Elk Lake At Dusk

Elk Lake, The Adirondacks, New York State

Elk Lake is part of the 12,000-acre Elk Lake-Clear Pond Preserve, a privately-owned forest preserve in the heart of the Adirondacks. In 2013, the Ernst family, owners of the preserve, granted New York State a conservation easement on the preserve. The conservation easement protects the lake and surrounding forests, wetlands, rivers and mountain summits located in Essex County, near the town of North Hudson, New York. The easement limits development but allows sustainable forestry and other limited business and residential activities to continue in perpetuity. Public access to hiking trails to the High Peaks and the Dix Mountain wilderness areas, which surround the lake, will be improved and maintained in perpetuity. Thousands of hiker use public access trails throughout both public and private lands in the Adirondacks, many attempting to hike all 46 of the High Peaks.

This photograph was taken near the Elk Lake Lodge, which hosts 3,500 visitors each year. Elk Lake Lodge has been in operation since at least 1873. The easement does not allow public access to the lake, which sits five miles inside the preserve. It is one of the quietest places I have ever been.

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