Wild Lands, Living Waters: Steward the Next Century
The Adirondacks One of America’s greatest landscapes, the Adirondack Park endures because of its extraordinary scale, natural diversity, and the rare way wilderness and community exist side by side. At 6 million acres, it is the largest protected area in the contiguous United States—larger than Yellowstone, Yosemite, Glacier, Grand Canyon, and Great Smoky Mountains National Parks combined. Within its boundaries are more than 3,000 lakes, 30,000 miles of rivers and streams, alongside globally significant wetlands and old-growth forests. Each year, over 12 million visitors come to experience its mountain vistas and quiet waters, vast trail networks, and iconic canoe routes, including the 100-mile journey from Old Forge to Saranac Lake. Visitors from around the globe come here seeking challenge, renewal, and connection to the natural world.
Protecting it requires care at every level
A National Treasure WORTH PROTECTING | 3
WHO WE ARE
Adirondack Mountain Club - ADK Since 1922, ADK has worked to expand access to the backcountry by building and maintaining trails, conserving natural areas, and fostering a community committed to the ethical and safe use of the outdoors.
Cortney Koenig Worrall Executive Director
We advance this mission by promoting responsible outdoor recreation that helps keep people safe while minimizing impact on the natural environment. Our goal is to ensure that everyone can enjoy these wild places fully, while preserving them for the future through sustainable use and stewardship.
ADK IS ON THE PEAKS, ACTIVELY PROTECTING SOME OF THE MOST FRAGILE ALPINE ECOSYSTEMS IN THE NORTHEAST
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Your support today safeguards the Adirondacks for tomorrow
WHY ADK MATTERS ADK is uniquely positioned to champion the Adirondacks and New York State’s wild lands and waters at every level, from the trailhead to the State Capitol. We are the boots on the ground, meeting people where their Adirondack experience begins by welcoming, preparing, and educating the hundreds of thousands of visitors who come each year to explore these extraordinary places. Founded to be New York State’s strongest partner for protection of and access to the Forest Preserve, ADK brings together every essential element of conservation into one connected effort. We build and maintain trails, promote responsible recreation, and ensure that policies protect the Forever Wild Forest Preserve. A National Treasure WORTH PROTECTING | 5
Programs we power
Your investment today protects the Adirondacks for generations
The Heart of Our Work — Heart Lake Program Center At the end of the Adirondack Loj Rd, you’ll find our Heart Lake Program Center (HLPC) — New Yorks busiest backcountry trailhead — which has welcomed 100,000 visitors annually and plays a vital role in advancing ADK’s mission. At New York’s busiest backcountry trailhead, ADK staff help visitors prepare for safe and responsible hikes.
ADK operates from trailhead to summit to State Capitol & all those spaces in-between 6 | The Adirondack Park
Heart Lake is a strategic gateway for welcoming outdoor enthusiasts, is home to the 100year old Adirondack Loj, and also supports the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s management goals for this iconic region. For many first-time hikers, the High Peaks Information Center (HPIC) is their introduction to backcountry safety. With the rise of social media-driven hiking content that often lacks preparation context, HPIC plays a critical role in helping especially younger visitors build safe, meaningful connections to the outdoors.
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Sustainable Trails & Professional Trail Crews
ADK operates New York’s premier wilderness trails program, planning, building, and maintaining resilient trail systems that protect both people and place.
In the past decade, ADK has:
PATROLLED & STEWARDED
385+ miles of trails
CONTRIBUTED
70,000+ hours of trail service
Built thousands of feet of new, sustainable trail tread across the Adirondacks
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The result is a safer, longer lasting trail systems that protect surrounding ecosystems and support responsible recreation for generations to come
Our professional and volunteer crews build bridges, harden tread, construct stone staircases and retaining walls, install erosion controls, and maintain existing trails. ADK’s trail work is completed using hand tools and human power, minimizing disturbance and honoring wilderness standards. A National Treasure WORTH PROTECTING | 9
Adirondack High Peaks Summit Stewardship Program Founded in 1989, the Summit Stewardship Program protects fragile alpine plants that were being damaged by visitor use. Through education, research, and light trail work, stewards have helped alpine species recover even as visitation has increased. Operating from Victoria Day weekend through Indigenous Peoples’ Day, stewards are stationed on the Adirondacks’ busiest peaks, engaging hikers in one conversation at a time to promote low-impact travel and protect sensitive habitats. ADK’s stewardship model has helped restore and protect fragile summit ecosystems by turning visitors into active stewards. It is widely recognized as a leading model for educationbased conservation in sensitive alpine areas throughout the country.
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Your generosity today ensures these wild places endure
Advocacy & Standard Setting From Albany to Washington, ADK advocates for the protection and stewardship of New York’s Forest Preserve and public lands. ` Secures essential funding and opposes harmful legislation ` Advances policies that prepare the Adirondacks, Catskills, and other public lands for climate change ` Works with partners to ensure decision makers prioritize healthy, protected wild lands ADK also engages members and supporters through advocacy days, lobbying efforts, and calls to action that connect citizens directly with elected officials. A National Treasure WORTH PROTECTING | 11
Education & Youth Engagement ADK’s education programs build skills, confidence, and ethics for responsible outdoor exploration while fostering a lifelong connection to nature.
OUTDOOR SKILLS WORKSHOPS cover navigation, paddling, winter mountaineering, and backpacking for safe travel in wild places.
THREE SEASONS AT HEART LAKE
NATURALIST PROGRAMS
brings fourth-grade students, teachers, and families into the field to learn tracking, plant identification, and responsible recreation, and has reached 5,000+ children, strengthening connections between future generations and the Adirondacks.
offered at no-charge act as a bridge between the public and the natural world, using hands-on, place-based education to foster environmental awareness, ecological knowledge, and stewardship.
Across all programs, ADK integrates Leave No Trace principles, reinforcing care, respect, and stewardship in every outdoor experience.
A Century of Impact, & the Work Ahead 12 | The Adirondack Park
In ADK’s first years, we built the 136-mile Northville–Placid Trail, opening the backcountry to the public and connecting Adirondack communities through a long-distance hiking trail. Since then, thousands of miles of Adirondack trails have been created or cared for by ADK’s professional and volunteer crews – with hand tools and human power – providing access to all who enjoy wild outdoor spaces.
At the Center of it All
WE ARE IN CLASSROOMS, EDUCATING THE NEXT GENERATION OF STEWARDS, AND WE ADVOCATE IN ALBANY TO ENSURE PUBLIC LANDS ARE PROTECTED AND OUTDOOR ACCESS IS PRESERVED FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS Taken together, ADK is a complete, interconnected system working in harmony by connecting trails, stewardship, education and advocacy. This integrated approach helps to ensure that the Adirondacks remain wild, accessible, and protected for generations to come and finds a voice in all our members and visitors we meet.
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WHY GIVE NOW
What Your Gift Makes Possible ` Protected ecosystems – by educating people on the high peaks, at our visitor center, on the trail, and at our facilities ` Fewer injuries and rescues because of ADK’s preparedness and outdoor skills training and trailhead education
How do you reach the summit? One step at a time.
` Open and resilient trails, despite heavy use and major increases in visitation ` The building of lifelong stewards—especially young people and first-time visitors
ADK is more than 100 years strong, with new leadership, a revitalized Board, and a clear plan for the next century. Today, visitation is high, weather is increasingly extreme, and outdoor infrastructure is under strain. People need guidance, and the lands, waters, trails, and facilities that support their experiences need ongoing care. YOUR SUPPORT HELPS PROTECT THE ADIRONDACKS AND NEW YORK STATE PUBLIC LANDS SO THEY ENDURE FOR GENERATIONS TO COME. Your investment is a force for lasting impact— protecting ecosystems, keeping people safe, and building the next generation of stewards.
Your gift is that next step
immediate impact & momentum for the future. 14 | The Adirondack Park
Impact at a Glance 20,000 members
25
chapters
140,000+
Online Community
programs & guided trips 150+ education annually, open to all
738,000+ hikers
100,000+ visitors
educated on Adirondack summits about the alpine zone
informed each year, including over 25,000 at the High Peaks Information Center
>70 trails improved
~400 MILES patrolled
5,200+ fourth graders introduced to environmental education through ADK school programs
in the last decade alone
Contact Cortney Koenig Worrall Executive Director Cortney@adk.org Jennifer Durán Senior Director of Development JenniferD@adk.org To support ADK today, please: ` visit www.adk.org/donate ` call 518-668-4447 ` or mail your donation to: 494 Maple Ave, Suite 1 Saratoga Springs, NY 12866 ADK is a qualified not-for-profit organization under IRC Section 501(c)3 (Federal ID: 15-0586270).
*Printed on recycled paper
PO BOX 867 1002 Adirondack Loj Rd, Lake Placid, NY 12946 ADK.org