Destinations
Where to go in Northern New York
Five regions across Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence counties, and the towns, villages and lakes in each.
IllustrationJefferson & St. Lawrence counties
Thousand Islands
The stretch of the St. Lawrence River between Cape Vincent and Chippewa Bay, scattered with wooded granite islands, summer cottages, boathouses and two working river villages, Clayton and Alexandria Bay.
IllustrationClayton
A walkable river village with a working waterfront, the Antique Boat Museum, an opera house and restaurants within a few blocks of the St. Lawrence.
IllustrationAlexandria Bay
The busiest island village on the river, and the departure point for boat tours to Boldt Castle on Heart Island.
IllustrationCape Vincent
A quiet village where Lake Ontario meets the St. Lawrence, with Tibbetts Point Lighthouse at the end of the road and long open water views.
IllustrationWellesley Island
One of the largest American islands in the chain, reached by the Thousand Islands Bridge: a state park with trails and a nature center, and the Victorian cottage community of Thousand Island Park.
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Chippewa Bay
A small river hamlet at the downstream end of the islands, near Singer Castle on Dark Island, with a scatter of tiny cottage islands offshore.
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Theresa
A village on the Indian River at the center of the Indian River Lakes, a cluster of small lakes with camps and quiet water a short drive south of the river.
IllustrationJefferson County
Lake Ontario
The eastern Lake Ontario shore of Jefferson County: Sackets Harbor's historic village, the fishing harbor at Henderson, and the quiet limestone hamlets around Chaumont Bay.
IllustrationSackets Harbor
A historic village on Lake Ontario with a War of 1812 battlefield, restored stone buildings, a harbor walk and some of the area's best-loved restaurants.
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Henderson Harbor
A sheltered Lake Ontario harbor with a long sport-fishing tradition, waterfront cottages and wide-open sunset views.
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Chaumont
A small village on Chaumont Bay known for its old limestone houses, quiet water and, in a cold winter, ice fishing.
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Three Mile Bay
A tiny hamlet on Chaumont Bay between Chaumont and Cape Vincent: a good base for a slow, back-roads lake weekend.
IllustrationLewis & Jefferson counties
Tug Hill
A high, forested plateau east of Lake Ontario, best known for lake-effect snow. In fall it is dense hardwood color, gorges and back roads; in winter it is snowmobile and ski country. Lowville and the Black River valley sit along its eastern edge.
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Lowville
The Lewis County seat, a farm-country main street on the eastern edge of Tug Hill and a natural base for Whetstone Gulf and the Black River valley.
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Turin
A small Tug Hill town best known as the home of Snow Ridge ski area, with hardwood ridges that put on a strong fall show.
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Lyons Falls
An old mill village where the Moose River meets the Black River, with falls right in town.
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Copenhagen
A small village on the Deer River at the northern edge of Tug Hill, on the way into some of the plateau's quietest back roads.
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Montague
One of the most remote towns on the Tug Hill plateau: state forest, deep snow in winter and almost nobody around in fall.
IllustrationSt. Lawrence County
Western Adirondacks
The northwestern corner of the Adirondack Park in St. Lawrence County: Cranberry Lake, Star Lake, Wanakena and the Raquette River country around Colton. Low forested hills, big lakes and few people.
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Cranberry Lake
A big, wild lake in the northwestern Adirondacks, mostly ringed by state Forest Preserve, with a small hamlet, camps and the Cranberry Lake 50 trail.
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Wanakena
A former logging hamlet on the Oswegatchie River with a pedestrian suspension footbridge and the SUNY ESF Ranger School.
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Star Lake
A small lake hamlet in the town of Fine, close to Cranberry Lake and Wanakena and a gateway to the western Adirondack backcountry.
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Colton & South Colton
Raquette River country on the edge of the Adirondacks, with Higley Flow State Park and the Stone Valley trail along the river's falls and rapids.
IllustrationSt. Lawrence County
St. Lawrence River
Downriver from the islands, the St. Lawrence widens past Ogdensburg, Lisbon and Waddington through open farm country, with the college towns of Potsdam and Canton inland and Black Lake to the southwest.
IllustrationHammond & Black Lake
Black Lake runs some twenty miles through rural St. Lawrence County, lined with camps and cottages and known for its fishing.
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Waddington
A small river village with a waterfront park and Coles Creek State Park nearby, where the St. Lawrence opens into wide, quiet water.
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Lisbon
Open farm country along the river between Ogdensburg and Waddington, made for slow drives and wide October skies.
IllustrationPotsdam
A college town on the Raquette River, home to Clarkson University and SUNY Potsdam, built in the red sandstone that gives its downtown a look all its own.
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Canton
The St. Lawrence County seat on the Grasse River, home to St. Lawrence University and SUNY Canton, with a classic village green.
IllustrationOgdensburg
The river's oldest city, with the Frederic Remington Art Museum, a riverfront trail and the international bridge to Prescott, Ontario.