Adirondacks

The Adirondack Park is a publicly protected, elliptical area encompassing much of the northeastern lobe of Upstate New York. It is the largest park and the largest state-level protected area in the contiguous United States, and the largest National Historic Landmark. The park covers some 6.1 million acres (2.5Γ—106 ha), a land area roughly the size of Vermont and greater than the National Parks of Yellowstone, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Glacier, and Great Smoky Mountains combined.

The Adirondack Park boundary, commonly referred to as the ‘Blue Line,’ contains the entire Adirondack Mountain range, as well as some surrounding areas, all within the state of New York. The park includes all of Hamilton and Essex counties, as well as considerable portions of Clinton, Franklin, Fulton, Herkimer, St. Lawrence, and Warren counties and small portions of Lewis, Oneida, Saratoga, and Washington counties as well. (The Clinton County towns of Altona and Dannemora, despite being entirely within the park boundary, are specifically excluded from the park by statute, due to the large prison facilities in both towns.)

Not all of the land within the park is owned by the state, although new sections are frequently purchased or donated. State land comprises 2.7 million acres (1.1Γ—106 ha), about 45% of the park’s area, including the highest peaks in New York State, as well as Mount Marcy, the highest elevation in the state. About 1 million acres (400,000 ha) of this is classified as wilderness, with most of the remainder managed under the somewhat less stringent wild forest classification. Villages and hamlets comprise less than 1% of the area of the park; the remaining area of more than 3 million acres (1.2Γ—106 ha) is privately held but is generally sparsely developed.[3] There is often no clear demarcation between state, private, and wilderness lands in the park. Signs marking the Adirondack Park boundary can be found on most of the major roads in the region, but there are no entrance gates and no admission fee.

Adirondack Forest Preserve

Here is an updated interactive KMZ (Google) Map of the Adirondack Forest Preserve, with updates through November 2019, the last time the NYS DEC released this data.

OSI buys 2,200 acres in eastern Adirondacks | Adirondack Explorer

OSI buys 2,200 acres in eastern Adirondacks | Adirondack Explorer

The Open Space Institute has purchased 2,229 acres in the eastern Adirondacks and intends to eventually sell it to the state, the nonprofit announced Monday.

Located in the towns of Chesterfield and Lewis, the land contains hardwood and softwood forests, wetlands, seven medium-sized peaks, Burnt Pond, and connects more than 10,000 acres of nearby protected land. In a press release, OSI said the state is expected to purchase the property using Environmental Protection Funds and the land would be added to the adjacent Taylor Pond Wild Forest. 

Adirondack Forest Preserve Peaks

This interactive map shows the Adirondack Forest Preserve Peaks, as shown on the Open Street Map. Only peaks on the forest preserve land are shown.

Data Source: Open Street Map Data, Peaks. Narrowed by the Adirondack Park Blue Line (APA), then queried against the DEC State Land Shapefile.