Editing Adirondack Mountains

{{Short description|Mountains in northeastern New York, U.S.}}
{{For|the state park that covers the same area|Adirondack Park}}
{{Infobox mountain
| fetchwikidata = ALL
| name = Adirondack Mountains
| country = [[United States]]
| region_type = State
| region = [[New York (state)|New York]]
| highest = [[Mount Marcy]]
| coordinates = {{coord|44|06|45|N|73|55|26|W|type:mountain_scale:100000|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| geology = 
| period = [[Tonian]]
| orogeny = [[Grenville Orogeny]]
| map_image = Adirondack Province of Appalachian Highlands Division.jpg
| map_caption = The Adirondack province of the [[Appalachian Highlands]] physiographic region, based on USGS classification.
| elevation_ft = 5344
}}

The '''Adirondack Mountains''' ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|æ|d|ɪ|ˈ|r|ɒ|n|d|æ|k}} {{respell|AD|i|RON|dak}})<ref name="MW">{{Merriam-Webster|Adirondack}}</ref> are a [[massif]] of mountains in Northeastern [[New York (state)|New York]] which form a circular dome approximately {{convert|160|mi}} wide and covering about {{convert|5,000|mi2|km2}}.<ref name="Millbrook Press">{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/30932823|title=The Young people's encyclopedia of the United States|date=1993|publisher=Millbrook Press|others=Shapiro, William E.|isbn=1-56294-514-9|location=Brookfield, Conn.|oclc=30932823}}</ref> The region contains more than 100 peaks, including [[Mount Marcy]], which is the highest point in New York at {{convert|5,344|ft}}. The [[Adirondack High Peaks]], a traditional list of 46 peaks over {{convert|4,000|ft}}, are popular hiking destinations. There are over 200 named lakes with the number of smaller lakes, ponds, and other bodies of water reaching over 3,000. Among the named lakes around the mountains are [[Lake George (lake), New York|Lake George]], [[Lake Placid, New York|Lake Placid]], and [[Lake Tear of the Clouds]]. The region has over {{Convert|1200|mi|km}} of river.<ref name="Adirondack Mountains">{{Cite web |title=Adirondack Mountains |url=https://visitadirondacks.com/about/mountains |access-date=2023-09-08 |website=visitadirondacks.com}}</ref>

Although the mountains are formed from ancient rocks more than 1 billion years old, geologically, the mountains are relatively young and were created during recent periods of glaciation. Because of this, the Adirondacks have been referred to as "new mountains from old rocks." It is theorized that there is a [[hotspot (geology)|hotspot]] beneath the region, which causes continued uplift at the rate of {{Convert|1.5-3|cm|in|frac=8}} annually.<ref name="Adirondack Mountains"/>

The Adirondack mountain range has such unusual characteristics compared to the area around it that it is divided into its own province within the [[Appalachian Highlands]] [[Physiographic region|physiographic]] division.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Physiographic divisions of the conterminous U. S. |url=https://water.usgs.gov/GIS/metadata/usgswrd/XML/physio.xml |access-date=2023-09-17 |website=water.usgs.gov}}</ref> It is bounded by three other provinces: the St. Lawrence (Champlain) on the north, northeast; the [[Appalachian Plateau]] to the south, southwest; and the [[Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians|Valley and Ridge]] to the southeast.

The entire region lies within [[Adirondack Park]], a New York state protected area of over {{convert|6,000,000|acre}}. The park was established in 1892 by the state legislature to protect the region's natural resources and to provide recreational opportunities for the public. It covers over 20 percent of New York state's land area.<ref>{{Cite web |title=About the Adirondack Park |url=https://www.adirondackcouncil.org/page/the-adirondack-park-19.html |access-date=2023-09-08 |website=www.adirondackcouncil.org |language=en}}</ref>

== Etymology ==
The word Adirondack is thought to come from the [[Mohawk language|Mohawk]] word {{lang|moh|atirǫ́·taks}} meaning "eaters of trees".<ref name="MW"/> The earliest written use of the name was in 1635 by [[Harmen van den Bogaert|Harmen Meyndertsz van den Bogaert]] in his [[Mohawk language|Mohawk]] to [[Dutch language|Dutch]] glossary, found in his ''Journey into Mohawk Country''. He spelled it ''Adirondakx'' and said that it stood for Frenchmen, meaning the [[Algonquian peoples|Algonquians]] who allied with the French.<ref>Journey Into Mohawk Country, 1635, Harmen Meyndertsz Van Den Bogaert</ref> Another early use of the name, spelled ''Rontaks'', was in 1729 by French missionary [[Joseph-François Lafitau]]. He explained that the word was used by the [[Iroquoian peoples|Iroquois]] as a derogatory term for groups of Algonquians who did not practice agriculture and therefore sometimes had to eat tree bark to survive harsh winters.<ref name="sulavik" />

The Mohawks had no written language, so Europeans used various phonetic spellings of the word, including ''Achkokx'', ''Rondaxe'', and ''Adirondax.''<ref name="sulavik">{{cite book|title=Adirondack : of Indians and mountains, 1535–1838|last1=Sulavik|first1=Stephen B.|date=2007|publisher=Purple Mountain Press|isbn=978-1930098794|location=Fleischmanns, N.Y.|pages=21–51}}</ref> Such words were strongly associated with the region, but they were not yet considered a place name; an English map from 1761 labels the area simply ''Deer Hunting Country''. In 1838, the mountains were named ''Adirondacks'' by [[Ebenezer Emmons]], the State Geologist for the northern New York State Geological District.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ees2.geo.rpi.edu/History/emmons.html|title=Ebenezer Emmons (1799–1863)|last1=Cherniak|first1=D. J.|author-link1=Daniele Cherniak|publisher=Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120527060623/http://ees2.geo.rpi.edu/History/emmons.html|archive-date=May 27, 2012|access-date=June 23, 2015}}</ref>

== History ==
[[File:1876 Wallace Guide Map of NY Wilderness.JPG|thumb|upright=1.4|A 1876 map of the Adirondacks, showing many of the now obsolete names for many of the peaks, lakes, and communities]]
The first humans to live in the Adirondacks were [[Paleo-Indians]] who arrived around the 14th millennium&nbsp;BC following the end of the [[Last Glacial Period]]. The earliest migrants arrived from the [[St. Lawrence River Valley]] to the north, and settled along the shores of the [[Champlain Sea]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=http://www.irmamagazines.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/ADL-2018-ctgy03-HistoricFeature.pdf|title=Hidden Heritage|last=Stager|first=Curt|date=May 2017|work=Adirondack Life|access-date=30 October 2019}}</ref> During the [[Archaic Period (Americas)|Archaic Period]] (8000–1000&nbsp;BC) this semi-nomadic hunter-gatherer [[Laurentian culture]] inhabited the Adirondacks; evidence of their presence includes a [[projectile point]] of red-brown [[chert]] found in 2007 at the edge of Tupper Lake.<ref name=":0" />

During an interval of roughly 11,000 years following the end of the Last Glacial Period, the climate of the Adirondacks gradually warmed, with the area's [[tundra]] being replaced by forests that were now able to grow.<ref name=":0" /> During the transition between the Archaic and [[Woodland period|Woodland]] (1000&nbsp;BC{{snd}}AD&nbsp;1000) periods, multiple different groups replaced the Laurentian culture—including the Sylvan Lake, River, Middlesex, Point Peninsula, and Owasco cultures.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/articles/adirondacks-native-americans.htm|title=Adirondacks: Native Americans|date=2019|website=[[National Park Service]]|access-date=30 October 2019}}</ref> By the time of the Owasco culture {{circa|1&nbsp;AD}}, maize and beans were being cultivated in the uplands of the Adirondacks.<ref name=":0" />

The first [[Iroquois|Iroquoian]] peoples, the [[Mohawk people|Mohawk]] (or Kanyengehaga) and the [[Oneida Indian Nation|Oneida]] (or Oneyotdehaga), arrived in the Adirondack region between 4,000 and 1,200 years ago. Both groups claimed the Adirondack Mountains as hunting grounds. According to [[Iroquois|Haudenosaunee]] historian Rick Hill, the region was considered a '[[Dish With One Spoon|Dish with One Spoon]],' symbolizing shared hunting resources between the groups. A group of Algonquian people, known as the Mahicans, also occupied the region, particularly the Hudson River Valley.<ref name=":1" />

These were the groups that the first European explorers of the area encountered. European presence in the area began with a battle between [[Samuel de Champlain]] and a group of Mohawks, in what is now [[Ticonderoga, New York|Ticonderoga]] in 1609. The [[Jesuit]] missionary [[Isaac Jogues]] became the first recorded European to travel through the center of the Adirondacks, as the captive of a Mohawk hunting party, in 1642.<ref name="sulavik"/>

The early European perception of the Adirondacks was of a vast, inhospitable wilderness. One map of the area from 1771 shows the region as a blank space in the northeastern corner of New York. In 1784, [[Thomas Pownall|Thomas Pownhall]] wrote that the Native Americans referred to the area as "the Dismal Wilderness, or the Habitation of Winter," and that the area was "either not much known to them, or, if known, very wisely by them kept from the Knowledge of the Europeans."<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|title=Contested Terrain|last=Terrie|first=Philip|publisher=Syracuse University Press|year=1999|location=Syracuse}}</ref> He clearly had the impression that native people did not live within the Adirondack mountains.<ref name=":0" />

Because local [[Iroquois|Iroquoian]] and [[Algonquian peoples|Algonquian]] tribes had been decimated first by [[smallpox]] and [[measles]] in the 1600s, then by wars with encroaching European settlers, there likely were very few people living in the region by the time Pownhall wrote his description. It is only relatively recently that numerous archaeological finds have definitively shown that Native Americans were indeed very present in the Adirondacks before European contact, hunting, making pottery, and practicing agriculture.<ref name=":0" />

The European impression of a wild region devoid of human connection set up a narrative about wilderness that would persist through the next 200-some years of the region's history. While society's perception of the Adirondacks' value changed, they were always seen as a land of natural resources and physical beauty, not of human history.<ref name=":0" /> First the area was an inhospitable tangle, then a lucrative store of lumber.<ref name=":2" /> After the [[American Revolutionary War]], New York State gained ownership of most of the land in the region.<ref name="apa-history"/>

Needing money to discharge war debts, the government sold nearly all the original public acreage about 7&nbsp;million acres for pennies an acre. Lumbermen were welcomed to the interior, with few restraints, resulting in massive [[deforestation]].<ref name="apa-history">{{cite web|url=http://apa.ny.gov/About_Park/history.htm|title=History of the Adirondack Park|website=New York State Adirondack Park Agency|access-date=June 23, 2015|archive-date=July 1, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150701071701/http://apa.ny.gov/about_park/history.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> Later, the wilderness character of the region became popular with the rise of the [[Romanticism|Romantic movement]], and the Adirondacks became a destination for those wishing to escape the evils of city life. Rising concern over water quality and deforestation led to the creation of the [[Adirondack Park]] in 1885.<ref name=":2" /> In 1989, part of the Adirondack region was designated by [[UNESCO]] as the [[Champlain-Adirondack Biosphere Reserve]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.unesco.org/mabdb/br/brdir/directory/biores.asp?code=USA+45&mode=all|title=UNESCO – MAB Biosphere Reserves Directory|website=www.unesco.org|access-date=2016-05-21}}</ref>

For the more recent human history of the Adirondack region, see [[Adirondack Park]].

== Geology ==

The rocks of the Adirondack mountains originated about two billion years ago as 50,000 feet (ca. 15,240 m) thick [[sediments]] at the bottom of a sea located near the [[equator]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ancient 'bones' of the Adirondacks|url=https://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/story/6067/20180726/ancient-bones-of-the-adirondacks|access-date=2020-11-30|website=NCPR|date=26 July 2018 }}</ref> Because of [[plate tectonics]] these collided with [[Laurentia]] (the precursor of modern North America) in a mountain building episode known as the [[Grenville orogeny]]. During this time the [[sedimentary rock]] was changed into [[metamorphic rock]]. It is these [[Proterozoic]] [[minerals]] and [[lithologies]] that make up the core of the massif. Minerals of interest include:
* [[wollastonite]], mined near [[Harrisville, NY|Harrisville]]
* [[magnetite]] and [[hematite]], formerly mined at the [[Benson Mines]],<ref name=Graton>{{cite book|last1=Ridge|first1=J. D.|title=Ore Deposits of the United States, 1933–1967|date=1968|publisher=The American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers, Inc.|location=New York}}</ref> [[Lyon Mountain, New York|Lyon Mountain]], [[Mineville, New York|Mineville]], [[Tahawus, New York|Tahawus]], and [[Witherbee, New York|Witherbee]].
* [[graphite]], mined near [[Hague, New York|Hague]] and [[Ticonderoga, New York|Ticonderoga]].
* [[garnet]], mined at the Barton Mine, north of [[Gore Mountain (New York)|Gore Mountain]].
* [[anorthosite]], visible in road cuts on the [[New York State Route 3]] between [[Saranac Lake, New York|Saranac Lake]] and [[Tupper Lake (New York)|Tupper Lake]].<ref name=storey/>
* [[marble]]
* [[zinc]]: The Balmat-Edwards district on the northwest flank of the massif also in St. Lawrence County was a major [[zinc]] ore deposit
* [[titanium]] was mined at [[Tahawus, New York|Tahawus]].

The Adirondacks are uplifted by a hot spot in the Canadian Shield in contrast to other mountain ranges in New York which are a part of the Appalachian chain (not to be confused with the cultural region of Appalachia).<ref>{{Cite web|title=Convergent Plate Boundaries—Collisional Mountain Ranges - Geology (U.S. National Park Service)|url=https://www.nps.gov/subjects/geology/plate-tectonics-collisional-mountain-ranges.htm|access-date=2020-12-01|website=[[National Park Service]]|language=en}}</ref>

Around 600&nbsp;million years ago, as [[Laurentia]] drifted away from [[Baltica]] (European Craton), the area began to be pulled apart forming the [[Iapetus Ocean]]. [[Fault (geology)|Faults]] developed, running north to northeast which formed valleys and deep lakes. Examples visible today include the [[grabens]] [[Lake George (lake), New York|Lake George]] and [[Schroon Lake (New York lake)|Schroon Lake]]. By this time the Grenville mountains had been eroded away and the area was covered by a shallow sea. Several thousand feet of sediment accumulated on the sea bed. [[Trilobites]] were the principal life-form of the sea bed, and [[fossil]] tracks can be seen in the [[Potsdam sandstone]] floor of the Paul Smiths Visitor Interpretive Center.<ref name=storey>{{cite book|last1=Storey|first1=Mike|title=Why the Adirondacks look the way they do : a natural history|date=2006|publisher=Storey|location=[S.l.]|isbn=978-0-9777172-0-0|page=22|edition=2}}</ref>

About 10&nbsp;million years ago, the region began to be uplifted. It has been lifted about 7000 feet (ca. 2,134 meters) and is continuing at about 2 millimeters per year, which is greater than the rate of [[denudation]]. The cause of the uplift is unknown, but geologists theorize that it is caused by a [[Hotspot (geology)|hot spot]] in the Earth's [[Mantle (geology)|crust]].<ref name="storey" /> A recent study has revealed a column of seismically slow materials about 50–80&nbsp;km deep beneath the Adirondack Mountains,<ref name="Adirondacks seismic imaging">{{cite journal |last1=Yang |first1=Xiaotao |last2=Gao |first2=Haiying |title=Full-Wave Seismic Tomography in the Northeastern United States: New Insights Into the Uplift Mechanism of the Adirondack Mountains |journal=Geophysical Research Letters |date=June 6, 2018 |volume=45 |issue=12 |pages=5992–6000 |doi=10.1029/2018GL078438 |bibcode=2018GeoRL..45.5992Y |doi-access=free }}</ref> which was interpreted to be the upwelling asthenosphere contributing to the uplift of the mountains. The occurrence of [[earthquake swarms]] near the center of the massif at [[Blue Mountain Lake (hamlet), New York|Blue Mountain Lake]] may be evidence of this. Some of the earthquakes have exceeded 5 on the [[Richter magnitude scale]].

[[File:Whiteface Mountain from Lake Placid Airport.JPG|thumb|[[Whiteface Mountain]] is the fifth-highest mountain in [[New York (state)|New York]], and one of the High Peaks of the Adirondack Mountains.]]

Starting about 2.5&nbsp;million years ago, a cycle of [[Pleistocene]] [[glacial]] and [[interglacial]] periods began which covered the area in ice. During the most recent episode, the [[Laurentide Ice Sheet]] covered most of northern North America between about 95,000 and c. 20,000 years ago.<ref name="dyke_prest">{{cite journal|last=Dyke|first=A. S.|author2=Prest, V. K. |year=1987|title=Late Wisconsinan and Holocene History of the Laurentide Ice Sheet|journal=Géographie Physique et Quaternaire|volume=41|issue=2|pages=237–263|url=http://www.erudit.org/revue/GPQ/1987/v41/n2/032681ar.html|doi=10.7202/032681ar|doi-access=|s2cid=140654613 }}</ref> After this the climate warmed, but it took nearly 10,000 years for a 10,000 feet (ca. 3,048 m) thick layer of ice to completely melt. Evidence of this period includes:
* [[Eskers]]: the [[Rainbow Lake (New York)|Rainbow Lake]] esker bisects the eponymous lake and extends discontinuously for 85 miles (ca. 137&nbsp;km). Another long discontinuous esker extends from Mountain Pond through [[Keese Mill, New York|Keese Mill]], passing between [[Upper St. Regis Lake]] and the Spectacle Ponds, and continuing to Ochre, Fish, and Lydia Ponds in the [[Saint Regis Canoe Area|St. Regis Canoe Area]]. A 150-foot-high esker bisects the [[Five Ponds Wilderness Area]].<ref>{{Cite web|title = Sea Serpents in the Adirondacks? You Bet! |url = http://www.adirondackalmanack.com/2009/11/sea-serpents-in-the-adirondacks-you-bet.html|access-date = 2015-07-30|work=Adirondack Almanack| date=7 November 2009 }}</ref>
* [[Glacial erratics]]: there is a large one at the [[Newcomb, New York|Newcomb]] Visitor Information Center next to the Rich Lake Trail.
* [[Kame]]s
* [[Moraines]]
* The [[cirques]] that characterize the [[Whiteface Mountain]].
* [[Outwash plain]]s: St. Regis Canoe Area is an outwash plain pitted with [[Kettle (landform)|kettle holes]].

Soils in the area are generally thin, sandy, acidic, and infertile, having developed since the glacial retreat.

== Climate ==
The climate is strongly [[humid continental climate|continental]], with high [[humidity]] and [[precipitation]] year-round. The Adirondacks typically experience pleasantly warm, rainy weather in the summer (June–August), with temperatures in the range of {{cvt|66|-|73|F}}, cooler than the rest of New York State due to the higher elevation. Summer evenings in the Adirondacks are chilly, with temperatures ranging on average between {{cvt|45|-|54|F}}. Winters (December–March) are long, cold, snowy and harsh, with temperatures ranging from {{cvt|18|to|23|F}}. Winter nights are frigid, with temperatures between {{cvt|-2|and|4|F}}.{{Citation needed|date=January 2023}} Spring (April–May) and fall (September–November) are short transitional seasons. 
{{Weather box|width=auto|Mar precipitation inch=5.31|Sep precipitation inch=6.22|Aug precipitation inch=5.29|Jul precipitation inch=6.13|Jun precipitation inch=5.79|May precipitation inch=5.59|Apr precipitation inch=5.40|Feb precipitation inch=3.98|Nov precipitation inch=5.83|Jan precipitation inch=4.56|precipitation colour=green|year low F=32.4|Dec low F=13.9|Nov low F=24.7|Oct low F=32.6|Oct precipitation inch=6.97|Dec precipitation inch=5.22|Aug low F=52.0|Jul humidity=70.8|year humidity=68.6|Dec humidity=72.0|Nov humidity=69.9|Oct humidity=70.7|Sep humidity=73.0|Aug humidity=72.8|Jun humidity=70.4|year precipitation inch=66.29|May humidity=63.8|Apr humidity=60.1|Mar humidity=62.4|Feb humidity=66.2|Jan humidity=71.1|humidity colour=green|Sep low F=44.7|Jul low F=52.9|location=Lake Placid, NY. Elevation: 2,054 ft (626 m)|Jul high F=71.6|year high F=50.3|Dec high F=30.6|Nov high F=40.1|Oct high F=50.3|Sep high F=63.7|Aug high F=70.6|Jun high F=67.9|Feb mean F=20.6|May high F=60.5|Apr high F=44.8|Mar high F=30.7|Feb high F=24.6|Jan high F=23.4|single line=Y|Jan mean F=17.5|Mar mean F=25.0|Jun low F=48.9|Dec mean F=23.4|May low F=38.9|Apr low F=27.9|Mar low F=15.9|Feb low F=3.7|Jan low F=2.9|year mean F=41.4|Nov mean F=34.5|Apr mean F=38.4|Oct mean F=44.1|Sep mean F=54.7|Aug mean F=61.3|Jul mean F=62.3|Jun mean F=58.4|May mean F=49.9|Jan dew point F = 10.7|Feb dew point F = 11.1|Mar dew point F = 16.8|Apr dew point F = 26.5|May dew point F = 38.3|Jun dew point F = 48.8|Jul dew point F = 52.7|Aug dew point F = 52.5|Sep dew point F = 46.2|Oct dew point F = 35.2|Nov dew point F = 25.7|Dec dew point F = 15.7|source 1=PRISM Climate Group<ref name=prism>{{cite web|url=http://prism.oregonstate.edu/explorer/|title=PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University|website=www.prism.oregonstate.edu|access-date=July 9, 2019}}</ref>}}

== Ecology ==
[[File:SpottedNorthern.png|thumb|A [[spotted turtle]] at the Wild Center.]]
The Adirondack Mountains form the southernmost part of the [[Eastern forest-boreal transition]] [[ecoregion]].<ref name="ecoregions">{{Citation|author=Olson |title=Terrestrial Ecoregions of the World: A New Map of Life on Earth |journal=[[BioScience]] |year=2001 |volume=51 |issue=11 |pages=933–938 |doi=10.1641/0006-3568(2001)051[0933:TEOTWA]2.0.CO;2 |author2=D. M. |author3=E. Dinerstein |display-authors=3 |last4=Burgess |first4=Neil D. |last5=Powell |first5=George V. N. |last6=Underwood |first6=Emma C. |last7=d'Amico |first7=Jennifer A. |last8=Itoua |first8=Illanga |last9=Strand |first9=Holly E. |postscript=. |doi-access=free }}</ref> They are heavily forested, and contain one of the southernmost distributions of the [[taiga]] ecotype in North America. The forests of the Adirondacks include [[spruce]], [[pine]] and [[deciduous]] trees. Lumbering, once an important industry, has been much restricted by the creation of state forest preserve.<ref>{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Adirondacks|volume=1|page=193}}</ref>

The mountains include many [[wetland]]s, of which there are three kinds:<ref name=storey/>
* [[swamp]]s, any wetland including trees and shrubs.
* [[marsh]]es, wetlands with [[water stagnation]]. These may support [[bullfrog]]s, [[spring peeper]]s, [[spotted salamander]]s, [[great blue heron]]s, [[American bittern]]s, and [[painted turtles]]. [[Pickerel weed]] often forms large colonies.
* [[bog]]s, characterized by plants like [[sphagnum moss]], [[orchid]]s, and [[pitcher plant]]s.

Breeding birds include northern forest specialists not found anywhere else in the state, such as [[boreal chickadee]]s, [[Canada jay]]s, [[spruce grouse]], [[black-backed woodpecker]]s, [[common loon]]s and [[crossbill]]s.<ref>{{cite web |title=Breeding Bird 2000-2005 Atlas |url=https://www.dec.ny.gov/cfmx/extapps/bba/ |website=[[New York City Department of Environmental Conservation]] |publisher=[[New York State Department of Environmental Conservation]]}}</ref> Mammals include [[raccoon]]s, [[North American beaver|beaver]]s, [[North American river otter|river otter]]s, [[bobcat]]s, [[eastern moose|moose]], [[American black bear|black bear]]s, and [[eastern coyote|coyote]]s. [[Extirpated]] or [[extinct]] mammals that formerly roamed the Adirondacks include the [[eastern cougar]], [[eastern elk]], [[wolverine]], [[caribou]], [[eastern wolf]], and the [[Canada lynx]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.adirondack.net/wildlife/coyotes/|title=Facts About Coyotes In The Adirondacks|website=Adirondack.net}}</ref> Attempted reintroductions of elk and lynx in the 20th century failed for numerous reasons, including poaching, vehicle collisions, and conservation incompetence.<ref name=harris>{{cite book|last1=Omohundro|first1=John|last2=Harris|first2=Glenn R.|title=An environmental history of New York's north country : the Adirondack Mountains and the St. Lawrence River Valley : case studies and neglected topics|date=2012|publisher=[[Edwin Mellen Press]]|location=[[Lewiston, New York]]|isbn=978-0773426283|pages=99–111|edition=1}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Canada Lynx - NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation|url=https://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/6980.html|access-date=2021-07-03|website=[[New York City Department of Environmental Conservation]]}}</ref>

Nearly 60 percent of the park is covered with [[northern hardwood forest]]. Above {{convert|2600|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us}}, conditions are too poor for hardwoods to thrive, and the trees become mixed with or replaced by [[balsam fir]] and [[red spruce]]. Above {{convert|3500|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us}} [[black spruce]] replace red. Higher still, only trees short enough to be covered in snow during the winter can survive.

A small area on the highest peaks exists above the [[tree line]] and has an [[alpine climate]]. These areas are covered by plants which occupied a large lowland tundra following the most recent period of glaciation. The amount of area covered by this ecosystem changes from year to year due to local climate changes, and has been estimated to only cover between {{Convert|65-85|acre|hectare}}. The alpine ecosystem is considered extremely fragile, and was damaged by hikers prior to a 1970s campaign by the [[Adirondack Mountain Club]] to preserve it.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Carlson |first1=Bradley Z. |last2=Munroe |first2=Jeffrey S. |last3=Hegman |first3=Bill |date=2011 |title=Distribution of Alpine Tundra in the Adirondack Mountains of New York, U.S.A. |journal=[[Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research]] |volume=43 |issue=3 |pages=331–342|doi=10.1657/1938-4246-43.3.331 |s2cid=53579861 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2011AAAR...43..331C }}</ref>
{{Gallery
 |title= Scenes from the Adirondacks
|mode = packed
 |File: Adirondacks in May 2008.jpg
   |The Adirondack Mountains of [[Upstate New York]] form the southernmost zone in the [[Eastern forest-boreal transition]] [[ecoregion]] of [[North America]].
 |File: Lake Tear of the Clouds.png
   |The [[source (river)|hydrologic source]] of the [[Hudson River]] is near or at [[Lake Tear of the Clouds]], a small [[tarn (lake)|tarn]] in the Adirondacks.
 |File: Lake George from village beach.jpg
   |[[Lake George (lake), New York|Lake George]], one of numerous [[oligotrophic lake]]s in the Adirondack region, is nicknamed the ''Queen of American Lakes''.
 |File: Lake Placid - Mirror Lake.jpg
   |[[Mirror Lake (New York)|Mirror Lake]] in the Village of [[Lake Placid, New York|Lake Placid]] in the Adirondacks, site of the [[1932 Winter Olympics|1932]] and the [[1980 Winter Olympics]].
 |File: Saranac Lake - Lake Flower.jpg
   |[[Lake Flower]] in the Village of [[Saranac Lake, New York|Saranac Lake]], nicknamed the ''Capital of the Adirondacks''.
 |File: View_of_Mount_Colvin_and_Nippletop_from_Pyramid_Peak.jpg
   |View of [[Mount Colvin]] and [[Nippletop]] from the ascent to [[Gothics]].
}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book |last1=Marshall |first1=Robert |title=The High Peaks of the Adirondacks |date=1922 |publisher=The Adirondack Mountain Club |location=Albany |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/22021955/ |lccn=22021955}}
*{{cite book |last1=Waterman |first1=Laura |title=Forest and crag : a history of hiking, trail blazing, and adventure in the Northeast mountains |date=2003 |publisher=Appalachian Mountain Club Books |location=Boston |isbn=0910146756 |edition=First |url=https://archive.org/details/forestcraghistor0000wate/mode/2up}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* [https://digitalworks.union.edu/ajes/ ''Adirondack Journal of Environmental Studies'']
* [https://dec.ny.gov/welcome-to-the-adirondacks New York State Department of Environmental Conservation: Welcome to the Adirondacks]
* Maps of Adirondack Park at [https://gisservices.dec.ny.gov/gis/dil/ DECinfo Locator] 

{{Adirondacks}}
{{New York}}
{{Hudson River}}
{{Mountains of New York}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Adirondacks| ]]
[[Category:Mountain ranges of New York (state)]]
[[Category:Physiographic provinces|Adirondack province]]
[[Category:Regions of New York (state)]]
[[Category:Upstate New York]]