|
|
Now Over 9 Years Old, Best Road in NY State! NY Route 3: The Olympic Trail NYRoute3.com: OlympicTrail.com |
|
Please patronize my sponsors! They are good people and run their own small, often family, businesses. Many are unique and internationally famous. Most folks in the 'Daks won't begrudge you the use of their water, bathrooms, or parking lot when your out "sleeping around" on state land, just ask first. But like your webmaster, we all have a bottom line that has to be met. Prices and services are great in the 'Daks so help all of us out and spread the wealth!
New York State is easily the best value and shortest trip for any type of outdoorsman be it snowmobilers, backpackers, hunters, fishermen, rivers, etc. It packs more state land and public access points than New England and Pennsylvania combined. Our hunting and fishing licenses are great deals because they entitle an outsider to access all the state lands. The Adirondacks have 6 million acres, which 60%, or 3.6 million acres, are state land open for all to use. NY Route 8 goes straight through the Central Adirondacks which boast more wilderness, less people and lower prices than the High Peaks-Placid-Saranac region or the Northway, I-87, Lake Champlain corridor. NY 8 starts in Warrensburg off of US 9, and ends in Kingston on US 9W. The route is a big loop that traverses the Central 'Daks east to west, goes south through Southern Herkimer and Otsego Counties, passing through the Villages of Herkimer, Cooperstown, Oneonta. Then swings east through Delaware and Ulster Counties in the heart of the Catskill Park, going by the huge Ashokan Reservoir. The it descends into the Hudson Valley to its demise in downtown Kingston at the junction of US 9W. The route looks like some frat boys went for a bar cruise on a fall weekend and cribbed the map on a napkin. According to the state, it's NY 8 South through the Central Adirondacks but it really goes almost due west from Warrensburg to Alder Creek, the Adirondack Park stretch. My town pages start on the Northern(state), or Eastern(actual) start in Warrensburg, heading west to Oneida County.
The area code from Warrensburg to Blue Mountain Lake is 518, from Raquette Lake west, it's area code 315 and is served by Frontier Telecom. There are 62 counties in NYS, I cover four of them on this website: Warren, Hamilton (this county wholly in the Adirondack Park), Herkimer & Oneida. All counties are divided into towns, usually with rectangular boundaries. Villages are located in towns, but are incorporated areas with their own definite boundaries, cops, 30 mph zone and government free from the surrounding town's laws. They are just like small cities. The road goes through no villages in the park. Remsen, Newport, Poland, Middleville, Herkimer & Frankfort are not in the park but south of it towards the Mohawk Valley. Indian Lake, Blue Mountain, Inlet, Old Forge, Eagle Bay, are hamlets, which means they are large settlements with a special speed zone, down to 25 mph, maybe a street lighting and fire district, but unlike a village, the town controls things. They don't have definite boundaries and are less densely populated than a village, but they are civilization, so behave yourself and no hunting or camping nearby.
In case you know NY Route 8 South of Herkimer, it's a beautiful challenging route as it winds through Lower Herkimer, Otsego & Delaware Counties to it's end in Kingston. It goes through the heart of the Catskills. I'm not slighting that part at all, but I'm concentrating on my first love for now, the Adirondacks! What gets done should get done right and I'm carrying the load solo.
It came to me in a flash one day, driving back to Latham, through Mayfield on NY Route 30, after hunting all day and seeing a noted local merchant's web address on his banner sign outside. That's what we need up here to get things going, some website run by a dedicated webmaster, designed to promote all the outdoor life in the NY Route 30 corridor! So I started NY Route 30.com to cover NY 30 from Amsterdam to the Canadian Border. After covering NY 30 all winter, I decided to expand my net of roads by covering the main east - west road, NY 8. After all, NY 8 & 30 run together from Indian to Blue Mountain Lake so I use NY 8 often. But I never had been west of Blue Mountain Lake on NY 8, in the 'Daks, before this winter. So in the middle of March, 2003, I registered and started this site. I borrow heavily from NY Route 30.com but it is a separate site with it's own character. I'm trying to boost tourism, travel and the great outdoors on the NY Route 8 corridor. This is not only a business venture, it's a labor of love, a personal travelogue and a bet that the future will be better. It was a great summer and hunting season plus the coldest, snowiest winter on record. I've had a fantastic time but what a winter. I've learned 10x what I thought that I knew about life in 'Daks, especially in the Northern Adirondacks. This site will work! Even if I only break even, I will keep this site going for at least as long until anyone who paid will get their year's worth.