Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Wilderness Lodge AKA Pete's place


When I, the wife half of Scenic New York, was younger, my mother and I used to come to the Adirondacks as much as possible. We camped at Lake Durant and also stayed in the cabins (motel?) at the Wilderness Lodge. I remember going there in the winter and cross country skiing on the property up to the right of the main building (to the left is a pond and stream).

I really can't say much about the history of the place or even when it closed. I do know that about 20 years ago, they had REALLY great food (I especially remember the biscuits) , the owners were a husband and wife, she cooked and his name was Pete, hers was Deb. There were always plenty of people there when we were there, and when I asked a woman that had lived in the area for a number of years about the place, the first thing she said was "oh, that had such great food there" (followed by a sad look and "you know it's defunct now, right?"). I believe the upstairs was an apartment where the owners lived, and the bottom was (and I know this for certain) the dining room/bar and kitchen. There were two smaller buildings that remind one of older hotels, one with two rooms and one with three or four. Those are in a bit worse shape than the main lodge, as is the old garage. The lodge itself has broken windows and people have obviously been in the place since it closed. I've tried poking around the internet for more information on the place, such as when it was built and when it went out of business to no avail. All I can really say about it is that it is just one of countless disused camps and buildings strewn about the park, reminders of times past. I have tried to contact some people local to the area and familiar with Adirondack history, so I might have more to report on the building and property later.

I am not giving a specific location for this place, and I'm quite certain unless you know of it's existence already you won't find it based on the information I'm giving (I can't find one single reference to it online, via Yahoo, Google or Bing) . This is strictly because it really isn't in terrible shape and I want to hold onto the idea that someone might come along and rescue it-and sometimes people learning of an empty building can do things that aren't very good. I'd hate to hear it burnt down or something (a la what happened to the barn at Santanoni). The places I'll discuss later are a bit easier to find, and are rather well known anyway, especially Tahawus (aka Adirondac or The Upper Works or the McIntyre Mine).

2 comments:

  1. I understand you wanting to keep it quiet. Sometimes special places are better when fewer people know about them!
    http://paintingpam.blogspot.com

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  2. Well, it's not so much a special pace, but that I want to be sure nothing happens to it. There was a suspicious fire at a historic great camp a few years back because there is no one that lives there to keep an eye on the place. I also heard of someone that published the location of a "shoe tree" and someone came and cut it down :( . I just want to make sure that if someone CAN save it, it's there for them.

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