Little Tupper Lake in New York

Trip Overview

I've been canoeing the Adirondacks for years -- but this was a first trip to Little Tupper, part of the Whitney Wilderness area which was acquired by N.Y.State in 1997.

We decided not to do a trip with a portage which enabled us to load up the canoe with an ice chest, lots of food and wine and the big Coleman 2 burner stove. We found a great campsite at the end of the lake (#12)and got lucky with great weather.

A truly pristine lake, no powerboats to disturb the silence, and lots of wildlife. Saw fresh bear scat at our campsite after being away for about 4 hours. Also had a visit from a pine marten while sitting around the campsite after dinner one night -- first time ever seeing one of these. Surprisingly the loons were pretty quiet -- they were all over but they gave us a break -- heard some howling but not much. Back in August of 2005 in the St. Regis Canoe Area on St. Regis Pond, they drove us nuts and kept us up at night.

You must hang the food and kitchen bag at night far from the tent since this is a truly wild place. There's lots of exploring to do--we went to Rock Pond which requires a paddle up a fairly long outlet and there are a few beaver dams that you have to drag the boat across to get into the pond as well as a very short carry.

Rock Pond is lovely and has some nice campsites but it's a bit of work getting a loaded canoe over the beaver dams, etc. Bring some strong women to help with the heavy lifting. Also explored Charley Pond outlet up to the old railroad bridge which dates back to the old Whitney logging days. The rails are long gone. The water was warm enough for swimming, but the fish were pretty quiet although we tried to catch some.

Had enough time to take a few nice photos and will start printing some serious blowups soon. A great trip to a wonderful spot. Next Spring we plan to try Lake Lila and do a comparison report.

Only negative about Little Tupper is that it gets pretty windy in the afternoon. The compensation is the beautiful scenery

Accommodations:

Little Tupper has about 25 campsites, available first come, first served; some nicer than others, some are spectacular.

Outfitting:

Bell Northstar Black Gold carbon layup (16 1/2 feet, 45 lbs).

Fees:

no fees for small parties

Directions:

Through the Village of Long Lake, NY towards Tupper and look for signs to Whitney Wildnerness - then follow signs to Little Tupper ranger station.

Resources:

Get the Whitney Wilderness Brochure from the Ranger station. It shows the location of campsites and lakes and ponds. The rangers are lots of help.