ADK 1 Mile

A Park Full Of Roads

The Adirondack Park is 6-million acres in size, consisting of a mixture of public and private land. Known for its wild character, majestic mountain peaks, and picturesque lakes. As much as the park offers opportunities for Wilderness experiences, it is also criss-crossed by several thousand miles of public roads and snowmobile trails. Slightly over 70% of the park is within 1-mile of these motorized forms of transportation. As a result, there is a wealth of beautiful locations you can drive up to or access with just a short walk.

The Rarity of Remoteness

A side effect of thousands of miles of roads, is difficulty in finding remote wild places. Only 5% of the park is more than 3-miles from a public road or snowmobile trail. That number diminishes to just 3% if we include a 2-mile buffer around motorized lakes and ponds. Only the interior of the parks Wilderness areas, a relatively small area of land, are truly remote. These remote wild areas are worth protecting from the intrusion of motor vehicles and equipment.

Project #ADK1Mile

This photography project is meant to document and celebrate those easily accessible areas of the park in an effort to show just how common they are. There isn't a need for more drive up locations within the Adirondacks, there are already thousands of them. I encourage all those that value remote wild places to use the hashtag #ADK1Mile on social media when posting photos of locations less than a mile from a road. Collectively, we can demonstrate how much there is to enjoy in the Adirondacks with just a short walk, and hopefully help make the point that opening more roads in the park is not needed.