First Wilderness
Within the contours of the First Wilderness Heritage Corridor lay Nature's playground where vacationers and locals alike have been enjoying the fun-filled activities available throughout the four seasons. From sunbathing, picnicking, hiking the high mountains, biking back-wood trails, riding the historical railroad, choosing to brave the pulsing foamy water or meander down the peaceful Hudson River, snowshoeing, skiing, sledding, and snowmobiling, people have traveled to the Great North, year after year. It is with great historic significance that Warren County has led its campaign of tourism and economic development, bringing the communities within the First Wilderness Heritage Corridor together by rail and river to seek out the magic and excitement of the Adirondacks.
The Adirondack Park is located in northern New York and is the largest protected area in the continental United States. Totaling six million acres, it is larger than Yellowstone and
Yosemite National Parks combined. It has been famous as a vacationland for more than a century and its attractions to both the summer vacationer and the winter sports enthusiast are unsurpassed in the Northeast.
The vast area, which we know as the Adirondacks, was designated on early Colonial maps by its Mohawk Indian name Couch-sach-rage. The word translated is, "The beaver-hunting grounds," or "At the place of the beaver." It was at this time that the beaver pelt or "Ra-ge" pelts as the Indians called them were the main source of trade among the natives and eventually the white man. As the Adirondacks became the main source for timber and the logging drives, the forests became depleted along with the beavers who had for over a century made their home there. Great forest fires also took their toll in the heart of the Adirondacks. Alarmed that the forests might eventually be entirely destroyed, enlightened and influential citizens, and organizations interested in the preservation of the Adirondacks, banded together to make their influence felt in the halls of the lawmakers. Conservation was born out of this fever of concerned citizens and in time the Adirondack State Park was created in 1892, protecting the park's public land under the state's constitution, to be "forever kept as wild forest land."
Since those times, phenomenal progress has been made in Conservation, education and the propagation of fish, game and forest. Recreation facilities have been refined and expanded a thousand-fold. Fire control in New York's forested areas has been used as a model by our sister states and many of the areas once denuded of forest cover are again green with the mantle of growing timber. Ra-ge, the forest engineer, once again builds his domed house in the shallows of his forest reservoir as the Adirondacks continues to enhance the lives of all those that take in the breath of clean, exhilarating air. Vacationers and locals alike can enjoy the activities offered during the four seasons of the Great North as they had over one hundred years ago.
For more information about the communities, sites and events visit www.co.warren.ny.us/planning/Inside%20The%20First%20Wilderness%20Heritage%20Corridor.htm
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Lakes to Locks Partners
