Lake Placid sits at the foot of the High Peaks, a village small enough to walk and large enough to have twice hosted the Winter Games. The mountains are the reason most people come, in any season. The history is what they find when they get here.
Hotel St. Moritz has stood on Saranac Avenue for over a century. When a local man came home from Switzerland in 1928 convinced Lake Placid could become the St. Moritz of America, a hotel by that name was already here. Four years later, foreign teams stayed in the building while the town hosted its first Winter Games.
The lake and the mountains are still out the door. What follows is the Lake Placid we know best, and how to spend the days around your stay.
The town opens outward. Trails climb into the High Peaks from a dozen trailheads within a short drive, Mirror Lake fills with paddlers, and the back roads lead to swimming holes and waterfalls that don't announce themselves. There is golf framed by the mountains, and long evenings that are reason enough to stay put.
Fall narrows it down. The crowds thin, the color comes across the ridgelines, and the trails and drives that were busy in July belong to whoever shows up. It is the quietest good season Lake Placid has.
Winter is what the town is known for. Whiteface is twenty-odd minutes out, the Olympic ice is open to skate, and cross-country and snowshoe trails open up once the snow sets in. The days are spent on the mountain, the evenings spent getting warm again, which the hotel is built for: a fireplace in the lobby, a porch to watch the snow from, and the village a short walk on.
In 1932, when the Winter Games came to Lake Placid, the first ever held outside Europe, foreign teams were housed in this building. A short walk from the door, the outdoor oval from those Games is still in use. It is where Jack Shea won gold in the 500 and the 1500 meters, the first man to take two golds at a single Winter Olympics, and where Eric Heiden won all five of his events in 1980.
In winter the oval is open to skate. The rest of the year, the Olympic Center beside it holds the indoor rinks, the arena from the 1980 Games, and the museum, where the medals and memorabilia from both Olympics are kept.
Lake Placid Olympic Center, 2634 Main Street. About a fifteen-minute walk.
Whiteface opened as a ski center in 1958, dedicated to the 10th Mountain Division and the ski troops of the Second World War. It turned Lake Placid into a place people came to ski for the season rather than pass through. The St. Moritz ran ski packages with the mountain in those early years, an early version of the ski-and-stay weekend the town runs on now.
Today Whiteface spreads across three peaks, with more than ninety trails and runs from beginner slopes to Olympic downhill, and it is roughly twenty-five minutes from the door.
Whiteface Mountain, 5021 NY-86, Wilmington. About a twenty-five-minute drive.
The places we point guests to, and would go ourselves.
2634 Main Street. About a fifteen-minute walk.
Inside the Olympic Center, medals, memorabilia, and ski-history artifacts from the 1932 and 1980 Games. A good first stop for the town's Olympic story, and indoors when the weather turns.
5486 Cascade Road. About ten minutes by car.
The two ski jumps are visible for miles and open to visitors. Ride the skyride and the elevator to the tower for the view, watch the jumpers train through the warm months, or take the zipline down the flight path they use.
31 Van Hoevenberg Way. About fifteen minutes by car.
The sliding track from the 1932 and 1980 Games, still in use for bobsled, luge, and skeleton. Tour it, ride it in season, or walk the trails around it.
115 John Brown Road. About ten minutes by car.
The farm and grave of the abolitionist John Brown, who settled here decades before the Olympics, now in the shadow of the ski jumps. A quiet, free stop, with trails through the grounds.
4761 NY-86, Wilmington. About fifteen minutes by car.
A mile from Whiteface, walkways and bridges follow four waterfalls through old forest, with trails and places to stop by the river. Open in winter for snowshoeing.
5021 NY-86, Wilmington. About twenty minutes by car.
A fifteen-minute ride to the top of Little Whiteface, the deck looking out over Lake Placid, Lake Champlain, and the High Peaks. Stroller and wheelchair accessible.
NY-431, Wilmington. About twenty-five minutes by car.
A paved road climbing to near the summit of Whiteface, more than two thousand feet up in five miles, with views into Vermont and Canada. Open seasonally, roughly May through October.
31 Parkside Drive. About a fifteen-minute walk.
On the south shore in the middle of town, a swimming area with a sandy stretch, diving platforms, and a launch for canoes, kayaks, and paddleboards. Lifeguards in summer.
45 Museum Drive, Tupper Lake. About forty-five minutes by car.
In Tupper Lake, a nature center with indoor exhibits and the Wild Walk, a trail that runs through the treetops of the Adirondack forest. Worth the drive, and a good move on a rainy day.
5021 NY-86, Wilmington. About twenty-five minutes by car.
Three peaks, more than ninety trails, and runs from beginner slopes to Olympic downhill. The mountain the hotel first ran ski packages with in its early years.
215 Johnson Road, Malone. About an hour by car.
A family mountain with three connected peaks and fifty trails, plus tubing and night skiing. Smaller and quieter than Whiteface, and easier on beginners.
2634 Main Street. About a fifteen-minute walk.
The outdoor oval where Jack Shea won in 1932 and Eric Heiden swept five golds in 1980, open to the public to skate from December through March. Rentals on site.
31 Parkside Drive. About a fifteen-minute walk.
A thirty-foot chute that sends riders out onto the frozen surface of Mirror Lake. A winter fixture in town since the 1960s.
2302 Saranac Avenue, in the building.
The restaurant on the ground floor of the hotel, independently run and family-run. Burgers, barbecue, and comfort food, a short walk down from your room. Closed Monday and Tuesday.
6125 Sentinel Road. A few minutes by car.
An easygoing spot off the main strip, with a bar and dining room and a covered patio with fire pits over the Chubb River. American food with some range, known for its wings, with plenty of gluten-free.
77 Mirror Lake Drive. About a ten-minute walk.
On the shore of Mirror Lake at the Mirror Lake Inn, dependable for lunch, dinner, or a drink with a view of the High Peaks. Comfort food and a lakeside deck worth arriving early for. No reservations.
2489 Main Street. About a ten-minute walk.
Barbecue done straight: pulled pork, brisket, wings, and a deep list of sauces, with a full bar, in a dim, easy room.
2431 Main Street. About a ten-minute walk.
Breakfast all day. Biscuits and gravy, waffles, French toast, benedicts, coffee, and cocktails. Expect a wait on weekends.
2543 Main Street. About a fifteen-minute walk.
A busy, family-friendly spot at the far end of Main Street. Burgers, pizza, and American plates, with a bar and a menu wide enough for a group that can't agree.
813 Mirror Lake Drive. About a fifteen-minute walk.
The town's original brewpub, going decades, over the water at the south end of Mirror Lake. Its own beers, a full pub menu, and two floors, quieter upstairs and busier down.
2442 Main Street. A short walk.
A Main Street brewery going more than two decades, brewing on a seven-barrel system, with a lineup from stouts to IPAs and a heated patio.
2577 Main Street. About a ten-minute walk.
The Lake Placid taproom of the Auburn brewery, known for its IPAs. A small storefront room on Main Street, dog-friendly, with a few bites like charcuterie and pretzels.
5686 Cascade Road. About ten minutes by car.
Craft beer and hearty food a little outside town, local ingredients where they can get them, a rotating tap list, and fire pits outside.
2528 Main Street. About a ten-minute walk.
A proper local bar: eighteen taps, a long list of bottles and cans, a pool table, and Guinness done right.
2539 Main Street. About a ten-minute walk.
A late-night spot on Main Street beside Generations, a dance floor and drink specials, open Wednesday through Saturday night.
The hotel, and everywhere this guide points.
