Adirondack Park Agency visitor interpretive centers

The Paul Smiths Visitor Interpretive Center, Heron Marsh from the Barnum Brook Trail

The Adirondack Park Agency created two visitor interpretive centers (known informally as the VICs) in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The centers were designed to introduce visitors to the special features of the Adirondack Park, which, at 6 million acres (24,000 km²), is the largest park in the lower 48 United States. The centers help orient visitors to the park via educational programs, exhibits, and interpretive trails. Educational programs are available for school groups as well as the general public. Memorial Day to Columbus Day the buildings are open 7 days a week, 9-5. Columbus Day to Memorial Day the centers are open Tuesdays through Saturdays, 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM. The trails are open daily year round from dawn to dusk.

Paul Smith's center

The Paul Smith's center opened in 1989. Located on approximately 2,700 acres (11 km2) near Paul Smith's College, the PSIC has approximately six miles of interpretive trails and eight miles (13 km) of backcountry trails. Throughout the property visitors will encounter every habitat type found in the Adirondack Park except alpine. Historically, each spring the center hosts the Great Adirondack Birding Festival. Throughout the year visitors can partake of guided interpretive walks, regular outdoor activities, naturalist-led canoe paddles on Barnum Pond, and assorted lectures and slide presentations. In the winter the trails are open for snowshoeing and cross-country skiing.

Newcomb center

The Newcomb center opened in 1990. Located on 236 acres (0.96 km2) at the outlet of Rich Lake, the center has approximately three and a half miles of interpretive trails. Habitats include lakeshore, wetlands, old growth forest, and mixed northern forest. Throughout the year staff conduct naturalist-led trail walks, guided paddles on Rich Lake, and assorted workshops and lectures. All trails are open in the winter for snowshoeing; cross-country skiing is permitted, and requires varying degrees of skill depending on trails and conditions. Dogs are allowed on leash year round, and owners are asked to please clean up after their dogs to preserve trail conditions for all users.

Participation of colleges and universities

SUNY-ESF Adirondack Ecological Center, c. 1973

Due to state fiscal and budgetary constraints Gov. David Paterson marked the VICs for closure effective Dec. 31st, 2010.

The Newcomb interpretive center, renamed the Adirondack Interpretive Center (www.esf.edu/aic) was taken over by the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF) on July 1, 2010 with program responsibility beginning January 1, 2011. The Newcomb interpretive center is situated on ESF's Huntington Wildlife Forest, a 15,000-acre (61 km²) biological field station the college has operated in Newcomb since 1932, and also home to the College's Adirondack Ecological Center. ESF is committed to maintaining and expanding the interpretive center as a public resource for education and recreation.

Paul Smith's College (PSC) is currently exploring a mechanism for taking over and managing the interpretive center on PSC's property, and continuing its legacy of education and recreation as well.

External links

• Paul Smiths VIC
• Adirondack Interpretive Center