Raquette Lake

Raquette Lake
Looking north on Raquette Lake from the southwestern corner
Location	Adirondack Mountains, Hamilton County, New York, United States
Coordinates	43°50′N 74°39′W / 43.833°N 74.650°W / 43.833; -74.650Coordinates: 43°50′N 74°39′W / 43.833°N 74.650°W / 43.833; -74.650
Primary outflows	Raquette River
Basin countries	United States

Raquette Lake is the source of the Raquette River in the Adirondack Mountains of New York State. It is near the community of Raquette Lake, New York. The lake has 99 miles (160 km) of shoreline with pines and mountains bordering the lake. It is located in the towns of Long Lake and Arietta, both in Hamilton County.

Raquette Lake is popular, especially in summer, due to the scenery, wildlife, boating and hiking. There are several children's summer camps, including Raquette Lake Boys Camp and Raquette Lake Girls Camp. In winter, substantial snowfall makes the area popular for snowmobiling, cross-country skiing, and snowshoeing. The lake is also part of the 740-mile Northern Forest Canoe Trail, which begins in Old Forge, NY and ends in Fort Kent, ME.

The origin of the name is uncertain. One account is that it was named for snowshoes (raquette in French) left by a party of Tories led by Sir John Johnson in 1776. Traveling by snowshoe, they were overtaken by a spring thaw when they reached the lake. They left the snowshoes en masse on the shore.

Raquette Lake developed into one of the most prestigious summer getaways for the elite in the 19th century. In 1877, William West Durant started work on what would become the first of the "Great Camps," Pine Knot. Other summer homes in the "great camp style" on Raquette Lake include North Point (the 1870 buildings replaced by Lucy Carnegie in 1903), Echo Camp (1883) and Bluff Point (1876).