Difficulty: Easy
Distance: 2 Miles Round Trip
Date: March 24, 2013
Weather: Cloudy, low 30s, snow on the ground
Lampson falls, in the Town of Clare is our go to short, easy, walk in the woods, with a great payoff. We have been here on probably 10 different occasions, but we enjoy it every time. On March 24, with an 8 year old finally recovering from his cold/flu, my wife decided we needed to get out of the house, and I am so glad we did.
The six of house (my wife and I, two boys (8 and 5) and two dogs) set out in the early afternoon. After the ~25 minute drive from Potsdam, we pulled into the parking area and began to walk. It is a flat easy walk, handicap accessible in warm weather. On this day, it was snow packed, but easy to navigate, as usual, as we walked along the old logging road. After reaching the falls (the guidebooks say about .25 miles from the parking area) we walked down to the base (this section was a bit slippery) and continued to walk along the low cliffs facing the falls. This is where the trail used to end. It is now marked to make a 3.5 mile loop to Harper Falls and back along the logging road. We set out down that path, but retreated when the boys began to get a bit tired. All told we walked about 2 miles round trip.
On the way out we stopped at the top of the falls for more pictures and to marvel at the water and ice curving and flowing around the rocks.
Our 8 year old got to take lots of great pictures and everyone enjoyed it. Lampson Falls is always worth the short drive for a quick retreat into the Adirondacks.
