Better Outside Project – Trail Feature #4: Amy’s Park
Amy’s Park is a 500 acre preserve located in the uplands of Bolton Landing, NY and is maintained by the Lake George Land Conservancy. It is a beautiful property full of ponds, marshes, and forests, and even some mountain views.
I am hiking this trail to benefit the Lake George Land Conservancy, and to bring awareness to outdoor organizations who focus on conservation and preserving outdoor spaces for public access. Please consider helping me to fundraise for this awesome organization by visiting my Instagram profile to view the fundraiser information: https://www.instagram.com/kb.hikes/
About The Location
Bolton Landing, NY is located near Lake George, a highly preserved lake in the Adirondack Mountains, offering a myriad of outdoor recreation opportunities. The Lake George area is home to many hiking trails for a variety of ages and ability levels. This area is one of my favorite places to hike because it offers the beauty of the Adirondack Mountains while using trails that don’t completely exhaust me by the end of the day.
Amy’s Park is an important property of the Lake George Land Conservancy because it contains the headwater for Indian Brook, which is one of the largest tributaries to Lake George. The wetlands and forests contain important but fragile wildlife habitats. The park also offers great recreation opportunities including multiple hiking trails, a boat launch for canoes or kayaks and wildlife viewing opportunities.
Trailhead Parking
There are four different parking areas within the park. Three of the parking areas are located along Padanarum Road, the main one is the first one you’ll find along Padanarum Road. This is the parking area that is closest to the boat launch if you’re looking to canoe or kayak. The parking lots are all along dirt roads, and in the winter time the main parking lot is the one that gets plowed.
I chose to use this main parking lot, and didn’t get a chance to check out the other ones. The main parking lot has room for maybe about 10 cars. You can find the parking lot here.
About The Trail
Starting from the main trailhead parking area, I took the yellow trail towards the left. The trail goes through the woods and follows along a wetlands area and a beaver dam. After crossing a sturdy wooden bridge there was a short offshoot trail leading to an area where the wetlands open up into more of a pond. There is a nice viewing spot at a rocky outcropping where you can stand for a few minutes and take in the scenery. I was happy and not at all surprised to see the pond and marshes teeming with wildlife. Right at the edge of the pond there were schools of small fish and a bunch of frogs croaking and hopping around. You could hear the sounds of nature and it was lovely and peaceful.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that I had this area all to myself even on the weekend. At the parking lot there was only one other car, but I did not see a single person in the park the whole time I was there.
After spending some time enjoying the views of the pond, I left the spur trail to rejoin the main yellow trail for about half a mile. It was a nice walk through the woods. I then came out onto a dirt road, which was Trout Falls Road. The trail follows the road for a very short distance before turning back into the woods.
From the road, the incline gets very steep for about .2 miles, climbing the side of the mountain. The yellow trail ends at the red trail, also known as Ed’s Red Stripe Trail. From here the trail is less steep but still climbs for about .35 miles.
At the top I get distracted by what I thought was the viewpoint. There are some lovely rocks that look perfect to sit on, with somewhat of a view facing east. I stopped here to drink some water and eat some snacks, thinking that I was ready to head back down the mountain to my car.
However, as I went to leave, I realized that the trail continued to my left! Silly me. I obviously decided to continue along the trail to see what I could discover. It does go a little bit downhill at this point, but you’ll know when you’re at the right spot. There is a great rock ledge with a view that opens up looking southeast toward some gorgeous mountains and sparkling Lake George in the distance!
I ended up spending another 30 minutes here, taking photos and taking some time to simply sit on the bare rock, looking out at the gorgeous views.
For this hike, I only did this out and back route before heading back to the car. However, Amy’s Park is much more extensive and there is so much more trail to be hiked. The red trail extends all the way to the other side of the park, and there is also an orange and blue trail that I never got the chance to explore. Additionally, Godwin Preserve which I had previously written about is a short hike or drive from here and that is a sight to be seen as well. Now that I’ve gotten a taste for the park, I can’t wait to come back!
To see a trail map and more information about Amy’s Park check out this Trail Guide.
