Mirror Lake Watershed Walk

Welcome to the Mirror Lake Watershed Walk! This is a self-guided tour of the western portion of the Mirror Lake watershed brought to you by the Paul Smith’s College Adirondack Watershed Institute in partnership with Northwood School. Th... Read more

This is Mid's Park, a lovely and popular place for locals and visitors alike to enjoy the water and the occasional event in the middle of Lake Placid. Recreation is an important aspect of Lake Placid, which is why you can see quite a few sh... Read more

If you look to your right, you will see a large, tiered parking lot across from the NBT bank. This parking lot was redone to be more environmentally friendly. We mentioned earlier that Brewster Park has some features to help prevent stormwa... Read more

Part of a healthy watershed are those who learn to love and protect it. The Northwood School fosters this love in their students and they provide their students the opportuinty to flex their creativity at the Northwood School Innovation HUB... Read more

We talked earlier about impervious surfaces and how paved sidewalks are a common example. Look down at the sidewalk. You see how the cracks between the bricks are bigger and have gravel in them? Recent construction in the Village of Lake Pl... Read more

Look at the roof of the Golden Arrow Lakeside Resort, does it look normal to you? Do you see the plants covering the surface? This is an example of a “green roof”, which unlike a normal roof, is a “pervious surface”. Precipitation t... Read more

At this stop you can see a small, wooded area. This is a very important feature of this part of the watershed. Unlike the Main Street area you just left, this wooded area will capture nearly all the precipitation that falls on it and help t... Read more

Welcome to the watershed divide!! Take a look uphill at the parking lot. Do you see how it is at the top of the hill? You may not be able to see from your spot, but the hill slopes down on the other end of parking lot. The parking lot is i... Read more

This stop gives you a nice view of the Mirror Lake watershed. The two small peaks closest to the lake are Mount Whitney (tallest) and Cobble Hill (shortest). Cobble Hill is a great family hike accessible from the Northwood School campus! M... Read more

Earlier we learned about impervious surfaces that prevent water from entering the ground, resulting in surface runoff. Take a look around this location and note all of the impervious surfaces, roads, sidewalks, parking lots and roofs. In th... Read more

Look back up the path you just walked down. Do you see where water has flowed and the small sand delta? This is an example of surface runoff and soil erosion that results from it. At this location eroded soil enters Mirror Lake, not only ad... Read more

On warm summer days this beach is full of people enjoying the cool and clean water of Mirror Lake. This is the only public beach with lifeguards in town and is a valuable recreational asset to the community. New York State law requires that... Read more

This is where some of the water collected by the watershed exits in a small stream. Notice that the stream goes underground, which is common in urbanized areas, as streams are channeled into pipes that are buried underground making it easie... Read more

The Mirror Lake Watershed Association was formed to protect the Mirror Lake and Mill Pond watersheds. The association monitors water quality, sponsors a steward whose job is to prevent invasive species from entering Mirror Lake, and provid... Read more