. Not a lot of people seem to know about Mount Blue State Park. It was always one of my favorite camping places.

[SarahB]

3. In New York?

Yes, in the Summer. Another Belle family vacation disaster to be honest (as they pretty much all have been- including Cape Cod in hurricanes, fire alarms at 6:00am in hotels- twice, and Mr. Belle's anaphylactic reaction to hot tubs). The place itself wasn't that bad (some of it a bit cheesy and definitely passed its prime), but the disaster involved certain other problematic interpersonal spousal relationship factors.

[complain jane]

11. oh god.

sorry to hear it. lol sounds awful.

[SarahB]

14. Yep, I think I'm due for a fun and happy trip soon.

[Beer Snob-50]

4. Been there in summer only

one summer, not that great of a vacation. My family found not much that interested them. Maybe we didn't try hard enough.

[No Mandate Here.]

5. Relying on memory here,

(from 30 years ago, when it was a high school hangout)...
At the time, NY state had an 18 year old drinking age, and, yes, we did.


Gore Mountain is a fine ski area - about 20 - 30 minutes away

Depending upon how late on the Spring, the town begins to wake up, but then it was mostly a Summer place.

Drop south a bit and take Rt 7 east- over to Rutland VT and other mountain areas around there. (threre used to be a great diner there. Possibly gone?

Montreal is about 2 1/2 hours north, on I87

[KurtNYC]

6. Lake Placid is more the happening winter town

In the Lake George area, try the a meal at the Sagamore Hotel.
http://www.thesagamore.com/

Saratoga Springs is also within striking distance and is filled with huge Victorian homes, a casino, etc.

[complain jane]

10. ooh- casino you say?

Thanks for the tips. I'm going to check out Lake Placid.

[KurtNYC]

12. Lake Placid has the training facilites for the Winter

Olympics teams, the facilites from the Olympic games held there in 1932 and 1980. Lots of good restaurants, quick access to Whiteface Mountain, dog sled rides, snowmobiling, etc.

http://www.whiteface.com/

Pricey but worth peaking at even if you don't stay there:
http://www.mirrorlakeinn.com/

Better accomodation deals to be found (suites with fireplaces and a view of the lake):
http://www.golden-arrow.com/

Edit to add: btw, the casino is in Saratoga (closer to Albany) and it is all slots/machines. It was opened about a year ago as part of the race-ino push by the state (they put slot casinos at horse racing tracks).

[complain jane]

16. the problem with lake george is

that my first year or two of experiencing it were spent staying at a friend of a friend's family's house right on the lake on Assembly Point during the summers. I've lost touch with them and now the only times I'm there are spent in a cheesy lakeside motel because the friend I travel with is a cheapskate. If it were up to me I'd be in the Sagamore. :rolleyes:

I've never been in winter, so that's why I originally asked about LG in winter. Don't know if it would be a wasted trip.

However, Lake Placid looks a lot nicer, thanks for those links. The Mirror Lake Inn is something I want to explore more, I've never been there and will probably only rarely get to go so I'd like to do it in a place like that hotel. The Golden Arrow still looks nice too.

Thanks again!

[Butterflies]

7. Yes, in the summer. The lake was pretty, but there were lots of

touristy souvenir places along the road next to the lake.

I also went to a fall wedding that was held on a big party-boat about 15 years ago, and I think that was on Lake George too. People can rent those big boats for groups of people to tour the lake while they celebrate something. It was nice.

[welshTerrier2]

8. many times

when i was a kid, my family used to rent a cabin there for two weeks every August ..

the actual Village of Lake George isn't much ... there's a Revolutionary War fort there that makes an interesting tour ... the rest of it is mini-golf, amusement parks and restaurants ... oh, and a beach ... there also are large tourist boats that cruise up the lake ... you can also go para-sailing there ...

if i were going there, i wouldn't stay right in Lake George ... go up the lake on route 9N and stay in either Diamond Point or Bolton Landing ... btw, bike riding there is very difficult ... route 9N is pretty much the only road along the lake and it's very narrow ...

they main attraction Lake George has, and it really is spectacular, is boating ... it's expensive ... renting a decent motor boat for a week costs somewhere around a grand ... there's nothing more beautiful, though, than making a run from one end of the lake to the other ... it's 32 miles long with mountains on either side ... once you get North of Bolton Landing, and past the Sagamore Hotel, you enter the Narrows ... there are tons of little islands in there ... one island, named Glen Island, has a Post Office and a Ranger station ... you can go there and get a camping permit for any of the islands ... on some islands, there's only one campsite so you can have the whole island to yourself ... just watch out for the rattlesnakes ...

the lake is really, really cold ... many people swim there but i like warmer water ... we usually go there just after Labor Day (the rates go down by half) but the lake can get really rough that time of year ... we've thought of doing "kayak camping" but getting stranded in bad weather (4 foot choppy waves) has kept us from going ...

i vaguely remember a golf course in Bolton Landing with great views of the lake ... there's also tons of antique shops in nearby Warrensburg.

you might want to contact the Bolton Landing Chamber of Commerce ... they can help you with trip planning ... here's their website: http://www.boltonchamber.com/

[complain jane]

9. I meant NY, sorry. I didn't know there were more than 1

[Richardo]

15. No, but I've been to *Prince* George (BC)

in February. Guess what? It was COLD!

It was OK, though, I got to spend a week in Vancouver also.