Lower St. Regis Lake is a part of the St. Regis River in the

Adirondacks The Adirondack Mountains (; a-də-RÄN-dak) form a massif in northeastern New York with boundaries that correspond roughly to those of Adirondack Park. They cover about 5,000 square miles (13,000 km2). The mountains form a roughly circular d ...

in northern

New York State New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. stat ...

. At its northern edge is

Paul Smith's College Paul Smith's College is a private college in Paul Smiths, New York. Paul Smith's College offers associate and bachelor's degrees. Its 14,000-acre campus is one of the largest college campuses in the world. Approximately 1,000 students attend ...

, former site of

Paul Smith's Hotel Paul Smith's Hotel, formally known as the Saint Regis House, was founded in 1859 by Apollos (Paul) Smith in the town of Brighton, Franklin County, New York, in what would become the village of Paul Smiths; it was one of the first wilderness r ...

. Along with

Upper St. Regis Lake Upper St. Regis Lake is a part of the St. Regis River in the Adirondacks in northern New York State. Along with Lower St. Regis Lake and Spitfire Lake, it became famous in the late 19th century as a summer playground of America's power elit ...

and

Spitfire Lake Spitfire Lake is a part of the St. Regis River in the Adirondacks in northern New York State and is in area. Along with Upper and Lower St. Regis Lake, it became famous in the late 19th century as a summer playground of America's power elite, ...

, it became famous in the late 19th century as a summer playground of America's

power elite In political and sociological theory, the elite (french: élite, from la, eligere, to select or to sort out) are a small group of powerful people who hold a disproportionate amount of wealth, privilege, political power, or skill in a group. D ...

, drawn to the area by its scenic beauty and by the rustic charms of

. It is the site of a small chapel, originally built of logs, St. John's in the Wilderness, that was formerly attended by well-dressed families that arrived in canoes, rowboats and sailboats. Paul Smith's College maintains several lean-tos on the lake. The college is the start of two famous

canoe A canoe is a lightweight narrow water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using a single-bladed paddle. In British English, the term ...

routes—the

Seven Carries The Seven Carries is an historic canoe route from Paul Smith's Hotel to the Saranac Inn through what is now known as the Saint Regis Canoe Area in southern Franklin County, New York in the Adirondack Park. The route was famous with sportsmen an ...

and the Nine Carries. The lake lies in the town of

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

Sources

*Donaldson, Alfred L., ''A History of the Adirondacks.'' New York: Century, 1921. . (reprint) *Jerome, Christine ''Adirondack Passage: Cruise of Canoe Sairy Gamp'', HarperCollins, 1994. .

External links

''New York Times'', "Worship in the Wilderness", July 8, 1906. (pdf)
Adirondacks Lakes of New York (state) Lakes of Franklin County, New York {{FranklinCountyNY-geo-stub