Looking for a good 3-day backpacking trip for a group of 8

[smarshall]

Hello,

First post here. My brothers & buddies and I are regular hikers and campers, and occasional backpackers. We're from Dutchess County, and have spent some time in the Lake George area, and the Lake Placid area. We've never hiked or backpacked up in the ADK though. Looking for a range, trail, or area that we could do a 3-day, 2-night backpacking trip with a group of about 8 guys. We're not too picky, our only preferences would be that it is in a low-traffic trail area and that the camping/tenting areas are basic/primitive - not looking for a car-camping, porta-potty experience. Also would be nice if there were convenient start & end points for pick up and drop off. Any trail suggestions on the I-87 corridor? Thanks in advance.

Steve

[Trail Boss]

Do you want to move camp each day or stay in one spot?

When you say "ADK", do you mean the High Peaks area near Lake Placid?

Do you want to have a campfire in the evening? If yes, then it excludes the Eastern High Peaks zone (no campfires allowed).

[DSettahr]

"Low-traffic area" and "I-87 Corridor" are somewhat mutually exclusive terms. Many of the backcountry areas along the I-87 corridor are heavily used, because they are so accessible from the interstate. As a general rule, the further you can get from the I-87 corridor, the fewer people you'll see in the backcountry (with the exception, of course, of the High Peaks area).

The Adirondack Park is a large park, and you've got numerous options, especially if you're willing to drive further away from the interstate. I would recommend looking into options in the Silver Lake, Siamese Ponds, West Canada Lakes, or Five Ponds Wilderness Areas- there are plenty of options for both base camping (where you stay at the same campsite each night) or linear or loop circuit hikes in these areas, and they all receive relatively less use than other areas closer to I-87.

If you're determined to stay in the I-87 corridor area, then the Pharaoh Lake Wilderness might be a good option. Keep in mind, though, that the Pharaoh Lake Wilderness (particularly Pharaoh Lake itself) is heavily used.

The most spectacular scenery within the park is in the High Peaks Wilderness, and there are numerous options for backpacking there, but that is the most heavily used backcountry area of all in the Adirondacks (although the Western High Peaks has some good options that get less use if you can get away from the popular access points for the Seward and Santanoni mountain ranges). Also, as Trail Boss points out, fires are banned in the Eastern High Peaks.

You might also consider the Moose River Plains Wild Forest, which might be easier logistically with a larger group. It's car camping, but relatively undeveloped. The campsites are scattered across about 20+ miles of dirt roads, and there are no amenities other than a privy at each campsite. The sites are first-come, first-serve, but the area rarely ever fills up. Use of the sites is also free. There is plenty of decent day hiking options in the vicinity.

With a large group, it is especially important that you keep a minimum impact ethic in mind. Large groups (even well-meaning ones) tend to generate a disproportionately large amount of physical and social impacts on backcountry resources. Make sure that you familiarize yourself with the Leave No Trace Principles- there is a lot more to minimizing your impact in the backcountry than just carrying all of your trash out with you.

Keep in mind also that the overnight group size limit for most Adirondack backcountry areas is 9 people (8 people in some locations, like the High Peaks Wilderness). As often happens with "large group" events, friends will invite friends, who in turn invite more friends, and soon your group is larger than you originally planned for (I've had this happen to me on several my trips). You can get permits from the DEC for larger groups (I think up to 12 people) to camp together in Wild Forest Areas, but these permits are not issued for Wilderness Areas (Wilderness Areas are managed to prevent any alternations to their natural character as much as possible).

Make sure you also familiarize yourself with the rest of the DEC's State Land Camping and Hiking Regulations. Remember that some areas have additional regulations- for example, in the Eastern High Peaks, campfires are banned (due to high levels of use and impact) and bear canisters are required for overnight food storage between April 1 and November 30 (to protect the bears by limiting their ability to obtain food by stealing it from campers). Much of the regulations are in accordance with the Leave No Trace Principles anyways, so if you follow one it's usually not hard to follow the other.

I hope this helps!

[debmonster]

Hello and welcome smarshall! Could you give us an idea of how many miles per day, difficulty level, etc. you're looking for? A few ideas that came to mind are: hike to set up a base camp at Fifth Peak leanto, then hike the Tongue Mountain Range near Lake George; or hike a section of the Northville-Placid Trail (though not near to I-87, it is worth the trip).

[Vinegar]

If you're determined to stay in the I-87 corridor area, then the Pharaoh Lake Wilderness might be a good option. Keep in mind, though, that the Pharaoh Lake Wilderness (particularly Pharaoh Lake itself) is heavily used.

And lots of lean-tos at Pharaoh. With 8 people, I'm making a wild guess that there will be four tents, or at least three. It can be difficult to find that many suitable tent spots in some primitive sites without causing some impact.

Steve might be able to avoid some of the highest traffic by putting together a loop on the eastern side, too.

I'd be remiss if I didn't link to this great post by DSettahr too.Lots of other good info in that thread, and a few others. This may also help.

[DSettahr]

And lots of lean-tos at Pharaoh. With 8 people, I'm making a wild guess that there will be four tents, or at least three. It can be difficult to find that many suitable tent spots in some primitive sites without causing some impact.

You're not really supposed to have more than 3 tents at a tent site anyways. The Adirondack Park State Land Master Plan defines a primitive tent site in part as "a designated tent site of an undeveloped character providing space for not more than three tents." It's one of those things that you don't ever really hear much about because it's buried so deep somewhere in a management document, and it is not an actual regulation. It's worth pointing out that this language exists, though.

I've camped with a group that had more than 3 tents at a site- sometimes there's not really anything you can do to prevent it, and we were still within all applicable regulations (group size, etc.). As Vinegar states, though, when the number of tents starts adding up at your site, it is a sign that you need to be even more careful about considering your impacts and LNT.