Illustration by Gwen Jamison Vogel
Barbara McMartin called Canada Lake “one of the prettiest in the Adirondacks.” The prolific author—who wrote about everything Adirondack, from hiking to history to clashes over environmental policy—chose to live on Canada Lake’s shore, and she wasn’t the only one besotted by the blue expanse. Grand 19th-century hotels, like the sprawling Fulton House and the four-story Auskerada, hosted flocks of pilgrims to its fish-rich waters; the Auskerada cornered the cocktail set, as the Fulton House’s deed forbid the selling of spirits.
In the early 20th century, syndicated cartoonist Clare Victor Dwiggins—aka “Dwigs”—and his pianist wife, Betsy Lindsay, fell in love with the balsam-scented views and the couple soon attracted fellow creatives to what would become a boisterous artists’ colony. Canada Lake converts included artists Paul Bransom and Charles Sarka, whose illustrations appeared in dozens of popular books and magazines; as well as James Thurber, author of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty; Herb Asbury, who wrote Gangs of New York; Pulitzer Prize–winning poet Margaret Widdemer, a cofounder of the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference; and John Lowell Russell and his wife, Lu Case, the couple behind Blazed Trail Production Company.
Blazed Trail turned the lake and surrounds into a movie set, churning out Westerns written by Case and starring Russell. The couple set up an open-air studio in the bowling alley of the defunct Auskerada; for dressing rooms, cast members used the motel cabins that had sprung up on the Auskerada property after that hotel burned in 1921.
The motel, now known as the Lakeside, became another center for artsy types. Sherry Butchner Kennedy, whose family took over the place in the 1960s, says that when Tommy Dorsey’s band played at nearby Sherman’s Amusement Park, the musicians stayed there, and that bandleader Frankie Carle wrote his chart-topping “Sunrise Serenade” on its beach. Charles Sarka painted a mural on what was once the motel’s barroom wall—it’s still there, though it’s since been sided over. “We have been a magnet for creative people. I think there’s creative energy here,” says Kennedy.
You might be able to recapture some of that imaginative magic if you stay at the Lakeside—with no Wi-Fi and no TVs, there aren’t any distractions from the inspirational woods and waters.
But these days there’s a new kind of creative flow that brings trailblazers here: the mountain-bike playground at Wheelerville Trails. Developed by the Town of Caroga and the Adirondack Foothills Trails Alliance (www.adkfta.org), the park offers more than six miles of routes with jump-rich downhills, large berms, and other fun features. In the future, the town plans to add a connector trail to a neighboring network in the hamlet of Caroga Lake.
For a more serene outing, nearby Kane Mountain is topped by a restored fire tower with a bird’s-eye view of the lake. There are two ways to the top: the East trail and the slightly longer North trail. If you take them as a loop, it’s about a two-mile trip. And if you make the trek, bring a cupcake to celebrate; this year marks the 115th anniversary of Adirondack fire towers.
Whatever kind of energy you’re in search of, find the fuel for it at Canada Lake Store and Marine. It’s a one-stop shop for groceries, gifts, giant sandwiches and fresh-from-the-oven baked goods, as well as boat rentals and anything else you might need for a day of play on the water.
If You Go
Find the Lakeside Motel (518-835-3299), which opens in June, at 234 Kasson Drive. The Wheelerville Trails, at 1737 Route 10, hosts a popular mountain-bike festival each summer. For more information and a trail map, visit wheelervilletrails.com. Canada Lake Store and Marine (518-835-6069, canadalakemarine.com) is at 103 Old State Road. To get to the Kane Mountain trail, take a left on Green Lake Road just past the store. The trailhead will be on your left.
