- Liverpool, NY  

  Beautiful lake, nice chalets

- Depew,NY  

  Beautiful Gasthaus - We loved it!

- Cornwall, NY  

  Wonderful atmosphere

- Randolph, NJ  

  What a Romantic weekend!

- Hampton, NH  

Adirondack Alternatives

When it's time to get away, here are 4 great getaways

By Tim Jones of The Daily News - Sunday, July 1st 2007, 9:03 PM

For some vacationers, visiting the Adirondacks means plunging headlong into the tourist hustle of Lake Placid, Lake George and Old Forge, where you've got motels, hotels, shops, bars, coffee shops, fast-food chains, restaurants and galleries.

All the comforts of home, including crowds, noise and traffic.

For others, an Adirondacks getaway means putting all the food and gear you need into a canoe or backpack and really getting away from it all.

Out to the woods where the scenery looks much the same as it did 200 years ago. Out to where the sight and sounds of other people disappear. Out to where the deer and mosquitoes roam, and the bathrooms are as big as all outdoors.

But the Adirondacks are a diverse place. With a little searching, you can find a spot where it's quiet enough to hear the breeze blow, and dark enough at night to see all the stars. Where you can also still get a great meal and plug in a hair dryer or electric razor, paddle a canoe and hear loons call, hike a trail to a scenic view, bike along a quiet byway, visit a gallery or museum, or curl up on a cozy couch in front of the fireplace with a good book on a rainy day.

Here are four delightfully quirky places off the beaten path - sometimes way off - that each offer its own version of an idyllic Adirondacks getaway:

Lake Clear Lodge

Even after visiting, I'm still not sure whether the real name of this place is Lake Clear Lodge (as the sign on the road says), or The Lodge on Lake Clear, or Hohmeyers Lodge on Lake Clear or The Adirondack Alps.

Doesn't matter. By any name, innkeepers/culinary artists Cathy and Ernest Hohmeyer have created a charming getaway spot.

Located about a half hour and, seemingly, a world away from Lake Placid, this 22-acre property has a beautiful main lodge, built in 1886, that houses a 50-seat restaurant (reservations absolutely required) with an outstanding wine cellar and a bierkeller (beer hall) with more than 100 European brews.

It has four B&B rooms, but if you want more space, privacy and a kitchen, there are two cottages closer to the lake, and three hidden chalets.

The dinners served here are part gustatory celebration, part performance event and completely wonderful. The menu is best described as a traditional European/holistic-organic fusion. Because there are no repeat seatings, there's no pressure to rush through the experience. Stretch out your meal for the whole evening if you so desire.

Even the breakfasts are beyond ordinary, featuring unusual, healthy baked goods, fresh fruits, organic eggs and local produce. And be sure to sign up for one of Cathy's culinary classes if they're available when you visit.

Countering all these calories is no problem - the lake offers swimming, canoeing, rowing and sailing from a private beach area (complete with viewings of the resident bald eagles). There are bikes available to ride the back roads. Nearby, you can find walks and hikes ranging from easy strolls to strenuous climbs in the High Peaks.

(www.lodgeonlakeclear.com; 1-877-623-5257)

Lapland Lake

Ever visited Finland? Absolutely kaunis (beautiful) and looks a lot like the countryside around Lapland Lake resort in Northville, N.Y. It's easy to see why former Olympic cross-country skier Olavi Hirvonen chose to settle here with his wife, Ann.

This is a quiet, family-friendly, end-of-the road resort with a dozen immaculately clean tupas (rustic, Finnish-style cabins with kitchens) set on a few hundred isolated acres that morph from a cross-country ski resort in the winter to a hiking/biking/paddling/swimming area in the summer.

A short stroll from your tupa is the 70-acre, spring-fed Woods Lake, a quiet (no motorboats), crystal-clear oasis with a sandy swimming beach. Canoes and rowboats are available to guests at no extra charge. Stop on the way to say hei to the Hirvonens' two pet poro (reindeer).

The undeveloped shoreline is a quiet place where you can spend hours watching the wind play in the trees and the nesting pair of loons and their chicks. My advice: Get up early and visit the lake at dawn when the mists are still rising.

Lapland Lake is perfect relaxation, but this is a place for the self-sufficient. Other than small but bustling Northville, it's an hour or more to anything really touristy. There's no TV, and Internet access is available but limited. Restaurant choices are also limited, but there's a functional kitchen in each tupa.

But if your idea of a loma (vacation) includes silent woodland trails, a beautiful little lake, a family-friendly beach and settling in with a good book on a rainy day, this place is pure taivas (heaven).

Packbasket Adventures Lodge and Guide Service

In an area made up of small towns, Wanakena is so small its outskirts would barely be a toddler's micro-mini. This nano-town boasts a post office, a tiny general store and a small cluster of homes. The Ranger School of Forestry hides on the fringes.

And then there's Packbasket, a new, very comfortable log lodge in Wanakena where the Oswegatchie River runs past the dining room windows and the southwest corner of Cranberry Lake is just steps away.

Like the town, Packbasket is a small operation: two wheelchair-accessible bedrooms on the first floor, two bedrooms on the second, each with a private bath and a double and single bed. There's a lovely great room with fireplace for socializing and reading, the quiet study (with Internet) and, of course, the dining room.

Packbasket offers a variety of dining packages, some with breakfast only. My advice: Opt for lunch and dinner, too. There's nothing for a long way in either direction that's even close to this good.

The wilderness around Packbasket offers incredible hiking, canoeing (the Oswegatchie is a famous canoe route) and fishing, and they can arrange guided day or overnight trips. The main roads have wide shoulders for biking, and the network of forest roads and trails is perfect for mountain biking.

One more secret: If you can get them to slow down, owners Rick Kovacs and Angie Oliver play traditional music - a great way to pass a rainy afternoon.

Red Pines B&B

You know the lakefront property you wish your family had bought back when prices seemed affordable? That's Red Pines B&B, on the quiet south shore of Lake Pleasant. Owner Diane Corvetti has turned her empty nest into a charming guesthouse.

With just three guest rooms, Red Pines is cozy. You've got everything you need: a comfortable bedroom (one with private bath), a private beach with superb sunset views, a great room with a fireplace for reading and socializing, busy hummingbird feeders to watch, a lake view to enjoy at the sumptuous breakfast (even if you don't normally eat bacon, try it here). There are also very good restaurants in nearby Speculator (ask Diane for tips). And ask Diane to guide you to her neighbor's whimsical miniature village - it's even smaller than Wanakena!

ADIRONDACK FACTS

• The Adirondacks Park is larger than Yellowstone, the Everglades, Glacier and Grand Canyon National Parks combined and contains 85% of all wilderness in the eastern U.S.
• It's the largest park in the nation outside of Alaska.
• With 6 million acres (9,375 square miles), it's slightly larger than Vermont (9,250 square miles).
• Nearly half the total acreage is protected by state constitution and will remain as a forest preserve.
• The park boasts about 3,000 ponds and lakes, 30,000 miles of rivers and streams, and 2,000 miles of hiking trails - the largest contiguous trail system in the nation.

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