Adirondacks

The Adirondack Park, in northeastern New York state, is a 6.1 million-acre preserve that contains the Adirondack mountain range, thousands of lakes and ponds, stands of old-growth forest, sprinklings of museums and a handful of forts dating back to the French and Indian War. More than half of the area is privately owned, but landowners tend to be as conservation-minded as those managing the public parks and forests.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, industrialists and financiers established palatial lakeside summer compounds in the area. Their rustic appearance, with log-and-granite construction, massive fireplaces, rugged roofing, birch and cedar furniture, became known as Adirondack architecture.

Today the vast region retains its allure, and in the depths of winter, I often dream of August in the Adirondacks.