Things to do in Lake Placid in Summer

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Home of two Winter Olympics, many would consider Lake Placid, NY a winter destination. Even in the summer you’ll find a sign proclaiming to have real snow year round right in downtown. But Lake Placid is more than Olympic ice rinks and Whiteface Mountain. This charming town nestled along the shore of Mirror Lake has plenty of boutique hotels, shops, breweries and restaurants, a healthy dose of Olympic history, and plenty of outdoor activities nearby. Here are some options for exploring Lake Placid in the summer.

Lake Placid Olympic Sites Passport

Since Lake Placid has been home to multiple Olympics, there are many related Olympics attractions to visit. If you’d like to explore all of them thoroughly, the best way to do so is with the Olympic Sites Passport. Because several of the sites were closed for renovations this year (Summer 2019), we chose not to use the passport. You can also get 20% discounts on several other activities at Whiteface Mountain with the pass including mountain biking, yoga on the mountain, the Whiteface Adventure Zone and a chance to Be a Biathlete.

Pro Tip: Look up the individual costs of the things you are most interested in doing in order to see if the Lake Placid Olympic Sites Passport is worth it.

Lake Placid Olympic Museum

As you drive into Lake Placid from the south, one of the first things you’ll see is the Lake Placid Olympic Center, home to the Lake Placid Olympic Museum along with both the 1932 and 1980 Ice Arenas. The museum itself isn’t very big, but if you like the Olympics or are a history buff, it’s pretty neat to walk through.

The Lake Placid Olympic museum pays homage to the Lake Placid-hosted Olympics, but highlights the history of the Winter Olympics in general. On display replicas of all the Winter Olympics torches. It’s amazing to see all the different takes on the torch design but I think the Lillehammer and Salt Lake City torches were my favorite of the bunch.

The museum also has memorabilia from the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” including the U.S. goalie Jim Craig’s gear from the game, examples of a speed skating suit and how the skates have changed over the years, an example luge sled, and a display of Olympic medals from the different games.

“Miracle on Ice” 1980 Hockey Arena

If you are unfamiliar with the Miracle on Ice movie and the story of how the underdog 1980 U.S. hockey team full of amateurs beat the heavily favored Russian team, I encourage you to check out the book The Boys of Winter: The Untold Story of a Coach, a Dream, and the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team. Saturday nights you can even check out an ice show at the Olympic Center.

Whiteface Veterans Memorial Highway

Whiteface Mountain was home to the majority of skiing events of the Lake Placid Olympics, with exception to the ski jumping complex. It is the 5th highest peak in New York State, at 4867ft above sea level. In the winter, it is a huge draw for skiers looking to take on slopes of all difficulties, but in the summer it’s for hikers, bikers, and drivers looking to visit the summit. They’re no Rocky Mountains of course, but the Adirondacks are beautiful in their own right.

There’s no way I would consider biking down (or up for that matter) Whiteface Veterans Memorial Highway to the summit of the mountain, but we did decide to drive up to see the top. There is a pretty hefty fee for visiting, but veterans and active military are able to get a significant discount with their ID since it is memorial highway. The trip is also included if you choose to get an Olympic Passport.

Read: Hiking Your First Adirondack High Peak: Cascade Mountain

When you enter, you may want to pay attention to the sign at the gate showing the visibility from the peak. On a clear day you can see as far as Burlington along with Lake Champlain and the village of Lake Placid towards the west. On the day we went, it said the visibility was 0’, but it was clear enough at the bottom so we made our way up.

While it was definitely cool to visit either way, visibility on the mountain when we arrived at the summit parking lot couldn’t have been more than a few feet in front of us. It was so foggy they chose to close the 0.7 mile trail up to the summit and we took the tunnel into the heart of the mountain. From there you can catch the elevator up to the top and walk around before heading back down to your vehicle. I can’t wait to go back on a clearer day to take in some of the spectacular views. I imagine it’s amazing in the fall when the leaves start changing. Make sure to bring a jacket as it’s definitely cooler on the top than at the base of the mountain, even in July.

In the Whiteface area, your other option is to take the Scenic Whiteface Mountain Cloudsplitter Gondola Ride up to the top of the smaller Little Whiteface. This gives you a completely different perspective on the towering taller mountain above. The Olympic Passport also gives you access to the gondola if it’s in operation, along with a free round of disc golf in the summer at the foot of the mountain.

Olympic Jumping Complex

While the Olympic Jumping Complex where the ski jump events were held is currently under construction for the summer and fall of 2019 and the tour up to the top of the tower is closed, it’s still worth making a visit to check out these massive structures. They almost remind me of rollercoasters the way they peek out over the treeline from a distance. Standing at the bottom makes you realize how crazy people must be to actually jump from those heights.

There is also a training area at the jumping complex where aspiring aerialists can practice their jumps into a pool during the summer months. We were lucky enough to catch such a session and see some of the flips they were practicing. Even from the smallest ramp it was pretty impressive to watch.

Olympic Sports Complex Tour

The Olympic Sports Complex is home to the bobsled, luge, and skeleton track at Mt. Van Hoevenberg. It is currently under renovation until 2020 so we unfortunately weren’t able to look around and take pictures. While you can still drive up to the jumping complex, the road to get to the sports complex was completely closed off.

Once it reopens you’ll be able to test out the new mountain coaster (supposedly the longest mountain coaster in North America) and go on a self-guided tour between the hours of 9am-4pm. Entering the site is included in the cost of your passport, and discounts are given on some of the activities including the chance to be a biathlete.

Hiking Lake Placid

Lake Placid is nestled right in the Adirondack Mountains, which means that there are tons of options for hiking. In fact, Whiteface Mountain mentioned above is one of the 46 Adirondack High Peaks. If you’re looking to get started hiking high peaks though, I recommend Cascade Mountain for your first Adirondack High Peak. Luckily it’s right down the road on Route 73 in Keene. If you aren’t quite ready for a 7 mile hike yet, here are some other options in the Lake Placid region.

Lake Placid 9er Hiking Challenge

While the High Peaks are definitely a big draw to hikers in this area, Lake Placid has set up a hiking challenge for some smaller, lesser known hikes in order to get people to check out other hikes in the region. Most of the 9 Lake Placid 9er hikes are less than 5 miles and several are perfect for beginners and families. These hiking challenges are fairly common in the Adirondack region and you can get patches for the Saranac Lake 6er or Lake George 12ster as well. Here’s a list of the 9 Lake Placid hikes that can earn you a patch once you complete all of them.

High Falls Gorge

One of my favorite parts of the trip was getting to visit High Gorge Falls in between Lake Placid and Whiteface. The site is private property so you do need to pay a fee in order to walk through the short half-mile stretch of bridges through the gorge area and a 1 mile nature walk. The walk was just short enough that it was perfect for the whole family and I really just can’t resist taking pictures of waterfalls from the gorge so to me it was definitely worth a stop. I mean, look how pretty it is!

Read: Outdoor Adventures in the Adirondack Mountains

Mirror Lake Boat Rentals

Since Mike and I love doing outdoorsy things, we convinced my parents to go kayaking with us on Mirror Lake. It was the perfect day for paddling and the water is so calm because there aren’t any speedboats out on the water. In fact I didn’t see any motorized boats at all, just others paddling around like we were. We chose to use Mirror Lake Boat Rentals, but there are multiple options for renting boats of many kinds. In addition to the tandem kayaks we had, options include paddle boats, canoes, single kayaks, hydrobikes, and paddle boards.

Mirror Lake Boat Rentals is right on the main street in Lake Placid towards the northern end of downtown. You’ll see a paddleboard signalling the way down to the water where you’ll need to pay cash for a boat. Bring a watch or other way to keep time as bringing the boats back late will cost you another hour.

What to Do in Lake Placid in the Summer if You Have Time

• Camp at one of the nearby Adirondack campgrounds
• Check out the Wild Center at Tupper Lake
• Experience Outdoors Zipline and Ropes Course
• Songs at Mirror Lake Concert Series (Tuesdays Only)
• Check the variety of breweries in the surrounding area including Big Slide Brewery & Public House, Great Adirondack Brewing Company, Lake Placid Pub & Brewery, and Valcour Brewing Company
• Plan your trip around a variety of events happening in Lake Placid each summer including the Lake Placid Marathon or the I Love BBQ Festival over the 4th of July.
• If you’re willing to drive a bit farther, you may want to check out railbiking in North Creek, NY with Revolution Rail Co.

Conclusion

Lake Placid is more than just a Winter Olympics destination. It’s a beautiful vacation town nestled among calm lakes and rolling Adirondack Mountains filled with cute shops, restaurants, with (for the most part) gorgeous summer weather.

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