My college roommates and I are still really close, even though we graduated college 17 years ago (ew, that’s wild to think about). We’ve been through milestone birthdays, the death of a parent, breakups, weddings and babies. Even though we don’t all live together anymore, we still prioritize seeing each other a few times a year to keep our bond strong. You may have read my recent blog post about our trip to Savannah, Georgia in 2024 (here’s the link if you haven’t). We wanted to plan another trip somewhere in 2025. It was going to be hard to get us all on a flight so we decided it would be easier at the time to go somewhere drivable. We decided on Lake George, New York, which was an idea that Samantha had presented to the group during our annual Roomie Christmas Night when we all offered trip ideas.
Cindy and Sam are both in the southern part of New England while Tanya and I are more in the northern part, so we took two cars from our respective areas and met at The Crossroads Country Store in Chestertown, New York for lunch. We got sandwiches and snacks here but they had just about everything you could think of when it came to outdoor activities! After eating lunch and chatting, we drove about 10 minutes north to Pottersville so we could explore Natural Stone Bridge and Caves. It was a nice way to get outside and explore a bit without doing anything to strenuous. We saw people of all ages out on the trail enjoying themselves. There were some cool rock formations and small caves and such. It was about $21/pp for adults. Children were less expensive. They had a large gift shop as well with lots of fossils, crystals and stones.
After we left here, we drove south to do an afternoon hike at The Pinnacle, which was recommended to me by an Instagram friend (follow @alyshawexplores for all things New York and beyond!). The hike was lovely. We had some really nice autumn colors; it was warm and had stunning views of Lake George from the summit. After taking pictures and resting for a bit, we hiked back down to the cars and then headed to our Airbnb. It was really cool looking online but wasn’t as great in person unfortunately. It was a “treehouse” with three sections: a main living area, kitchen, bathroom and loft with a queen-sized bed, then a small outdoor sitting area, and then another bedroom with a half bath, all connected by a large elevated deck. The concept was very cool but it wasn’t as enjoyable as we hoped. Unloading the car was difficult – you had to use wagons to drag your belongings up to the treehouse because they didn’t allow cars right next to them. Four girls staying for three nights? Yeah…we had a lot of luggage and supplies. Then the ladder going up to the loft was very narrow and a little slippery. It was hard to manage getting any luggage up there. The kitchen was tiny, which was okay, but it had limited utensils and supplies. The living room was a very small: old love seat, a hard wooden chair and a coffee table. Luckily, we had brought some camp chairs so there was enough seating for all of us. There wasn’t a TV in the living room either, which was fine, but could be a deal breaker for some people. We had beautiful weather during our trip but if it rained the whole time you were there, you might be uncomfortable and bored being trapped in the house. The property was called Trekker and they had some other types of stays at the location like yurts, cabins and little hobbit houses built into the hill. If you like unique stays, Trekker may be the place for you. I don’t think I’d stay there again, but we still had fun. That night, after we got settled in, I made dinner for everyone and we played games and chatted nonstop.
Day two started slowly. We had a big breakfast at the treehouse and then got dressed for the first activity of the trip – horseback riding! This was a big deal because Tanya is scared of horses and Cindy was terrified of going too. I hadn’t been horseback riding since I was a kid but I was really excited for it. Sam had been most recently, on a trip to Grand Tetons National Park, so out of any of us, she was probably the most comfortable riding. On the tour, it was the four of us and one solo rider. The guide led us through the woods surrounding the stable property. We had so much fun! My horse’s name was Daniels. He was a big boy but an easy ride. I didn’t have to do much work to guide him. After the ride ended and we had pictures taken, we stopped for lunch at a brewery. It was fine, but the vibes were kind of weird there.
We decided to check out a little bit of downtown Lake George. First, we went to another brewery for a beer. It was chilly out but sitting in the sun outside was still nice. Afterwards, we walked around a bit but found that the majority of stores were closed for the season, which I thought was so weird. It was peak foliage when we visited and I was expecting so many more tourists and leaf peepers! Since there wasn’t a lot open, we made a final stop at the Mystery Spot overlooking the lake. It’s hard to explain but basically there is a marked spot that you stand on and if you face the lake and say something quietly, people around you can barely hear it but you’ll hear it really amplified in your own ears, like you talked into a microphone or something. It’s really bizarre phenomenon. We got pizza for dinner and just ate at the treehouse and hung out. Since there wasn’t a tv in the living room, we ended up watching a movie (The Woman in Cabin 10) on Sam’s iPad propped up on a windowsill before bed.
One thing we hadn’t loved about our trip to Savannah was the lack of activities there, so when we were looking at trips for 2025, we wanted to make sure we went to place that had lots of activities. So far in Lake George we had gone hiking twice and went horseback riding. Day three started with a new activity for all of us – Rail Biking! This is an activity that’s come into popularity (at least in the Northeast) in recent years. It takes old, abandoned railroad tracks and gives them a new purpose! Our railbike sat 4 people and had a large basket on the back for bags or anything you might want to bring with you. It’s a pretty low-impact activity so I think it would be great for people of any age to try! We biked for a few miles and let me tell you, that might be the most beautiful way to see the foliage. It was so beautiful! We saw a few deer but no bears sadly!
After we finished our rail biking adventure, we went back to the treehouse to freshen up, then went downtown to see if we could find any stores that were open. We had a little bit more luck than the day prior so we got to buy a few things. We also checked out a winery and did a tasting. While sitting outside at the little winery, we heard music coming from somewhere nearby, so obviously we had to go investigate. We found a dive bar with very cheap drinks and live music so we ended up hanging out there for a bit. For dinner, we visited the neighboring town of Glen Falls and went to Buono Notte Café. It was a small restaurant but we enjoyed our meals. When we got back to the tree house, we decided to watch a Halloween themed movie since it was spooky season. We watched Practical Magic, which I didn’t think was that great, but it’s always fun to do a Halloween movie night!
The next morning, we packed everything up and tidied up. Cindy and Sam headed back home, but Tanya and I decided to make a detour before our return trip. It was a beautiful day so we decided to do the 5.5 mile drive up Prospect Mountain, a 2,030-foot summit outside of Lake George village with 360-degree views. It was a little windy and brisk on the summit but we took in the view and explored a bit. It was a nice way to finish up our trip before driving back to New Hampshire!
Lake George is a beautiful area, especially if you love recreating outside. Have you been there before? Let me know in the comments below!
The Adventures of Suze 
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