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🇺🇸 State · United States
New York: beyond the city, forests and lakes
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New York State is far more than its famous city: behind the skyscrapers of Manhattan stretches a vast land of lakes, forests and waterfalls. In the north-east, the Adirondack Park covers nearly two and a half million hectares of peaks, clear lakes and deep forests, one of the largest protected areas in the country. In the centre, the Finger Lakes line up eleven narrow glacial lakes edged with gorges, waterfalls and renowned wine trails. To the west, Niagara Falls pours its spectacular curtain of water at the Canadian border. Between the historic Erie Canal, the mineral springs of Saratoga and quiet villages, the state offers a striking contrast with the buzz of the city: you hike, you paddle and you taste wine far from the urban din.
The farmhouse in John Krasinski's “A Quiet Place” (2018) was filmed in Pawling, Dutchess County, in upstate New York.
Adirondack Park, roughly 2.4 million hectares, is the largest protected area in the contiguous US, bigger than Yellowstone, the Everglades and the Grand Canyon combined.
Head up to Lake Placid, host of two Winter Olympics, to hike the Adirondack High Peaks far from Manhattan.
Summer and early autumn are perfect for hiking and the wine trails, and autumn sets the forests ablaze with brilliant colour; northern winters are harsh and snowy. The distances are real: count on around seven hours of driving between New York City and Niagara, and a car becomes essential the moment you leave the metropolis. Tip: break up the journey to enjoy the Finger Lakes along the way. As for coverage, the city and major routes are very well served, but the mobile signal weakens noticeably deep in the Adirondacks, in the Finger Lakes gorges and on isolated forest roads; carry offline maps before heading into the mountains.