Perhaps it’s the fresh-baked cookie that’s offered to guests as they check into the Mirror Lake Inn, the village’s crown jewel of lodging. Or perhaps it’s how just about every quaint store and restaurant in town has some sort of reminder that miracles can, and have, happened there. Either way, it doesn’t take long upon arriving in Lake Placid to realise there’s something unique about the place.
Known for decades as a winter wonderland and where the US Olympic hockey team stunned the unbeatable Russians in 1980 in perhaps the most-celebrated sporting event ever, Lake Placid is not just for snowy fun anymore. The vacation haven in the Adirondack Mountains is a town for all seasons now, though the sights this time of year are nothing short of Rockwellian.
With a year-round population of about 2,500, Lake Placid has remained small but bustling. Tourism and continuing to tell the Olympic tales of 1932 and 1980 are the backbone of the little community, where cell service can still be a touch spotty and few seem to mind.
But with a mix of classic and new attractions and amenities, there’s more to the place now than ever before. Whiteface Mountain still packs in skiers and snowboarders with arguably the best terrain in the East. Thrill-seekers can get their fix for speed and danger by taking a bobsled ride at Mount Van Hoevenberg. Those just looking to unwind can enjoy a maple sugar body scrub.
Hikers looking to scale any or all of the 46 Adirondack peaks that stand 4,600 feet or higher, tend to start visiting in the spring. In summer, there’s a full-scale Ironman triathlon and a renowned horse show (which takes place in the shadow of the 1980 Olympic cauldron). Leaf-peepers pack the region in the fall, getting a look at the brilliant hues before the trees fall barren again for the inevitable winter.
Bookstores, a little theater, an arts center that lures kids from 100 miles away, fishing, golfing, some of those might not all be available 12 months a year, but they’re all there. And many of those places are connected by brick sidewalks where people can walk about unbothered and unworried, even after nightfall.
Lisa Weibrecht, owner and operator, the Mirror Lake Inn said, “It is beyond a year-round destination. Winter is such a small part of Lake Placid. I would say definitely summer is the most recognised season here between the lakes, the mountains, people leaving the city. This started as a summer resort and our population swells by three times during the summer. I don’t think there’s any place more beautiful to be than in Lake Placid in the summer and the fall.”
Still, its calling card might be winter, as evidenced by the two Olympic medals that hang behind the front desk at Mirror Lake.