Brewster Park
Welcome to the Mirror Lake Watershed Walk!This is a self-guided tour of the western portion of the Mirror Lake watershed brought to you by the Paul Smith’s College Adirondack Watershed Institute in partnership with Northwood School.This is Brewster Park, a recently redesigned park here in Lake Placid. While providing lovely views of Whiteface Mountain and Mirror Lake, this small park also houses important features of stormwater runoff management. Why would we need to manage stormwater runoff? Runoff often drains into the lake, causing pollutants like oil and road salt to impact the ecosystem here.You may be thinking, how is road salt a pollutant? Too much road salt in a waterbody can seriously alter the ecosystem of that waterbody. For example, there was so much road salt build up in Mirror Lake, that it changed the density of the water. The water with the road salt sank to the bottom and made it hard for fish for survive because there was less oxygen down there.Lake Placid has been installing new systems to help mitigate the runoff, and since then, the lake has been recovering which is great for the fish and for us! You’ll learn more about these systems throughout the walk.Your next stop is Mid's Park, right next to Eastern Mountain Sports.
Mid's Park
This is Mid's Park, a lovely and popular place for locals and visitors alike to enjoy the water and the occasional event in the middle of Lake Placid. Recreation is an important aspect of Lake Placid, which is why you can see quite a few shops advertising boat and sup rentals. Protection of the lake is important to the people of Lake Placid because a healthy lake means healthy people and the ability to continue recreating.The sidewalk here was recently redone as part of the improvements the Village of Lake Placid is implementing to be more environmentally friendly. These sidewalks used to made of a dense brick layout, which is an example of an impervious surface. Impervious (meaning fluids cannot flow through it) surfaces are important features of watersheds as they prevent precipitation from entering the ground, resulting in surface runoff, erosion, flooding, and water pollution if not managed properly. We’ll talk more about this in stop 5.The next stop will be right before NBT bank.
Tiered Parking Lot
If you look to your right, you will see a large, tiered parking lot across from the NBT bank. This parking lot was redone to be more environmentally friendly. We mentioned earlier that Brewster Park has some features to help prevent stormwater runoff. One of those features is a large underground tank designed to hold the water that goes through the storm drains and prevent pollutants from flowing into Mirror Lake. This tiered parking lot has one as well!Your next stop is at the Northwood School Innovation HUB.
Northwood School Innovation HUB
Part of a healthy watershed are those who learn to love and protect it. The Northwood School fosters this love in their students and they provide their students the opportuinty to flex their creativity at the Northwood School Innovation HUB.The AWI is happy to partner with the Northwood School to house events at the Innovation HUB such as research talks and programs like knitting sessions for Wool and Water; where fiber arts entangle with water science.Learn more about the Innovation HUB and Wool and Water here.Your next stop is down the street a little right in front of Imagination Station.
Imagination Station, Main Street
We talked earlier about impervious surfaces and how paved sidewalks are a common example. Look down at the sidewalk. You see how the cracks between the bricks are bigger and have gravel in them? Recent construction in the Village of Lake Placid has changed the surface of the sidewalks to be pervious, which means that water can flow through it. This can help to improve the environment by preventing runoff of excess road salt into Mirror Lake.Click this link to answer a question about impervious surfaces: https://forms.office.com/r/AqTucAP0WaYou will continue south for 350 feet to your second stop, located just past Generations Tap & Grill.
Golden Arrow Lakeside Resort, Main Street
Look at the roof of the Golden Arrow Lakeside Resort, does it look normal to you? Do you see the plants covering the surface? This is an example of a “green roof”, which unlike a normal roof, is a “pervious surface”. Precipitation that lands on this green roof is adsorbed by the soil on the roof and channeled gradually to the ground, thereby minimizing surface runoff. Green roofs are one of several techniques used in more urbanized environments to control surface runoff.Click this link to see examples of other ways to control surface runoff: https://forms.office.com/r/380gM8sVSvTo reach the next stop, you will need to cross Main Street at the next crosswalk and start walking up the paved pathway that leads to the Crown Plaza Resort. Your stop is at the tennis courts halfway up the hill.
Path to the Crown Plaza Resort
At this stop you can see a small, wooded area. This is a very important feature of this part of the watershed. Unlike the Main Street area you just left, this wooded area will capture nearly all the precipitation that falls on it and help to control the amount of surface runoff and stormwater making it to Mirror Lake. An area like a mowed lawn will have a lot of runoff as there isn't much variaiton to the soil and the roots won't be able to stop much of the water. Having intact forests in a watershed is very important for controlling stormwater and protecting water quality. Another way to mitigate runoff is with terracing. Terracing is when you build step like structures into a landscape with plants on each step to help collect water. A good example of terracing is at Brewster Park, facing Mirror Lake. We included a picture of it at this stop.Click this link to answer a question about runoff on lawns: https://forms.office.com/r/e1b6N1QBeRThe next stop is located at the top of the hill, across the street at a bench near the parking lot for the Crown Plaza Resort.
Entrance to the Crown Plaza Resort
Welcome to the watershed divide!! Take a look uphill at the parking lot. Do you see how it is at the top of the hill? You may not be able to see from your spot, but the hill slopes down on the other end of parking lot. The parking lot is in the neighboring watershed. Knowing where the watershed boundaries are allows us to determine how much precipitation each watershed captures, a key metric in managing watersheds.Click this link to answer a question about the neighboring watershed: https://forms.office.com/r/ar9ScP2TwnTake an easy walk downhill on Olympic Drive about 500 feet to a stone bench, this is your next stop. Here you have an excellent view of most of the Mirror Lake watershed.
Park bench halfway down Olympic Drive
This stop gives you a nice view of the Mirror Lake watershed. The two small peaks closest to the lake are Mount Whitney (tallest) and Cobble Hill (shortest). Cobble Hill is a great family hike accessible from the Northwood School campus!Most of the land area that makes up the Mirror Lake watershed is located between these two peaks. As you can see, it is entirely forested, unlike this side of the watershed which is urbanized. The inlet to Mirror Lake comes from this area, providing the clean and clear water that helps keep Mirror Lake so beautiful and enjoyable.Click this link to answer a question about the Mirror Lake watershed: https://forms.office.com/r/n9hbqEhxD1Continue down Olympic Drive and cross Main Street at the nearest cross walk, the next stop is the parking lot next to Subway.
Parking lot next to Subway
Earlier we learned about impervious surfaces that prevent water from entering the ground, resulting in surface runoff. Take a look around this location and note all of the impervious surfaces, roads, sidewalks, parking lots and roofs. In this parking lot, there are a few storm drains. This is an example of what used to happen before Lake Placid made improvements to Main Street. At this location, runoff goes down the storm drains into the Chubb River. Not only does water flow into the Chubb, but the pollutants from the streets are too.Click link to answer a question about the Chubb River: https://forms.office.com/r/maji7dVTa9The next stop is located at the bottom of the dirt path right before the Toboggan Chute. Follow the sidewalk past the post office and cross the road to get to it.
Mirror Lake Public Beach
On warm summer days this beach is full of people enjoying the cool and clean water of Mirror Lake. This is the only public beach with lifeguards in town and is a valuable recreational asset to the community. New York State law requires that this water be monitored to ensure it is safe for swimming.Runoff like we observed earlier can also deliver animal waste that contains fecal coliform and E. coli, which if ingested can cause severe disease or even fatality in children and elderly. Because of these concerns, the water here is tested routinely for these bacteria, and the beach will close if the counts are too high. This is a stark example of why it is important to prevent surface runoff.You can learn more about recreation on Mirror Lake here: https://www.lakeplacid.com/paddling/mirror-lakeTake a short stroll past the beach house, the next stop is on the little bridge before the tennis courts.
Mirror Lake Outlet
This is where some of the water collected by the watershed exits in a small stream. Notice that the stream goes underground, which is common in urbanized areas, as streams are channeled into pipes that are buried underground making it easier to develop the land. While this is convenient for development, the stream no longer functions as habitat for plants, insects, and fish. Many of these buried streams are being “daylighted”, a process of uncovering the stream and restoring its natural flow.Click here to learn about the water cycle: https://forms.office.com/r/3aaTranb7iYour last stop on this tour is the kiosk built by the Mirror Lake Watershed Association. Walk down the path toward the Hampton Inn & Suites, the kiosk is just past the tennis courts.
Mirror Lake Watershed Association Kiosk
The Mirror Lake Watershed Association was formed to protect the Mirror Lake and Mill Pond watersheds. The association monitors water quality, sponsors a steward whose job is to prevent invasive species from entering Mirror Lake, and provides education and outreach materials to the public such as those provided at this kiosk. Organizations like the MLWA are vital to protecting clean water throughout the Adirondacks, New York State, and beyond.Thank you for participating in this walk! Please take a moment to answer this short survey on how we can improve this walk in the future. https://forms.office.com/r/JtLWcb3WxS
