About the Paul Smiths Visitor Interpretive Center

The Paul Smiths Visitor Interpretive Center, opened in 1989, offers miles of scenic trails – both interpretive trails and several recently-added backcountry trails.

• The interpretive trails are surfaced for easy access and feature signs explaining the local ecology.
  • Barnum Brook Trail
  • Heron Marsh Trail
  • Shingle Mill Falls Trail
  • Forest Ecology Trail
  • Boreal Life Trail
  • Silviculture Trail

• The backcountry trails are unsurfaced; hiking boots are recommended.
  • Jenkins Mountain Trail
  • Black Pond Trail
  • Long Pond Trail

Exhibits: The Visitor Interpretive Center Building houses exhibits on natural history, an information desk, and a gift shop. The Center offers regular showings of multi-image presentations on the park. Youngsters will find "touch tables," games and puzzles to spark their interest in regional animals, insects and plants. The not-so-young will find comfortable chairs by the window and, in nice weather, a restful haven on the front porch.

Butterfly House: Adjacent to the VIC Building, is a Native Species Butterfly House, featuring butterflies and moths in all stages of development. It is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day from June to Labor Day. Naturalists are on hand to answer questions from the public. It is operated by volunteers and VIC staff and funded by the Adirondack Park Institute.

Public Programs: The VIC offers more than 150 public programs each year, many of them free. Programs include lectures on bear behavior and Adirondack photography, guided hikes, canoe paddles on Barnum Pond, orienteering classes, maple sugaring outings, and packbasket weaving workshops. Summers at the Center feature regularly scheduled interpretive trail walks, the Junior Naturalists series, astronomy classes, and live birds of prey sessions.

Environmental Education: With the support of a private, nonprofit organization called the Adirondack Park Institute Inc, the VIC sponsors the Hudson Headwaters River Watch, a wide variety of on-site and off-site school programs, and Stalking Science Teacher Training Workshops.

For more information on VIC programs, visit the official Visitor Interpretive Center web site at:

www.northnet.org/adirondackvic/