The 6 Best Things To Do in Lake Placid, NY

There are MANY amazing things to do in Lake Placid in the summer. No, truly. We’ve been traveling since 2019 and have visited over 25 different towns and cities in the States (staying in most places for two weeks or longer). I can only say I wasn’t ready to leave one place: Lake Placid, New York.

And what’s funny to me about this is Lake Placid wasn’t even part of our original itinerary when planning our 5-Month Road Trip through New England.

We had a few weeks after our stay in Vermont and before our stay in New Hampshire, so we pulled up a map (Google Maps) and realized we could hop across Lake Champlain to explore the Adirondacks.

We booked three weeks in Au Sable Forks (about 30 minutes from downtown Lake Placid) and… wow. I had no idea Upstate New York was so beautiful and full of so many things to do. The Adirondacks kept surprising us, with even Jon muttering a few times… “I hate to say I like Upstate New York, but I really like Upstate New York.”

No disrespect to New York, of course. We just had no idea it was a place to be for hiking and outdoor adventure!

From hiking the Adirondacks to Olympic Legacy Sites to restaurants overlooking the water and shopping along Lake Placid’s historic Main Street, there is SO much to do in Lake Placid and the surrounding Adirondacks during the summer.

Whether you’re taking a day trip or visiting for a weekend, a full week, or longer… If you love the outdoors and sports, you’ll love Lake Placid. Here’s a map with our picks for the 6 best things to do in Lake Placid in the summer. Then, we’ll help you customize each activity to plan the perfect trip for you!

While we stayed outside Lake Placid (in Au Sable Forks), I recommend staying as close to the town center as possible or staying in Wilmington (about 17 minutes away) or Keene (about 21 minutes away from downtown Lake Placid).

Both of those towns will put you close enough to Lake Placid for dinner and shopping in town, or an early morning paddle on Mirror Lake, plus they’ll each put you right in the middle of the Adirondacks and some of the best hikes to do!

These towns also have a few options for food or restaurants (in addition to what you’ll find in Lake Placid).

From any of these spots (Lake Placid, Wilmington, Keene, and Au Sable Forks), you’ll also be able to get to the Ausable Chasm. (Au Sable Forks or Wilmington will put you the closest.)

Visiting in the Winter? Wilmington is in the Whiteface Region of the Adirondacks, meaning you’ll have quick and easy access to Whiteface Mountain for skiing. And in the summer, you can hike, bike, or drive Whiteface Mountain. (But more on that to come!)

Here are the 6 best things to do in Lake Placid in the summer, broken down to help you create your perfect Lake Placid vacation!

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1. Eat, Shop, and Stroll through Downtown Lake Placid

Walking Lake Placid’s historic main street is a must, no matter what time of year you’re visiting.

A few of our favorite ways to enjoy downtown Lake Placid:

— Stroll along Main Street, stopping in your favorite shops along the way. (If you’re a fan of wildlife photography, make sure to stop in The Curious Otter. If you’re a fan of ice cream, you’ve got a few options, including Ben & Jerry’s and Emma’s Creamery.)

— Enjoy dinner or drinks on the water. We had dinner (just Jon and I) one night at Player’s Sports Bar and sat on the patio overlooking Mirror Lake. Another night, this time with Lincoln in tow, we ate at the Great Adirondack Brewing Company (which had a sour beer on the menu that Jon loved). Both restaurants were great, but if you can only choose one during your trip, I recommend something on the water to enjoy Mirror Lake while you dine.

— Rent a paddleboard, kayak, or canoe on Mirror Lake. Jump to the next best thing to do in Lake Placid for more about getting on Mirror Lake!

— Grab coffee and pastries at Bluesberry Bakery. Sit and enjoy the view at Mid’s Park.

— Catch the sunrise over Mirror Lake at Mirror Lake Public Beach, then walk the Mirror Lake Loop (following the 2.6-mile Mirror Lake path).

While following the Mirror Lake Loop, you’ll walk around the entirety of Mirror Lake and through Lake Placid downtown. You’ll also stroll by gorgeous homes, many of which sit on Mirror Lake, and pass by a Lake Placid Lake access site.

Note: The town of Lake Placid sits on Mirror Lake, while Lake Placid Lake is to its side. You can quickly walk across the street to the access site to view Lake Placid Lake or look into boat rentals and tours at Placid Boat Rentals or Lake Placid Marina & Boat tours if you’d like to get on Lake Placid Lake.

View of Main Street

Dinner at Players on Mirror Lake

Lincoln at Mid’s Park

Lincoln at Mirror Lake Public Beach

2. Rent a Kayak, Canoe, or Paddleboard on Mirror Lake

If you love the water, you must get out on Mirror Lake! It’s b-e-a-u-tiful. And bonus: Gas-powered motor boats are not permitted on Mirror Lake, which makes it incredibly peaceful. Especially at sunset.

While having dinner at the Player’s Sports Bar (mentioned above), we were situated directly above Mirror Lake Boat Rentals. Throughout our dinner, we kept seeing groups leave and come back from kayaking, canoeing, and paddleboarding trips.

It looked like everyone was having a lot of fun and the weather was gorgeous, so after dinner, we walked to the lake to check out rental options.

At the time of our visit (August 2022), you could rent a paddleboat, HydroBike, canoe, rowboat, tandem kayak, or stand-up paddleboard for $30/hour. You could rent a sailboat, electric boat, or premium stand-up paddleboard for $55. (For boats, expect an additional $10 for a third person.)

We found out that Mirror Lake Boat Rentals was open from 10 am to dark daily, depending on the weather. And we had no problem renting a tandem kayak at around 6:30 pm on a Saturday in August. Within minutes of finishing our dinner, we had signed up for an hour on a tandem kayak and set sail on Mirror Lake. The hour before sunset was the perfect time to be on the lake. It was gorgeous to take in golden hour from Mirror Lake, and it was quiet (as we were told most people rent midday).

If you’d like to enjoy Mirror Lake, but without a rental, you can also hop in for a swim. You’ll find people swimming laps (for sport) on Mirror Lake and, of course, people just enjoying their vacations, too. Lincoln was the latter on our very first day in Lake Placid. She hopped right in!

Fun side note: Mirror Lake Boat Rentals is dog-friendly. We meant to do a second rental in a canoe and bring Lincoln, but we arrived about a half-hour too late on our last day in town. (But don’t worry, if you’re hoping to see Lincoln in a canoe, we did take her on Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire a few weeks later. Pictures to come!)

Note: If you’re visiting Lake Placid in the winter, and so you can’t swim or paddle, check out the Lake Placid toboggan chute instead. Looks awesome!

3. Visit the Lake Placid Legacy Sites

Lake Placid hosted two Olympic Games: one in 1932 and one in 1980. That makes visiting the site of former Olympic events one of the most unique things to do in Lake Placid.

You can explore the Olympic Center, Olympic Jumping Complex, Mount Van Hoevenberg, and Whiteface Mountain. Learn more about the Legacy Sites here.

At the Olympic Center, you’ll find the hockey arena from the 1932 games, the hockey arena from the 1980 games (the Herb Brooks Arena), the speed skating oval, and, depending on the time of your visit, an Olympic Museum Exhibit & Gallery.

At the Olympic Jumping Complex, you can zipline, ride a gondola & elevator up to the sky deck of the 128-meter ski jump, and enjoy 360-degree views of Lake Placid.

At Mount Van Hoevenberg, you can ride North America’s longest coaster (the Cliffside Coaster) and be introduced to the sport of luge and bobsledding! There’s also a great hike at Mount Van Hoevenberg (Mt. Van Hoevenberg East Trail) that’s dog-friendly.

In the summer at Whiteface Mountain, you’ll find gondola rides, hiking, and the Whiteface Veteran’s Memorial Highway. (More on Whiteface Mountain below.)

We spent one afternoon at the Mount Van Hoevenberg Site and one midmorning at the Olympic Center. Everything is within an approximately 30-minute drive of downtown Lake Placid, but the Olympic Center is in the heart of Lake Placid Village. So it’s an easy visit if you’re staying in a lodge or inn downtown. The hockey arenas were incredible to see in person!

During our afternoon at Mount Van Hoevenberg, we tested out the bobsled experience. It was VERY cool to experience an Olympic sport I would otherwise never experience, but there are two things to know about this activity: (1) It’ll be possibly the most expensive 54 seconds of your life, and (2) It kind of just feels like a rollercoaster. (And we don’t know about you, but to us, rollercoasters are not one of those things in life that age like fine wine.)

We’ll break down our bobsledding experience further in an upcoming post, and this isn’t to say we wouldn’t recommend the experience! We’re glad we tried it — how fun is it to say you’ve gone bobsledding on an actual bobsledding track that Olympians use?! — but once was enough for both of us. So if you have any hesitation or aren’t really all that interested in having your mind blown at what bobsledders experience regularly, you might want to skip this one and spend your time (and money) elsewhere. The pictures are epic though!!

Mt Van Hoevenberg

Speed Skating Oval

Herb Brooks Arena

Bobsledding Experience

4. Drive, Hike, or Bike Whiteface Mountain

You’ve got options for getting up Whiteface Mountain to take in the views. You can bike, hike, or drive the Whiteface Veteran’s Memorial Highway (which is the route we chose).

If you choose to drive, enjoy the scenery as you scale Whiteface Mountain, then park in the parking lot at the top and hop out of your car if possible. Walk to the Alpine Nature Trail, and take the stairs to start your 1/5-mile-long trek to the summit of Whiteface Mountain.

Make sure you turn around and enjoy your glimpse of Lake Placid Lake while you do!

Note: Want to hike to view Whiteface Mountain but not hike up Whiteface Mountain? Consider the Bear’s Den hike which rewards you with a beautiful mountain view (in which you can even see the ski lifts on Whiteface Mountain). You can check out more hikes to do in the Adirondacks here and here.

5. Hike (and Hike Some More) in the Adirondacks

When I say there’s so much to do in Lake Placid, a big part of that is because there’s so much to do and see in the Adirondack Mountains surrounding Lake Placid.

Here are possibly the best three hikes near Lake Placid.

Cobble Head Lookout: This one makes the list because it probably has the best effort-to-view ratio in the area. Plus, it’s right around the corner (literally) from Whiteface Veterans Memorial Highway, so before or after you drive the summit, you can stretch your legs on this trail.

Balanced Rocks: This trail was just a lot of fun. It has some rock scrambling, a walk through the woods, a gorgeous view, and it’s quieter than its sister trail (Cascade Mountain). Plus, it’s dog-friendly! (Just be careful if your dog likes to pull because the rock scrambling can get steep when you’re doing down.)

Mount Van Hoevenberg East Trail: This one’s a bit unfair to put on this list - because it’ll be hard to replicate one of the things that made this hike so incredible: a double rainbow - but it was one of the best hikes of our trip. Mount Van Hoevenberg is not yet a popular trail (we had it all to ourselves the entire way) because it’s still fairly new. It’s in great condition. And even if you don’t get to see a double rainbow, the view is pretty spectacular. Even better, this trail starts at the Mount Van Hoevenberg Site, which means you can bobsled or ride the coaster, then hike!

Honorable Mention: While researching hikes and things to do in Lake Placid, I kept coming across the Indian Head Trail, with most people naming it as the most popular or best hike to do. This was a good hike, with a nice view, but personally wasn’t mine or Jon’s favorite. (Though that may have been because the afternoon is not the best time of day to go for photographs or to see the overlook in its full glory.) This hike is ten-miles-long and not dog-friendly, so unless you’ve got plenty of time or you want to tackle a more well-known hike, we’d recommend skipping this one. And you need reservations!

Looking for another activity with a relatively good effort-to-view ratio? (Note: This one includes stairs.) Check out the High Falls Gorge.

You can check out more hikes to do in the Adirondacks here and here.

View of Cobble Lookout after a (muddy) trail run

Lincoln at the Balanced Rocks

Double rainbow at Mt Van Hoevenberg

6. Tackle the Adventure Trail at the Ausable Chasm

You can easily spend a day at the Ausable Chasm… but arrive early! We arrived about 15 minutes after opening and there was already a decent line formed just waiting to purchase tickets. And by the time we finished our adventure trail and headed to the rafts, we waited about an hour for a raft.

The Ausable Chasm is gorgeous with a lot to do, just be prepared for lines. And if you’re up for an adventure, try the Adventure Trail (aptly named). It’s a true Via Ferrata Course, which is a climbing-esque route that requires the use of steel cables, ladders, and other fixed anchors.

If you enjoy hiking, rock scrambling, and a bit of beginner or introductory climbing, you’ll love this!

If you don’t want to tackle the Adventure Trail, you can also raft, tube, take the riverwalk, or explore 5 miles of trails. Learn more about the Ausable Chasm here.

Have time for more? Keep Planning Your Perfect Trip to Lake Placid, NY

We know just one blog post probably isn’t enough to plan the perfect trip to Lake Placid, so here are a few more resources to shorten your planning time and help you find the perfect adventures and activities for you!

Here’s our pick for the perfect weekend itinerary in Lake Placid.
Here’s our pick for the 10 best hikes near Lake Placid.
And here you’ll find big views for less effort.

Have extra time and up for a road trip? Here’s a one-day itinerary for a road trip to Burlington, Vermont (about two hours away). And here’s a great foodie road trip with 8 fun things to do near Stowe, Vermont (about 2.5 hours away).

Your turn! What’s your favorite road trip or the next on your list?

We’re always looking for inspiration, and would love to hear about your adventures too! What’s an upcoming trip you can’t wait to schedule (or the best you’ve ever taken and why), or which of these Lake Placid activities would you most love to do? Please share with us in the comments below!

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