Summer
Hiking, mountain biking, the trails, and fishing the river. Long days, warm water, everything open.
Jay, New York · Adirondack High Peaks
Get back into the wild
We're in Jay, New York, deep in the Adirondacks. Close enough to Lake Placid and Whiteface for everything you want to do, far enough out that you might not pass another soul on the trail.
Most people have never heard of Jay or Ausable Acres, and honestly, that is the appeal. This is the Adirondacks before it got crowded. You are under half an hour from Lake Placid and eighteen minutes from Whiteface, but the moment you turn down our road the noise drops away. The trails here stay quiet. You can hike for hours and have a real shot at not passing another person all day.
Where we are
In the heart of the High Peaks
Jay (us)
Wilmington
Whiteface
Lake Placid
Adirondack High Peaks — schematic
Close by
- Au Sable Forks9 min
- Wilmington10 min
- Whiteface Mountain18 min
- High Falls Gorge19 min
- Keene22 min
- Lake Placid28 min
Getting here
- Plattsburgh airport45 min
- Saranac Lake airport54 min
- Montreal airportunder 2 hr
- Albany2 hr
- Burlington, VT2 hr
- Boston4 hr 45 min
- New York Cityunder 5 hr
Ausable Acres
A private community at the edge of the wilderness
Our house sits in Ausable Acres, a private Adirondack community, and as our guest you get the community pass that comes with it. That pass is the thing that makes a stay here different.
It opens a network of private trails that only members and their guests can use. Clark Mountain starts at the end of our driveway, so you hike in and hike out with no car involved. The loop around Lake Eaton and several other trails are a few minutes' drive. On any of them you have a real shot at not seeing another person the whole time. No trailhead parking lots, no crowds, no waiting your turn for the summit photo. Just you and the woods.
Clark Mountain is a three-season hike, spring through fall. In winter the trails around its base and the other community trails a short drive away are the cross country ski terrain. The climb up Clark itself is a snowshoe, not a ski.
The Ausable River winds through the neighborhood, and Ausable Acres keeps a dedicated fly fishing stretch on it for members and guests. If you fish, bring your rod and a New York State fishing license, which anyone 16 and up needs anywhere on the Ausable. If you don't fish, it's still a good place to sit and do nothing at all.
The town
Jay is small, quiet, and that is the point
Jay is a tiny Adirondack town and that is its charm. There is a historic covered bridge over the Ausable, one of the last of its kind in the region. Jay Mountain is one of the best ridge hikes around, with long open views and a fraction of the foot traffic of the famous High Peaks. The town moves at the pace of the river, which after a few days is exactly the pace you will want too.
28 minutes away
Lake Placid, half an hour away
Lake Placid is close enough to be your dinner-and-a-day-out town and far enough that you are not staying in the middle of it. Two Olympic Games left their mark here and you can feel it walking Main Street. There is the speed skating oval, Mirror Lake right downtown for swimming and paddling, the farmers market in summer, and a real range of restaurants. It is a great place to spend an afternoon. It is an even better place to leave at the end of the day when you head back to the quiet.
18 minutes away
Whiteface, eighteen minutes away
Whiteface is the fifth highest peak in New York and the only High Peak you can actually drive up, by way of the Veterans Memorial Highway. In winter it has the biggest vertical drop in the East and is a serious mountain for skiers and riders. In summer and fall the Cloudsplitter Gondola carries you up for the views, and there is lift-served mountain biking for anyone who wants it. Being this close to Whiteface is a real advantage in ski season. A lot of Lake Placid rentals are actually farther from the lifts than we are.
Right next door
Wilmington, right next door
Wilmington sits between us and Whiteface and is worth knowing. The west branch of the Ausable through here is famous fly fishing water. Same license rule applies: New York State, 16 and up, buy it online before you come. High Falls Gorge, with its waterfalls and walkways, is a quick and genuinely fun stop with kids. And Santa's Workshop, the classic North Pole, NY theme park, is just up the road. If you are traveling with younger kids, it is an easy win.
Eat
You will eat well here
For such a small corner of the world, the food punches well above its weight. Adirondack Mountain Coffee is the low-key breakfast spot, the kind of place you roll into with bedhead before a hike. Ice Jam Inn does elevated comfort food from a chef trained at the Culinary Institute of America, worth booking for a real night out. New Vida, set in an old ski lodge, has a restaurant of its own and walking trails right on the property. And when it's a pizza-on-the-couch kind of night, there are a couple of simple takeout spots minutes from the door. All of it is close.
We'll send you a custom Google Map with all our favorite spots, so the whole area is easy to find from day one.
All year
Every season has its case
Fall
The showstopper. The leaves turn right around the house. You do not have to drive anywhere to see it. You just walk outside.
Winter
Whiteface for downhill or the community trails for cross country, then back to the house to warm up by the fire.
Spring
The quiet season, and we will be honest, the trickiest time to visit. Trails are muddy and the weather is undecided. But if you want to be the first hikers out as things thaw, it has its own appeal.
This is your base camp.
Trails from the back door. Whiteface and Lake Placid minutes away. The river running through the neighborhood.