Raquette Lake to Blue Mountain Lake

A popular day trip on four lakes and the Marion River to enjoy islands, a waterfall, abundant wildlife and a swimming beach

by Jeff Nadler

The Adirondacks are blessed with several well-known multiday long paddling routes that require camping and canoe carries along the way. Fortunately, for those looking for a day trip, there is an easier and shorter route that allows you to sample four lakes, a scenic wild flatwater river, an easy half-mile carry trail, a small waterfall, abundant wildlife and breath-taking views of Blue Mountain. The paddle from Raquette Lake to Blue Mountain Lake has long been a very popular and classic Adirondack canoe route.

Kayakers as well as canoers now enjoy this scenic day trip. Much of the route follows NY Route 28, although distant enough to keep it mainly out of sight. In fact, a major portion of the route offers a wild setting with views of Adirondack scenery and wildlife. It is possible to paddle this route in either direction, but there are several advantages to an eastward journey from Raquette Lake to Blue Mountain Lake. Typical prevailing winds on larger Adirondack lakes are from west to east, so you can avoid battling a headwind by traveling east. Second, paddling toward Blue Mountain Lake, you will have many fine views of scenic Blue Mountain in front of you. Finally, it’s always nice to conclude a day paddle at a swimming beach with public restrooms.

Described here as a one-way trip, one or more vehicles need to be dropped off at the take-out at Blue Mountain Lake beach. The beach is across from the firehouse on Route 28, 0.3-mile west of the intersection of Routes 28 and 30. At the end of the paddle, you will be able to retrieve vehicles parked at the put-in. If this is not possible, there are several local outdoor outfitters in the area that could be paid to shuttle paddlers, boats or vehicles. A more ambitious plan might be to lock up a bike at the beach and pedal back to your vehicle at Raquette Lake. One could also just sample portions of this route as a round-trip paddle from the Raquette Lake put-in, Blue Mountain Lake beach or an almost mid-point access spot along Route 28 on the shore of Utowana Lake.

In planning this paddle, the important cautions apply on wind, weather and boat traffic. Raquette Lake and Blue Mountain Lake are larger lakes and susceptible to large waves from wind or motorboat traffic. On two trips taken along this route, I was fortunate to enjoy calm conditions with only modest chop on the most open expanse of Raquette Lake. On a couple of previous planned paddles on Raquette and Blue Mountain lakes, however, we were greeted by huge whitecaps making conditions unsafe for paddling. An early morning start usually helps avoid both boat traffic and strong winds. Fortunately, if the lakes are too rough, there is a wonderful alternate trip possible right at the put-in. You would head south on the scenic boreal wetland channel called South Inlet instead of heading onto the lake. Ultimately, you will reach a scenic waterfall and picnic spot, passing osprey and wildlife-filled wetlands along the way.

Recently, a group of us that frequently paddle our sea kayaks together enjoyed this route on a gorgeous July weekend day. Our boats are 16 to 18 feet long, with sealed bulkheads and spray-skirts worn, thus better suited than open canoes for rougher big lake conditions. (We often paddle on Lake George and Lake Champlain.) This route, however, has long been a popular canoe route – before kayaks became popular. The only big open water crossing is right at the start on Raquette Lake.

Our selected put-in was at the bridge on Route 28 where South Inlet empties into Raquette Lake. There is ample parking available on both sides of the road. The bridge is obvious, 1.2 miles west of the Golden Beach State Campground, or 2.5 miles east of Antlers Road to Raquette Lake hamlet. We carried our boats down the small banks on both sides of the road. (In Barbara McMartin’s book, “Fun on Flatwater: An Introduction to Adirondack Canoeing,” an optional put-in is at the town beach in Raquette Lake, 0.4-mile north of Route 28.)

Our first destination was Long Point on Raquette Lake, which marks the eastern bay where the Marion River flows into the lake. The shortest route is to paddle past the east side of Big Island. With calm conditions on the lake, we decided to extend our journey by paddling completely around Big Island, circling the western end. We were glad we did because we paddled right past an adult bald eagle perched on a white pine. This was the only large open water crossing of the trip, so we stayed close together to be visible to motorboat traffic. Rounding the island, we headed east to Long Point and the eastern bay, labeled St. Hubert Lake on my Adirondack Canoe Map.

We soon reached the Marion River, 1.2 miles from Long Point – wide and decorated with wetland vegetation along its banks. A juvenile bald eagle flew over us, displaying an impressive wingspan. Wildlife sightings are frequent along this part of the trip. A young whitetail deer greeted paddlers at the front of our group. Wetland birds are common along the river and further back in the boreal setting, warblers and gray jays live. With some disappointment, our peaceful setting was disturbed by several motor boaters who ventured up this wider part of the river. The river gradually becomes narrow and twisted in creek-like fashion. At one spot, minor riffles at a broken beaver dam were encountered but easily navigated. The only confusing spot was a split in the river, with a channel headed off north to the left. We knew to ignore the left channel and kept going straight.

There are few places to get out along the Marion River due to its marshy shores, so we waited to reach the take-out for lunch. Beyond the take-out, the river becomes a half-mile of shallow rocky current, thus a half-mile carry trail is used to reach Utowana Lake. The wide and flat trail is incredibly easy. Several kayakers opted to use their wheeling devices to transport boats and gear. Most of the boats were carried two at a time side-by-side, with one person in front and one in back. We met a few canoers on the trail and realized the advantages of canoes for portaging. Their boats were of lightweight Kevlar and had portage yolks and shoulder pads for effortless one-person transport.

Before setting off on Utowana Lake, we enjoyed a refreshing swim and a few decided to practice an assisted kayak rescue. My failed Eskimo roll required a real rescue. Utowana Lake is 2.6 miles long and quite narrow with mostly private but pristine shores. Route 28 meets the shore briefly at the southwest corner, offering alternate access for a shorter trip or emergency bailout spot. This shoreline access is directly across the lake from a state lean-to, which on a previous paddle here provided shelter during a severe thunderstorm.

Common loons are frequently seen diving for fish on Utowana Lake. Almost reaching the end of Utowana, we detoured down a southern channel to enjoy a small but impressive waterfall. Returning to the lake, we paddled around rocks and a brief channel filled with bog vegetation to enter Eagle Lake. Eagle Lake is a third the size of Utowana with loons often here as well. We paddled under a scenic bridge at the channel from Eagle to enter Blue Mountain Lake.

This final body of water was a jewel with numerous rocky islands to our left and Blue Mountain hovering over our boat bows. This last portion of the paddle did have the most visible shoreline development of the day. If desirable, you could delay the take-out and explore the numerous islands – some are part of the Adirondack Forest Preserve. We opted to hug the southern shoreline and head for the beach to end our trip.

We had left several cars parked at the Blue Mountain Lake beach, so we could go back to South Inlet to retrieve our cars. The spouse of one driver stayed behind to guard our kayaks. One paddler checked her GPS to discover that we had traveled about 17 miles. Four lakes, one river, two bald eagles, loons, a deer, flowering wetland vegetation and a refreshing swim – a perfect day on Adirondack waters!

Jeff Nadler of Burnt Hills is a part-time freelance nature photographer and writer, specializing in north country birds and wildlife. His images are frequently used for Adirondack nature and tourism publications. He is a financial analyst for GE Energy. Visit www.jnphoto.net.

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