New York Flora Association Blog

Scaroon Manor, on the western shore of Schroon Lake, was one of the largest resorts in the Adirondacks with over 100 buildings and elaborate gardens and recreation facilities. See photos below.

It closed in 1960 and the state took it over in 1967.  All the buildings were razed and eventually a day-use area and campground were developed (this is the first year for the campground). Its hard to imagine such a large resort while camping at the site today.

A an old road leads north from the main bathhouse though the woods and along the shoreline where rock outcrops are nice places to enjoy the lake. At the northern edge of the property, along the sandy lakeshore, is a small northern white cedar swamp that has been flooded by a beaver dam built right along the beach where a small outlet stream emerges.  I have never seen a dam built along a lakeshore before. Its a beautiful area that deserves more exploration.  Here are some of the plants we saw. – Steve Young

Round-leaved dogwood was in fruit.

The meadow-sweet was just about to flower.

Some kind of gall was affecting the fruits of the speckled alder.

And the leaves too.

The narrow sandy beach curves up to the northeast with the cedar swamp at the north end.

Shinleaf flowers were everywhere along the path to the beach.

A view into the flooded swamp from the beach.

Stands of bur-reed were common in the flooded areas.

A flock of mallard kept eating something in the flowers of white water-lily. Was it the insects in the flowers?

The site definitely deserves a lot more exploration and a plant list.  Maybe NYFA or the new Adirondack Botanical Society can schedule a trip there in the future.

This entry was posted on July 11, 2011 at 9:10 pm and is filed under Plant Places. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.