History, Articles and Books We're Featured In

The discerning skier at Garnet Hill Lodge will be rewarded with a rich variety of landscapes and terrain that will reveal the historic, environmental, and skiing character of our own special area of the Adirondacks.

The Log House was built in 1936, soon after the Hooper garnet mine closed. Today the ski center at Garnet Hill lies within the old mining community and the trail system crosses, traces, and is otherwise entwined in the past. Putty Pond, a water impoundment from the mining days has long since been filled by the sediments of sand and time. Today it is a summer meadow and an outstanding beginner skiing area - wide open double track-set with acres of skating lanes and views of the Hooper Mine. For the curious, just 100 yards off the trail, a beaver meadow waits to be explored.

During the mining era, a blind horse was employed to deliver countless loads of processed ore, after the garnet was removed to create a location which skiers will discover as the Tailings. The Tailings are a multi level open area sculpted with hills, open slopes, flat areas, and beautiful mountain vistas. A gentle descent offers access to Skullbuster Hill which thrills advanced skiers as it winds through white birches. A short ski uphill is rewarded with views of the Adirondack High Peaks, including Mt. Marcy, the state’s highest. The now inactive Hooper Mine has reverted to state ownership and is incorporated into the 100,000 acre Siamese Ponds Wilderness Area. It can be reached by skis or snowshoes and forms a backcountry ski loop with the trail to William Blake Pond.

A skier suddenly and imaginatively transported to Harvey’s Tailings, might conclude that they were standing at the edge of an Alaskan river delta. If by the same method of conveyance, they were to be relocated to the shore of Thirteenth Lake, they might guess it to be a Norwegian fiord. Still another imaginary geographic possibility on the Garnet Hill trail system is a Vermont look alike - Mountain View trail to the Sugarhouse. Skiers pass through pastures of the old Harvey farm while catching glimpses of the High Peaks and nearby Gore Mountain, before skiing through the maple orchard and arriving at the sugarhouse. Here, skiers can be wood stove warmed in the depths of winter.

The "Adirondack Ruby" is a phrase referring to garnets. It can also refer to The Log House at Garnet Hill Lodge, for it is a gem of hospitality and graciousness in its own Adirondack style. With a commanding view of Thirteenth Lake, and a great stone fireplace it becomes the social center for overnight guests and a refuge of warmth. Great food, and good cheer for day skiers and visitors.

Mark Lacek, 1996

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News Articles

Polishing Garnet Hill - New owners' first season focuses on continuing tradition
By Erin Demuth
Read this Article Online

Surviving Winter at Garnet Hill Lodge
By Dan Ladd
Published in The Chronicle on Feb. 8, 2007
Read this Article Online

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Books We're Featured In

Tracks & Trails
An Insider’s guide to the best Cross Country Skiing in the Northeast
By Christopher Leggett & Woden Teachout

"Cross Country Skiing at Garnet Hill in the Adirondacks has the easy flow of moving water. Smooth, wide trails slope outward and downward from the lodge, following the path of least resistance...Shuttle buses saved the day. Now you can ski happily to the far reaches of the trail system, secure in the knowledge that you won’t have to struggle back up."

The Innkeepers’ Register 1998
10th Edition
Independent Innkeepers Association

"This four season resort provides the atmosphere and ambience of a country inn while offering a variety of outdoor activities."

Recommended Country Inns
Mid-Atlantic and Chesapeake Region
By Brenda Boelts Chapin

"The trails are wide, quiet beauties that lace into the woods and down the hills...The Log House has a beautiful lake view and a bounty of areas to settle into."

Mountain Biking New York
A Falcon Guide
By Michael Margulis

"Riders of all abilities and at all levels of commitment to the sport share in the wealth of this mountain biking terrain."

Cross-Country Ski Vacations
A Guide to the Best Resorts, Lodges, and Groomed Trails in North America By Jonathan Wiesel
John Muir Publications

"George Heim purchased Garnet Hill in 1977...and has fashioned one of the East’s great cross country skiing areas."

Cross Country Ski Inns
Northeastern US and Quebec
By Marge Lamy

A Snow Vacations Book

"In 1936, they built the Log House, still the heart of Garnet Hill Lodge, in the style of the Adirondack camp - mammoth in size, with hewn beams and rafters, and a front porch running the full length of the house."