Saranac Lake, New York
If you’re looking to sip your morning coffee while savoring vistas of dazzling foliage and clear waters, then this is the fall senior-friendly destination for you! It’s all about the first of autumn’s daily relaxing moments in this serene vacation haven in the Adirondack Mountains.
The Village of Saranac Lake and its surroundings have attracted visitors since the 19th century with abundant outdoor activities and pure, pine-scented air.
The environment was deemed so vital that patients with tuberculosis and other lung diseases recovered on the porches of “cure cottages” around the adorable town. Mark Twain vacationed here, and he called Saranac “paradise.”
Starting in the Gilded Age, New York tycoons like the Vanderbilts fled the summer heat to stay 300 miles north of the Big Apple in rustic-luxury “camps” by the location’s many lakes. Today, here’s what you can expect from this fall senior-friendly destination:
-Book original log quarters at the Point, a former Rockefeller retreat, for roughly $2,000 a night. But other, more budget-friendly options do exist.
-In the fall, outdoor temperatures are perfect for fishing, canoeing, biking, and birding.
-Catch a play at Pendragon Theatre. Browse locally owned shops or galleries. Saranac boasts many historic buildings, including the Saranac Laboratory Museum, which tells the history of tuberculosis research in the area.
-Hike hundreds of trails, from easy strolls to the Saranac 6. When the foliage begins peaking in late September, hikers of all levels can take a one-mile leisurely hike up Coney Mountain and be rewarded with a 360-degree vista from the flat rock outcroppings.
-For those who don’t wish to venture too far out, the Barnum Brook Trail at Paul Smith’s College is wheelchair accessible. Through a network of boardwalks and bridges, you can immerse yourself in nature.
-Nearby attractions include a more prominent Lake Placid Olympic Museum. Before then, see the exhibit “80 Heirlooms From the ’80s Olympics,” with filmed highlights of the “Miracle on Ice” when the underdog US hockey team bested the Soviet Union. Check out two impossibly high ski jumps and take a run in a bobsled with wheels on an Olympic training track. Non-adrenaline seekers can opt for a bus and walking tour of Olympic sites.
