15 Feb A Cabin Getaway in the Adirondack Mountains
It doesn’t get much better than staying in a quiet lakeside cabin. Growing up in Otter Tail County, a county that has more lakes than any other county in the United States, meant that we both spent a large portion of our childhood hanging out at the lake, and it’s still one of our favorite things to do today. So, when we went to visit our friends, Evan and Hilary, in New York’s Adirondack Mountains last summer and they suggested renting a lake cabin for the weekend, we enthusiastically agreed.
Our cabin at Morningside Camps and Cottages was right on the shores of Minerva Lake. There are 19 cabins on site, and they are located on an 80 acre property within the Adirondack Mountains. We reserved camp #10 and couldn’t have been happier with it—the log cabin was absolutely adorable with its wood burning stone fireplace, views overlooking the lake, and woodsy decorations.
The cabin came with a fully stocked kitchen, one bathroom, three bedrooms (sleeping room for 8), and a wraparound porch with seating outside. We also had access to hiking trails, canoes, kayaks, sand volleyball court, nice sandy beach, and lakeside bonfire pit.
There were six of us staying in the cabin for the weekend, so the three bedrooms worked out perfectly—one for each couple. Plus, because we were staying at the cabins in early May, we were some of the only people there. It was incredibly peaceful, relaxing and a great place to get away from it all for a couple of days.
Our weekend was spent hiking, paddling on the water, playing games, cooking up some delicious meals, watching sunsets, and honestly, plenty of relaxing. We all had a crazy summer ahead of us, so it was nice to have down time with good friends. We also spent some time planning for our Icelandic road trip that was taking place with Evan and Hilary the following month!
In addition to walking into town to check out the general store and ogle at the craftsmanship of the canoes at the Adirondack Canoe Company, we hiked the Moxham Mountain trail. The trail is 2.7 miles from the parking lot to the 2,418 foot summit, and it has an elevation gain of 1,152 feet. When the trail was developed, it was created in a way to minimize steep uphill climbs and optimize the views along the way.
It was an enjoyable hike; it wasn’t too strenuous and the views were great, especially from the summit where you could see expansive landscapes of mountains, forests and lakes below. We encountered quite a bit of wind throughout the hike, especially at the summit, so I was glad I had a fleece with to keep me warm—it got cold up there! Thankfully, we lucked out and dodged the rain on the hike, as well. Just as we finished the hike and got back into our vehicles, the skies opened up and the rain came down.
I’m not sure if we were quite ready to check out of the cabins when our weekend was over, but luckily we had plenty of great adventures on the horizon to look forward to. We took a scenic drive out of the Adirondacks and stopped at a diner for a delicious lunch. Then, it was time to make our way to the Southern Finger Lakes region for even more road tripping fun!