COVID cancels winter weekends at site
Skiers can visit Camp Santanoni, but events scrapped by pandemic
Cross country skiers are welcome to visit Camp Santanoni this snow season but the Winter Weekend events that have taken place during the last seven winters are canceled this year due to the COVID -19 pandemic.
The state Department of Environmental Conservation and Friends of Camp Santanoni have hosted skiing and snowshoeing visitors to the historic Great Camp located on a 9.8mile roundtrip trail during the past seven winter seasons.
Hot chocolate, snacks and historic interpreters would explain the history behind the camp buildings, which used to be part of a private estate and is being restored to its original condition.
The Santanoni trail is popular with ski touring enthusiasts due to its abundant snow, accessibility and moderate uphill grade. The trail is a carriage road in the summer. The events, which were usually on three weekends, had been put on by the nearby SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry ’s Adirondack Interpretive Center, the town of Newcomb and the Adirondack Architectural Heritage group, as well as DEC and Friends of
Camp Santanoni. They hope to resume the weekends in 2022.
While visitors remain free to ski or snowshoe on the road, the Great Camp buildings, including the Gate Lodge, Main Lodge, and Artist’s Studio, will remain closed. Camp Santanoni was built by Robert and Anna Pruyn in 1892. Spanning 12,900 acres, the camp consisted of the Gatehouse Lodge Complex; the Farm Complex; and the Main Camp. It was sold to the state in 1972 and incorporated into the State Forest Preserve. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a National Historic Landmark.