Earth Day
Picking up trash at trailheads
This Adirondack Earth Day there are many things to celebrate and many ways to show our appreciation for Mother Earth and the six-million acre Adirondack Park. 

Our yearly tradition has always been to spring clean a favorite

trailhead parking area. Whether it is your favorite fishing spot, paddling access or hiking trail, ten minutes of clean-up is worth the trouble. I am always surprised by the amount of garbage we pick up. If you opt to clean up a parking area, remember to wear gloves and bring a large garbage bag. Some of the stuff we've found is just plain nasty. This activity has made such an impact on my children that they are more careful taking off those granola bar wrappings. 

If you want a more organized activity, the Golden Arrow Lakeside Resort and Generations Restaurant in Lake Placid are celebrating Earth Day will a local market, live music and children's crafts. From 1:00 – 4:00 pm, at the Golden Arrow parking lot and Generations Restaurant deck, there will be all sorts of vendors offering everything from locally grown produce to jewelry and cutlery made from recycled materials. At 1:00 pm is a BBQ featuring locally grown beef and bison as well as a set menu of locally produced foods.

Generations Restaurant
Generations Restaurant will offer Earth Day celebations

At 2:00 pm, Sven Curth will be playing live until 5:00 pm. For the children: The Kids' Crafts will run from 2:00 – 4:00 pm, where children can make an earth day pin, picture frame or get their face painted. There will also be a maple demonstration with a treat of "sugar on snow." There will even be fire-stick juggling at 2:30 pm.  I think a bonus for the Golden Arrow Earth Day event will be free tours (2:30 pm) of this green hotel. Come see how steps have been taken to make the Golden Arrow a sustainable resort. This event is plastic bag  free, so bring your own reusable bags. I'm sure you're doing that anyway. 

Making maple at the golden arrow
Golden Arrow Maple Making

Perhaps you want your children to learn more about the native Adirondack edibles?  Try these events to continue Earth Day appreciate throughout the summer. Pat Banker will be instructing children ages 6 to 19 on wild, edible plant identification through the Cornell Cooperative Extension Franklin County 4-H program. In this "Truly Wild" discovery program, youth will learn what different plants can be used for culinary and medicinal purposes. 

All young people are required to have an adult present. Class size is limited. The program runs at 1:00 p.m. on May 26, June 30, June 28 and July 25 at Heaven Hill Farm and the Cornell Uhlein Maple Plantation in Lake Placid. There is a one-time fee of $10 per participant. Call 518-327-3457 to pre-register.  So this year, children have the opportunity to not only grow some of their own food, but to find out how to forage for it. If all goes well, they may not want to come inside the house for the rest of the summer. 

Enjoy getting outside and enjoying all the Adirondack Park has to offer! 

Diane Chase is the author of Adirondack Family Time Lake Placid and the High Peaks: Your Four-Season Guide to Over 300 Activities. Her second Adirondack Family Activities  guide will be in stores this summer and cover the Champlain Valley.