Lower Saranac Lake

Lower Saranac Lake
A Small Island in Lower Saranac Lake
Location	Adirondacks, Franklin County, New York, United States
Coordinates	44°18′29.02″N 074°11′3.01″W / 44.3080611°N 74.1841694°W / 44.3080611; -74.1841694Coordinates: 44°18′29.02″N 074°11′3.01″W / 44.3080611°N 74.1841694°W / 44.3080611; -74.1841694
Primary inflows	Saranac River
Primary outflows	Saranac River
Basin countries	United States
Max. length	6 mi (9.7 km)
Max. width	2 mi (3.2 km)
Surface area	2,285 acres (9.25 km2)
Shore length1	17 mi (27 km)
Surface elevation	468 m (1,535 ft)
Islands	50
Settlements	none
1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure.

Lower Saranac Lake is one of three connected lakes, part of the Saranac River, near the village of Saranac Lake in the Adirondacks in northern New York. With Middle Saranac Lake and Upper Saranac Lake, a 17-mile (27 km) paddle with only one portage is possible. The Saranac Lake Islands Public Campground provides 87 campsites on inlands in Lower and Middle Saranac Lake. In addition to the Saranac River, it is fed by nearby Lake Colby, Fish Creek, and Lilly Pad Pond. Lower Saranac Lake is located in the town of Harrietstown, New York. The lake, along with both Upper and Middle Saranac Lakes, is also part of the 740-mile Northern Forest Canoe Trail, which begins in Old Forge, NY and ends in Fort Kent, ME.

Prior to the development of railroads and the automobile, the Saranac Lakes formed part of an important transportation route in the Adirondacks; one could travel 140 miles (230 km) across, from Old Forge to Lake Champlain, almost entirely on water. In 1849, William F. Martin built one of the first hotels in the Adirondacks— the "Saranac Lake House", known simply as "Martin's"— on the northeast shore of Lower Saranac Lake. Martin's, with room for 80 guests, became a favorite place for hunters, woodsmen, and socialites to meet and interact; a young Theodore Roosevelt was among the guests, and the members of the famous "Philosopher's Camp" on Follensby Pond (including poets Ralph Waldo Emerson and James Russell Lowell and scientist Louis Agassiz) found their guides at Martins. The publication of William H. H. Murray's Adventures in the Wilderness; Or Camp-Life in the Adirondacks in 1869, containing a favorable review of Martin's, started a flood of tourists to the area, leading to a rash of hotel building and the development of stage coach lines. In 1892, Dr. William Seward Webb's Mohawk and Malone Railway reached the village of Saranac Lake; it dramatically reduced travel time from major east coast cities to the Adirondacks, and had a major impact on the hotel and the area. In 1870, the hotel's capacity was doubled. In 1880, Martin lost the hotel through foreclosure. The new owner promptly remodeled and increased capacity to 250 guests. In 1888, it underwent its final renovations, but in 1894, it burned to the ground.