BETA
This is a BETA experience. You may opt-out by clicking here

More From Forbes

Edit Story

Inside America's Most Luxurious Fall Foliage Getaway

Following
This article is more than 7 years old.

In the Adirondacks they call this time of year flaming leaf season, and the fire is almost at full blaze right now. Fall foliage in Upstate New York does not mess around. The annual explosion of amber and scarlet and russet and sage is what people tend to miss most when they relocate to places like, oh, L.A. Returning for the autumn spectacle never gets old.

Lake Placid competes in my mind only with the Berkshires as the foliage capital of America. This year, the edge goes to the former Olympics site in New York's "north woods." Lake Placid's fiery visuals reach their peak between now and Halloween, celebratory activities are underway and a venerable old lodge is more inviting than ever. Here's what makes New York's colorful mountain region worth the drive or flight over the next few weeks.

Lake Placid Lodge

The majestic Relais & Chateaux and Forbes four-star hotel, built by hand on the finest aspect of the lake, is the prime spot for luxury. With 13 spacious guest rooms in the Arts and Crafts-style main lodge and an additional 17 luxury cabins, the lodge is the epitome of  mountain chic. Rooms have stone fireplaces ready to go with the strike of a single match. The sumptuous handmade beds are framed with artful twirls of pine and birch branches. A 2005 fire burned the original 1882 campsite to the ground but the property built itself back in the style of the great Newport cottages.

The rooms to book are in the main lodge. Tamarack suite is one of three lodge rooms with private balconies overlooking the lake and mountains. On a crisp, clear October day, the foliage views are doubled against the mirrored lake. Bathrooms are larger than many Manhattan apartments and are fit with deep soaking tubs and rainfall showers. Whiteface is the grandest room, at the top of the Main Lodge. It is a woodsy cathedral high ceilings and branch-trimmed furniture and beds, tall windows and a long, private canopied balcony, offering unmatched views to Whiteface Mountain and beyond.

Andy Keasler took over as general manager last year and works hard to make guests and locals feel like visitors at a gilded era country retreat. In good weather, he'll send you off on canoe, kayaks, or the property's 35-foot mahogany Hacker-Craft for a tour of Lake Placid's mega-homes and bucolic islands. He can also hook you up with a New York State fishing license for some of the best rainbow trout fishing in the state.

Lake Placid Lodge

144 Lodge Way

Lake Placid, NY 12946

Local 518.523.2700

Toll-Free 877.523.2700

A Kaleidoscopic Drive

Leaving Lake Placid Lodge, head east on State Route 86 for 25 minutes until it curves its way to Keene. The scenery along the way is spectacular, particular as the road rises through Sentinel Range Wilderness Area. The route has everything you need in a fall foliage tour: two-lane country roads, burbling creeks and enchanting small towns. Continuing in a loop on Route 73 west back to the lake, you'll pass the Olympic ski jump facility. The trip takes about an hour.

Activities As Colorful As The Season

Whiteface Mountain Oktoberfest in Wilmington celebrates 25 years this fall with a weekend-long Bavarian-style beer fest on October 1st and 2nd. It's everything you might imagine with an event like this: family-friendly and boisterous, laid-back and basically designed for taking selfies alongside guys in lederhosen. Oompah!

The following weekend, October 8 and 9, the two-day Flaming Leaves Festival at the Olympic Ski-Jumping Complex kicks off with a showcase of ski-jumping talent (and live blues) at the former Olympics venue. Typically the peak weekend of foliage fire, it's worth taking the Cloudsplitter Gondola to the top of Whiteface for the full 360 of all that East Coast autumn splendor.

 

Follow me on Twitter or LinkedInCheck out my website