Plattsburgh and Lake Champlain

Plattsburgh is the small city at the mouth of the Saranac River on the west shore of Lake Champlain, about 61 road miles east of the cabins, roughly an hour and a quarter. In 1814 an American squadron beat a British invasion fleet in the bay off the city, and until 1995 the Air Force flew from the base south of downtown. Today it has museums on the battle and the old base, a long public beach, a ferry to Vermont that runs around the clock and a shopping mall, enough for a full day out.

The drive from the cabins

The way to Plattsburgh is the old road from Malone to the lake. From the cabins, County Route 25 runs north to Malone, and US 11 carries on east through the village of Chateaugay. About 12 miles past Chateaugay, NY 190, the Military Turnpike, branches off to the east, and with NY 374 for the last few miles it brings you into the city, about 27 miles on. Allow about an hour and a quarter each way, more after a snowfall; the winter driving guide covers the season. For the last miles back in the dark, follow the host's directions; getting to the cabins explains why.

The turnpike has a past. It was authorized as early as 1811, but it was barely passable when President James Monroe came through Malone on his 1817 tour of the northern border. Back in Washington, Monroe ordered soldiers at Plattsburgh to work on it. The road was finished to Malone in 1820, and a stage line was soon running from Plattsburgh through Malone to Ogdensburg, cutting travel times, mail times and the price of goods. Malone's history follows the village that grew up at the other end of it.

NY 374 is the slower, scenic way. It leaves US 11 at Chateaugay and runs by the Chateaugay Lakes, the hamlet of Lyon Mountain, Chazy Lake and Dannemora to Plattsburgh, about six road miles longer than NY 190, and it passes the turn for the Lyon Mountain trailhead.

Plattsburgh is also a way in. Plattsburgh International Airport, on the old air base, has Allegiant flights from Florida and Contour flights to Washington Dulles; see airports near the cabins. Amtrak's Adirondack, between New York and Montreal, stops at Plattsburgh's brick depot of 1886.

The city and the lake

Plattsburgh is named for Zephaniah Platt, and its settlement dates from 1785. It became a village in 1815, the year after the battle, and a city in 1902. About 19,800 people lived there in 2020, and it is the seat of Clinton County.

Lake Champlain runs 120 miles, north to its outlet in the Richelieu River in Quebec, which carries its water on to the St. Lawrence and the Atlantic. At its widest the lake is 12 miles across. It is 400 feet deep at its deepest and 64 feet on average, covers 455 square miles and has more than 70 islands and 587 miles of shoreline. Its basin of 8,234 square miles lies 56 percent in Vermont, 37 percent in New York and 7 percent in Quebec, and about 200,000 people, roughly a third of everyone who lives in it, get their drinking water from the lake.

The Battle of Plattsburgh

In the late summer of 1814 Britain sent an invasion south along the lake. Sir George Prevost crossed the border from Canada on September 1 with more than 10,000 troops, while a British squadron under Captain George Downie sailed south to support him. Waiting at Plattsburgh were about 4,900 Americans under General Alexander Macomb: some 1,700 regulars, 700 New York militiamen and 2,500 militiamen from Vermont. On the water, Master Commandant Thomas Macdonough anchored his squadron in Cumberland Bay, off the city: the Saratoga, Eagle, Ticonderoga and Preble, with ten gunboats.

The naval battle began on the morning of September 11. Downie's flagship, the newly built Confiance, carried 37 guns, 31 long guns and six carronades, against 26 on the Saratoga. In the first fifteen minutes an American shot knocked a British cannon loose, and the gun struck Downie and killed him; that cannon is now displayed at the U.S. Naval Academy. Late in the fight Macdonough used anchors he had set out before the battle to spin the Saratoga around in place and bring her other broadside to bear. The Confiance struck her colors at 10:30 a.m., and the British squadron surrendered.

Ashore, Prevost had ordered his flanking column not to attack before 10 a.m. When he saw that his squadron was beaten, he called the column back, and in heavy rain the British army withdrew to Canada. The defeat weakened Britain's hand in the peace talks; Henry Goulburn, one of the British negotiators, said that burning Baltimore or holding Plattsburgh would have won peace on British terms. The Treaty of Ghent was signed on December 24, 1814. Theodore Roosevelt called the fight on the lake "the greatest naval battle of the war."

The war reached Malone too: in February 1814 a British force raided the village for the stores an American army had left there. And the lake had seen a naval fight off Plattsburgh before. On October 11, 1776, Benedict Arnold's small American fleet fought a British fleet under General Carleton off Valcour Island, about five miles south of the city. Arnold lost most of his ships, but the fight delayed the British advance toward the Hudson Valley. The Bluff Point Lighthouse on Valcour Island, cared for by the Clinton County Historical Association, looks out over the site.

The War of 1812 Museum

The Battle of Plattsburgh Association, a nonprofit staffed entirely by volunteers, runs the War of 1812 Museum at 31 Washington Road, on the grounds of the old air base. Its Allan S. Everest Interpretive Center tells the land and naval battles in order. The centerpieces are a diorama five feet by fifteen and an interactive scale model of the village and the country around it, with artifacts from the battle, ship models and reproduction clothing. The KeyBank Gallery holds Julian O. Davidson's painting The Battle of Lake Champlain, and an eight-minute film, September 11th, 1814: the Battles at Plattsburgh, sets the scene in a small theater. The museum has also hosted a traveling exhibit from the National Museum of the United States Navy, and its shop sells books and local crafts.

In 2026 the museum is open Wednesday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., from May through October 31, and closed on legal holidays, so a winter trip finds it shut. It has never charged general admission and runs on donations. It is wheelchair accessible, parking is free and pets are not allowed. Call 518-566-1814 to check the day before you go.

The Kent-Delord House

The Kent-Delord House at 17 Cumberland Avenue began as a house of 1797. Henry and Betsey Delord bought it in 1810 for $850 and rebuilt it in 1811 into the house that stands today. In September 1814 British officers made it their headquarters, and its guests over the years included Macdonough, Macomb and James Monroe. The house stayed in the Delord family until 1913 and has been a museum since 1928, its rooms set out to show how people lived through the 19th century.

The house is shown by guided tour, and the tour hours change from year to year. In 2024 tours ran Tuesday to Friday from late May to late September, with Saturdays added from early July to mid-September. Call 518-561-1035 to book a tour before you plan around it. During the 2025 commemoration weekend its grounds held a reenactment encampment with rifle and cannon demonstrations, a blacksmith's tent and historic children's games.

Monuments and the riverfront

The Macdonough Monument rises 135 feet over City Hall Place in the middle of downtown. John Russell Pope designed it, a bronze eagle with a wingspan of about 20 feet stands on top, and it was dedicated on August 18, 1926, to honor Macdonough and the victory of 1814. The city marked its 100th anniversary on August 18, 2026, and again on September 10, with remarks from the mayor, a Navy veteran and a Macdonough descendant and wreaths for the military and veterans.

At the mouth of the Saranac, in the Samuel de Champlain Monument park at 30 Cumberland Avenue, a bronze Champlain that the city's Franco-American community put up in 1912 looks out over the lake. Below him crouches an Indigenous figure in a Plains headdress, which is wrong for this region, and the inscription calls Champlain a discoverer, though Huron, Algonquin and Montagnais people guided him to the lake and he never set foot on that shore. Rather than take the statue down, city officials added a panel in English and French in 2020 that explains the errors.

From Peace Point at the river's mouth, a paved trail follows the Saranac upstream through the city. Its first part, about a mile and a half, opened in May 2012 and runs through the SUNY Plattsburgh campus, and it is the start of a planned 27-mile greenway up the river to Saranac. It is a good way to stretch your legs after the drive.

The commemoration in September

Every September the city marks the battle on the weekend nearest the anniversary. The weekend is free and has run since 1998, organized by 1814 Commemoration Inc., a group that longtime volunteers formed that year. Expect reenactors and their encampment, ceremonies, concerts, period music and dancing, bagpipes, children's games, history talks and museum tours, fireworks, and a military-themed parade on Saturday; in 2026 the U.S. Army's 10th Mountain Division Band played. In 2027 the anniversary itself falls on a Saturday. The events calendar has the rest of the year's big weekends.

The old air base

Plattsburgh was a military town for more than 180 years. The Oval, at the heart of the old base south of downtown, was part of the post from the War of 1812 until 1995, and its Army buildings still stand: the Regimental Headquarters, the enlisted men's barracks and the Old Guard House of 1893, the officers' quarters of 1893 to 1895, the Post Hospital and the firehouse of 1895, the Band Building of 1905 and the Memorial Chapel of 1933. Older still is the Old Stone Barracks of 1838, the last piece of a planned quadrangle of early Army barracks.

In the 1950s the post became Plattsburgh Air Force Base, built for the Strategic Air Command, and in its last years it was home to the 380th Air Refueling Wing. In 1993 the federal base-closing commission voted 8 to 1 to close it, a shock in a town that had expected the base to grow, and it closed in 1995. Its 5,000 acres were turned over to new uses, about 99 percent of them within 20 years. The airfield is now Plattsburgh International Airport, and Clinton County owns the 1,699 acres with the runway and the aviation buildings.

The War of 1812 Museum is one of several museums and breweries on the old base, all within about 500 feet of each other. The Clinton County Historical Association's museum at 98 Ohio Avenue fills four galleries with the county's history and is open Wednesday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and by appointment; the association has also led guided walking tours of the Oval. Valcour Brewing Company makes its beer in the Old Stone Barracks at 49 Ohio Avenue and runs a restaurant and an inn in the same building. If the base is your kind of history, The Aviator, the cabin with the aviation decor, suits the trip; see The Aviator.

SUNY Plattsburgh and the Rockwell Kent collection

The college that the river trail runs through began as the New York State Normal and Training School at Plattsburgh, a school for teachers chartered on June 15, 1889, the last of eleven public normal schools in the state. Its main building burned in 1929; the hall that replaced it was finished in 1932 and is now Hawkins Hall. The school became part of the State University of New York at its founding in 1948, and in the fall of 2025 it enrolled 4,561 students.

For visitors, the draw is the Plattsburgh State Art Museum, dedicated in 1989. It holds the most complete collection of Rockwell Kent's work in the country, more than 5,000 cataloged artworks, objects and ephemera, which began with a gift from Sally Kent Gorton, the artist's third wife, that the college accepted in 1974. The Rockwell Kent Gallery is in the Feinberg Library. Admission is free, and in the fall 2026 semester, from August 25 to December 11, the gallery is open Tuesday to Saturday, noon to 4 p.m., closed October 10 to 13, November 11 and November 22 to 30. Hours change between semesters and exhibits, so check before you go.

Beaches and state parks

Plattsburgh City Beach, at 4 Beach Road, has more than a mile and a quarter of sand, one of the longest freshwater beaches in the country, with a view across the lake to Vermont's Green Mountains. Entry is free; you pay to park. In 2026 non-residents paid $13 a day at the lot's kiosks or with the ParkMobile app, lifeguards were on duty daily from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., and the season ran from May 22 to September 7. It has concessions, restrooms with showers, grills, picnic tables, a volleyball net, nature trails, wheelchairs for rent and a dog park next door.

Next door, Cumberland Bay State Park has a large natural sand beach, picnic grounds with tables and grills, a playground and playing fields, and a campground. In 2026 its swimming season ran from June 27 to September 6, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., a car paid $7, and the campground stayed open until October 11.

For a quieter shore, drive about eight road miles north of downtown to Point Au Roche State Park, on the northwestern shore of the lake, a mix of open fields and woods left mostly in their natural state. It has a protected sandy beach, a boat launch open all year from sunrise to sunset, and trails for walking and biking, among them the Philip C. Walker Memorial Nature Trail. Its nature center runs programs all year and is open Thursday to Monday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. In 2026 its swimming season ran from June 27 to September 7, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., and cars paid $7 from May 23 to September 7. In winter the same trails are used for cross-country skiing and snowshoeing.

The ferry and the marina

Lake Champlain Transportation runs the Grand Isle ferry from Cumberland Head, about six road miles from downtown, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, all year. The crossing is about two miles and takes about 14 minutes. On the posted timetable, boats leave the New York side every 12 to 15 minutes from about 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., about every 20 minutes in the evening and every 40 minutes through the night; a few departures do not run on Sundays, and wind, maintenance or traffic can shift the times. The fares posted in the fall of 2026, charged each way, were:

A fuel surcharge may be added, and a vehicle 19 feet or longer pays more, by length.

The crossing is a quick way out onto the open lake, and on the far side you are in Grand Isle, Vermont, if you want to keep going. For the drive on to Burlington, see the drive from Burlington. Boaters can tie up downtown at the Plattsburgh Boat Basin, 5 Dock Street, which takes boats up to 65 feet, rents transient slips at $2.50 a foot a day and moorings at $35 for an overnight stay, and sells gas and diesel, with a pump-out.

Orchards and farm stands

Fall around Plattsburgh brings U-pick apples, pumpkin patches, wagon rides and corn mazes, and summer brings U-pick berries. Two orchards fit easily into a day here.

Rulfs Orchard, at 531 Bear Swamp Road in Peru, started in 1952 selling apples from a wagon on the front lawn and has grown to more than 15 kinds of produce, eight greenhouses, a large farm stand and a bakery making doughnuts and pies. In 2026 it is open every day from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., with U-pick strawberries, raspberries and blueberries in summer, apples and pumpkins in the fall, a corn maze, a petting zoo and ice cream. It is on NY 442 just off Northway exit 35, on the way to Ausable Chasm.

Chazy Orchards, at 9486 Route 9 in Chazy, about 16 road miles north of downtown, grows McIntosh apples on trees first planted in the 1920s, many of them still bearing, and calls itself the world's largest McIntosh orchard. Its farm market opens in mid-September and runs Tuesday to Sunday, 6:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., with U-pick apples, cider, honey, maple syrup and a bakery for pies and cider doughnuts. Besides McIntosh it grows Honeycrisp, Cortland, Gala, SnapDragon and SweeTango.

Michigans, beer and shopping

Plattsburgh's own food is the michigan: a steamed hot dog in a steamed bun, covered in meat sauce and topped with mustard and onions, and you can ask for the onions on top of the sauce or buried under it. The oldest michigan stand in the North Country is Clare & Carl's, a seasonal place at 4727 State Route 9, south of downtown, family-owned since 1942. McSweeney's Red Hots has two places, on Route 9 and on Route 3. Those two, Gus' Red Hots, Ronnie's Michigan Stand and Michigans Plus, new to the list in 2026, are the five stands in the Town of Plattsburgh's Michigan Month, every July. Call ahead outside summer, because hours change with the season.

For a sit-down meal, Valcour Brewing on the old base serves lunch and dinner. For shopping, Champlain Centre, at 60 Smithfield Boulevard off NY 3 near Northway exit 37, has more than 50 stores, among them Target, Kohl's, JCPenney and Ross, plus an eight-screen cinema; it is about 59 road miles from the cabins, the first stop on the way in. Groceries are closer to the cabins in Malone; see groceries and supplies, and for meals nearer the cabins, where to eat.

Children and dogs

For children, summer in Plattsburgh is mostly about the water: three public beaches, picnic grounds with grills and a playground at Cumberland Bay. On the ferry, children under 6 ride free and ages 6 to 12 pay $3.25 each way. The War of 1812 Museum welcomes children, and its diorama and scale model lay out the village and the battle; Point Au Roche's nature center is open Thursday to Monday, and in the fall the orchards add U-pick apples, corn mazes and a petting zoo at Rulfs. For a family base with children 10 and up, see the cabins for families.

Dogs have a dog park beside City Beach. The two state parks allow up to two pets in their day-use areas, crated or on a leash no longer than six feet, and at Cumberland Bay pets are kept off the guarded beach, the playground and the buildings. The War of 1812 Museum does not allow pets, and neither do the trails at Ausable Chasm. The cabins take pets for a fee; the dog guide covers the rest of the area.

A day from the cabins

In the fall, swap the beach for the orchards and, if you call ahead, a tour of the Kent-Delord House; the War of 1812 Museum stays open through October 31. In winter the battle museum is closed, so check the hours of the historical association's museum and the Rockwell Kent Gallery, which keep their own schedules; the ferry runs all winter, and Point Au Roche's trails take skis and snowshoes. In mid-December the sun sets in Plattsburgh at about 4:15 p.m., so start home early.

For a longer day, Ausable Chasm is about 13 road miles south of downtown on US 9. A morning in the gorge and an afternoon on the lake make a good pairing; the Ausable Chasm guide has the chasm's trails, river trips and hours. North of the city, the Northway runs on to the Champlain crossing and Montreal; see the Montreal day trip and crossing the border before you go that way.

Questions

Sources

Facts on this page were checked against these sources in October 2026. Hours, fees and schedules change; confirm before you go.

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