While Lake George and the eastern fringes of the Adirondacks in general
hold little to compete with the interior, an hour's drive northwest
along Hwy-28 takes you past the headwaters of the Hudson River to the
tiny resort of BLUE MOUNTAIN LAKE
. A handful of
motels
and lakeside
cabins
provide accommodation, and you can swim at the pretty little
beach
that fronts the village center.
Sagamore Great Camp
, about fifteen miles west, in the woods above Raquette Lake, is the
only one of the many "Great Camps" that wealthy Easterners constructed
in the Adirondacks around the end of the nineteenth century that is
open to the public.
Not to be confused with the four-star Sagamore Resort
on an island in Lake George, Sagamore Great Camp was a summer home of the
Vanderbilts
, basically a huge and luxurious log cabin in which they entertained
illustrious guests - including Hoagy Carmichael, who supposedly wrote
the song Stardust while driving the four-mile dirt road that leads
up to the house.
The still-intact house and grounds are now used as a
conference and educational center, and for cross-country skiing in
winter; call for details of summer art and photography classes
, or to reserve a place on a guided two-hour
tour
(July & Aug 10am & 1.30pm daily; Sept & Oct 10am &
1.30pm; rest of year call for details; $9; tel 315/354-5311).
Alternatively, if you'd like to get closer to the other, still private
Great Camps, you can take a short tour of the area by plane, which
gives good views of several; it also gives a clear idea of how
uninhabited the region really is. In Inlet, near Raquette Lake, try
Bird's Seaplane Service (8.30am-dusk; $20 per person, $50 minimum; tel
315/357-3631) or Payne's ($20 per person, $50 minimum; tel
315/357-3971).
Just north of Blue Mountain Lake on Hwy-30, the twenty-building
Adirondack Museum
(late May to mid-Oct daily 9.30am-5.30pm; $10) has 22 rather bland
exhibit areas spread over thirty acres on aspects of regional life,
including art, sports, iron mining and wildlife. It's perhaps most
memorable for its grand views out over the lake and surrounding
mountains.
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Blue Mountain Lake 
