Get off the Northway (NY Route 87) at Exit 22, and drive North on Route 9N, which runs along the west side of lake George. Gear down, you are about to enter a different time and space.
In the summer, you are moving through a tunnel of green – formed by a canopy of trees lining the two-lane highway. Scenic views of the lake peek through here and there, and the ten miles to Bolton Landing are the most peaceful drive you can imagine.
One of the first things you see as you drive into town is a very grand old stone church on a hill overlooking the lake. Then, to your right, there is a wooden building, the Bolton Free Library, by the entrance to Rogers Memorial Park. Next door is a picturesque white church building that is now the Historical Society and Museum. Next is a log cabin that houses the Chamber of Commerce Visitor Center.
All of these buildings are at the edge of Rogers Memorial Park, which is free to all comers – including the beach, playground, tennis courts, boat docks and landings, and a pier for the old fashioned cruise ship that visits a couple times a week, and will take you on a scenic tour of one of the most beautiful lakes in the world. There is a brightly painted trolley that goes by every two hours, headed for other towns and attractions further south, and will bring you back again when evening comes.
You feel welcome, you feel at home, and you are.
Bolton Landing is not just a charming small town that has existed on the shore of Lake George since Revolutionary War days. It is also an experience. For however long you are here, you feel a part of it.
“The Season” (from Memorial Day through Columbus Day) brings all kinds of visitors from all over the globe – many have been here before, some coming back for generations, and many who visit for the first time – especially those who attend conferences and weddings at The Sagamore, our w
onderful historically-registered hotel that sits on its own island.
Bolton Landing graciously extends itself and its hospitality to welcome everyone. Restaurants have open-air patios on the sidewalks, stores and marinas expand their hours, the Farmers Market and Craft Fairs go into full swing. There are free movies in the park and free concerts in the pavilion for the entire summer, with occasional fireworks for children of all ages. And a free French and Indian War re-enactment, complete with costumes!
People are attracted to our area for a variety of reasons. Bolton Landing and Lake George are part of the Adirondack Park and New York Forest Preserve: six million acres of protected land, some forever wild. Six million acres is roughly the size of Vermont, and is greater than the National Parks of Yellowstone, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Glacier and Great Smoky Mountains combined.
Lake George is 32 miles long and 44 square miles – 26.7 square miles of water and more than half the total shoreline are within the Town of Bolton, along with 125 of the 162 larger islands in the lake, many used for camping.
The Adirondack Mountains frame Lake George’s landscape, with many trails for climbing and hiking. There are nature centers and museums, and a phenomenal number of building and locations that are part of the National Historic Register.
Artists of all kinds have been drawn here by the natural beauty of the area: painters, sculptors, musicians, opera singers, and writers, to name just a few. The Hyde Museum has a list of over 700 important Lake George paintings done between 1774 and 1900. In 1826 Thomas Cole’s illustrations of Lake George were published in The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper, and brought national interest to the area. The novel was actually written in Warrensburg.
And some very famous people have slept here – Benjamin Franklin and Philip Schuyler stopped by in 1776, on their way to try to persuade Canada to join in the American Revolution. In 1883, General George Washington visited the lake on an inspection tour following the Revolution. In 1791 Thomas Jefferson came by inspecting this part of the strategic waterway from Montreal to New York City. Jefferson wrote to his daughter in May of that year, “Lake George is, without comparison, the most beautiful water I ever saw….”
The ten miles from Lake George Village to Bolton Landing became knows a “Millionaire’s Row” when wealthy visitors in the late 1800’s decided to buy shoreline acreage and build their own private summer retreats. Many of those mansions still survive today, some converted to different uses, such as the Marcella Sembrich Opera Museum and the Darrin Fresh Water Institute, part of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Bolton Landing has always been and still is a welcoming town. The beauty of the lake and surrounding mountains can be a peaceful retreat, or a base of operations to enjoy an amazing amount of outdoor pursuits in all seasons – hiking, biking, climbing, boating, swimming, fishing, camping, hunting, snowmobiling, snowshoeing – and many more!
Drop by the Bolton Chamber of Commerce Visitors Center at Rogers Memorial Park for all kinds of information about what to do and see in the area. We are open seven days a week in the summer. 518-644-3831 www.boltonchamber.com
Welcome! Enjoy your stay!
What are some of your favorite things about visiting Bolton Landing?
Penelope Jewell
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