Celebrate Fall at Lake Placid’s Flaming Leaves Festival

View from the top of the MacKenzie-Intervale Jumping Complex
Photo by Charles Pannell

Lake Placid has a unique way of celebrating fall. Take a concert, add in a crafts fair and top it off with an Olympic class ski jumping competition and you have all the ingredients of the Flaming Leaves Festival; Lake Placid’s annual celebration of the golden-orange foliage that covers upstate New York each fall.

Slated to run October 7-8, the 2006 festival will be held at the MacKenzie-Intervale Jumping Complex, where athletes will speed down the 120-meter ski jump and land on the field below. You can watch the action from above or below.

Access is good throughout the complex. A gondola runs from the base lodge up to the ski jump tower, but you need to be able to walk to use it, as there’s a flight of stairs at the bottom and another four steps at the top. The best bet for anybody with mobility issues is to drive up to the tower, and take the elevator to the lower observation deck. The view from the top is spectacular.

For more information about the Flaming Leaves Festival or tourist sites in Lake Placid, visit www.LakePlacid.com.

Located in upstate New York, Lake Placid is in the northeastern section of the Adirondack Forest. This pristine outdoor area features a wide variety of accessible recreation opportunities and lodging options. From accessible lean-tos to high end resorts, there’s something to suit nearly every taste. For more information about accessible tourist sites, recreational activities, trails and lodging choices in the Adirondacks, read the Autumn 2006 issue of Emerging Horizons.