If you asked most people to name America’s largest park, you might get answers like Yellowstone, Death Valley, or the Grand Canyon. Most people have no idea that the biggest park in America is actually on the East Coast. In upstate New York, in fact.
Adirondack Park is located in New York, and it’s bigger than Yellowstone and Death Valley combined.
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Yup – this six-million-acre East Coast park has room for two of the nation’s most celebrated national parks, plus the Great Smoky Mountains.
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It’s the largest publicly protected space in the contiguous United States. It’s even bigger than many countries.
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Adirondack Park is filled with “forever wild” forest, which means that hundreds of thousands of acres of this park have never been logged or developed.
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Though about half of the park is conservation land, a full 52 percent of it is privately owned. In fact, there are 102 communities located fully inside the bounds of the park.
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So what kind of outdoorsy stuff can you do inside this massive park? Pretty much anything.
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The park is home to 46 of the highest mountains in the Adirondack Range, so rock climbers and hikers will be in heaven. With over 2,000 miles of hiking paths, you won’t be lacking in places to wander.
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You can also find a whopping 3,000 lakes and ponds within the park’s bounds, which means that kayaking, canoeing, and fishing are also on the table.
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If you want to learn more about the fascinating history and geology of the park, you should stop by the Museum at Blue Mountain Lake or the Wild Center Natural History Museum in Tupper Lake.
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No matter what you do here, Adirondack Park will take your breath away.
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Click here to find out more about visiting and exploring Adirondack Park. For more of the coolest places to hike and explore in America, check out these 16 secret spots around the country where nature will completely relax you.
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