Things to Do in Lake Placid NY With Kids: A Local Family’s Guide

Lake Placid is about two hours and fifteen minutes north of Albany, and it is the rare mountain town where the main attraction is not the mountain. It is the Olympics. The village hosted the Winter Games twice, in 1932 and again in 1980, and unlike most former Olympic hosts it kept nearly everything and still uses it. Your kids can stand at the bottom of the ski jumps, walk the rink where the U.S. beat the Soviets, and ride a bobsled down a real track.

That combination — genuine history plus things children can physically do — is what makes it work for families in a way that a lot of Adirondack towns don’t.

What’s actually worth your time

The Olympic Center and Herb Brooks Arena. This is the 1980 rink, still standing, still in use. There’s a museum attached covering both Games. For kids under about seven the museum is a lot of reading, but the arena itself lands — it’s smaller than they expect, which is the point. If there’s a youth game or a public skate happening, that’s the version to catch.

The Olympic Jumping Complex. You take a chairlift and then an elevator to the top of the 120-meter jump tower. The view is enormous and the drop is genuinely startling. In summer the jumpers train into a pool, which is the single most reliable “wow” for a child in the entire region. Worth planning around if you can find a training day.

Mt. Van Hoevenberg. The bobsled and skeleton track. There’s a passenger bobsled experience that runs both winter and summer — winter on ice, summer on wheels. There’s a minimum age and height, so check before you promise anything to a seven-year-old.

Whiteface Mountain. In winter it’s a serious ski area with a real beginner program. In summer, the Veterans’ Memorial Highway drives you almost to the summit — you park and either walk a stone staircase or take an elevator carved through the rock. For families who want a big mountain view without a hike, this is the answer in the whole Adirondacks.

Mirror Lake. Not Lake Placid — that’s the larger lake behind it. Mirror Lake is the one in the village, no motorboats, a public beach, and boat rentals along the shore. In winter it freezes and they clear a skating loop on it. This is the free, unstructured part of the trip, and for a lot of families it ends up being the memory.

High Falls Gorge. About fifteen minutes toward Wilmington. Bridges and walkways over a river cutting through ancient rock. It’s stroller-hostile but manageable for anyone walking confidently. Short — an hour is plenty.

By age

Toddlers and preschool. Mirror Lake beach, the village Main Street, the Olympic Center if there’s skating. Skip the jumping complex tower — the exposure at the top is a lot for a small child, and you’ll spend the visit holding them.

Five to eight. This is the sweet spot. The ski jump tower, the gondola at Whiteface, High Falls Gorge, the toboggan chute on Mirror Lake in winter. Everything is short enough to hold attention.

Nine and up. Add the bobsled experience if they meet the requirements, the Cliffside Coaster, and actual skiing at Whiteface. This is also the age where the 1980 hockey story starts to mean something, which changes the museum from a walk-through to an actual visit.

Getting there from Albany

Roughly 2 hours 15 minutes up the Northway to Exit 30, then Route 73 through Keene Valley. That last stretch is the prettiest drive in the state and also the one where somebody gets carsick. Build in a stop at the Cascade Lakes pull-off — it breaks the drive and it’s free.

Winter note: Route 73 through Keene is a mountain road. In a storm, take Exit 34 and come in via Route 9N instead. Longer, flatter, safer.

Where to stay

Lake Placid has more genuinely family-friendly lodging than most Adirondack towns — several properties on Mirror Lake itself with private beaches, which matters more than it sounds when you’re traveling with children who need somewhere to go at 7am.

Where to Stay in Lake Placid With Kids

What to skip

The Olympic Museum on its own if your kids are under six. The Cliffside Coaster if you’ve already done the bobsled — they scratch the same itch and one is enough. And don’t try to do Whiteface and the Jumping Complex in the same day with young children; they’re on opposite sides of town and both involve a lot of standing.

Everything in this guide