Ticonderoga and Crown Point – The Heart of Lake Champlain
Between Vermont and the state of New York lies a sparsely populated region, one that once played host to conflicts that set the North American continent in flames. Today sleepy Champlain, a land once occupied by French Canadians is a camping paradise.
Table of Contents
The Route (111km/69mi):
This blog entry covers the area between Ausable and Ticonderoga along the shores of Lake Champlain in New York State. To simplify this I have split up the journey into two separate parts, the first covers the area between Ausable and Crown Point and the next between Crown Point and Ticonderoga. This journey can be done in a weekend or more depending on what attractions you plan to explore and how much time you intend to spend at each stop.
Ausable to Crown Point:
Ausable Point State Park:
I woke up at our campsite at Ausable Point State Park, New York feeling refreshed. I gathered my empty Saranac Brewery beer bottles from the previous evenings campfire, packed the cooler and prepared to go out and explore. The Ausable region has many campgrounds including the one for the nearby Ausable Chasm, a major tourist draw nearby, but this is the nicest one.
The state park is located at the Ausable river delta, where it meets Lake Champlain. It should be no surprise that the campground has nice sandy beaches as the explorer Samuel De Champlain, whom the lake is named after, named the river “Au-Sable” (The Sand) due to its large sand deposits. Today, the campground is filled with Quebec licence plates and many swimmers enjoying the summer sun and well-maintained campsites!
Ausable Canyon (8.5km/5.3mi):
Called the Grand Canyon of the Adirondacks, the Ausable River gorge is a sight to behold. Taking route 9 from Ausable Point you will cross a bridge above the falls. Pull over and walk across for a view.
If you are interested, the canyon can be explored by hiking or tubing at a cost and camping is offered on site. Additional activities like rock climbing and night tours are also offered. Click here for more information.
A lesser attraction, but one just as interesting, is the North Star Underground Railroad Museum. When we entered the site there were only a few visitors in contrast to the droves lined up at the canyon. This museum details the journey of escaped slaves though to the Quebec border, is one of the better regional museums I have visited in the state of New York. The staff is knowledgeable, passionate about their work and friendly, so take the time to talk to them. They know the history of the area, can answer any of your questions and even take guests on guided tours of buildings were the slaves where hidden.
A particularly moving thing I learned at this museum was that slaves would sing songs to help guide them north towards Canada. One particular song, that of the Drinking Gourd, is still imprinted on my memory. Here is an excerpt:
Follow the drinkin’ gourd
For the old man is waiting just to carry you to freedom
If you follow the drinkin’ gourd
African American folk song
Keeseville (16.6km/10.3mi):
Following a tip from the museum employee at the North Star we pulled into Keeseville looking for a house used to smuggle escaped slaves as part of the underground railroad.
The old mill town, built on the Ausable River, numbers no more than 2000 people and displays many architectural remnants of the French Canadians who lived here, including the church. You can find a gas station, a bank, a pub and many other amenities in town. If you are camping this may be a good spot to buy firewood.
A stone’s throw from the downtown is the house we were looking for. It is located right by the bridge crossing the river. A New York Heritage plaque is all that is left to mark the good deeds done here to ensure runaway slaves could make it to safety. An interesting fact about Keeseville is that it was home to William Henry Jackson, the renowned civil war photographer.
Westport (57.8km/35.9mi):
The drive to Crown point along the shore of Lake Champlain is one of the highlights of the region. It is filled with beautiful small towns, views of the lake and small heritage sites dating from better times, before people moved to more urban locales.
The first of these towns is the tiny Westport. From the car we could see many boats out in the bay. The town contains a marina, many civic services, a brewery and some beautiful houses. It is very small so unless you own a boat I would do a quick walk around and proceed to Port Henry.
Port Henry (74.2km/41.6mi):
The town of Port Henry is a livelier summer destination, serviced by an Amtrak station and with a brewery, a few bars and eateries. Although the city is small, with a population of 1000 people, it swells with outsiders in the summer. The Amtrak station is located by the old town court and contains an old Locomotive. An interesting part of the local history catalogue can be found on the drive into town from the north on Route 9, where a roadside marker delineates the site of one of the oldest blast furnaces in the United States.
The Port Henry beach is quite nice. We bought ice cream cones here and enjoyed the summer heat. Across the bay, in the distance, you can see the fort located on the Crown Point peninsula along with the bridge that connects New York to Vermont. Relax and enjoy the weather!
Crown Point to Ticonderoga:
Crown Point (84.8Km/52.7mi):
From Port Henry make your way down to Crown Point State Park. This little known jewel is severely underrated due to its proximity to “America’s Fort” at Ticonderoga. Before you hit the bridge that connects New York’s route 185 to Vermont’s 17, take the exit for the Crown Point rest stop.
This state park offers many picnic tables and BBQ’s. If you are looking for a place to eat your lunch, the state park offers a magnificent view of the lake. For those looking to spend the night there is a gorgeous campsite on the other side of road, along with The Champlain memorial lighthouse. I took out my propane burner and made lunch here before wandering around. For a small fee you can visit the museum and gain access to the fort. The museum had a video presentation and many displays about the history and life of the inhabitants of Crown Point. The low cost of entry to the site makes Crown Point a bargain compared to the more expensive Ticonderoga, but if you are not interested in the museum you can just walk the grounds, there are no fences and no-one will stop you. This is why this state park appeals to me, in an era where you can’t climb on anything (no guardrails here) and attractions tend to guide you in the direction of the organizers choosing, Crown Point offers a no-frills, explore at your own pace, kind of experience. The lighthouse, the fort and chimney point are all within a short distance and can be explored as you see fit.
The fort, a National Historic Landmark, was first built in 1734 as Fort St. Frederic by the French as part of a series of defensive forts along Lake Champlain. Its purpose was to secure the strategic Champlain regions linking French colonies in Canada to the British 13 colonies in the south. During the French and Indian War it was marched upon by the British general Jeffery Amherst. The French, outnumbered, retreated to Montreal and burned down the fort to stop the British from gaining possession of it. The British then built the present fort, their largest in North America, with high earthen redoubts, stone barracks and many wood buildings. The site was captured by a militia force from Vermont during the American Revolutionary War, its cannon used to defend Boston Harbour. It was used as a staging point for a failed invasion of Canada, recaptured by the British and then rendered useless by the British failure at Saratoga (or click here for my Blog Post on Saratoga!). The British destroyed the fort in retreat and the newly founded American Republic had no use for the site, leaving it to fall into disrepair.
The Champlain Memorial Lighthouse was built by the state of New York on the other side of the road from the fort, it is located in the place where a French windmill once stood. It served as a lighthouse for 14 years before being converted to a memorial to commemorate the discovery of the lake by the French explorer Samuel de Champlain (hence Lake Champlain!). You can go up this pretty structure and admire the view, it is well worth it.
Finally, on the other side of the bridge, you have Chimney Point. This pretty structure, once served a tavern and stands on the site of a Native American settlement. It was exchanged a total of 15 times between the British and Americans during the Revolutionary War. Today, the ancient taproom, one of the oldest in America, serves as a museum.
Ticonderoga (111Km/69mi):
If you continue south on the 9N from Crown Point you will come across the crown jewel of French colonial fortifications. Founded in 1755, as Fort Carillon, this stronghold controlled the southern tip of the French colonial empire, now part of New York State. It is located at the southern end of Lake Champlain and the northern edge of Lac du Saint Sacrement, now renamed Lake George. Connecting the lakes is the short La Chute river, a stream that runs through the present day town of Ticonderoga. On the southern tip of Lake George, the British built Fort William Henry, and as such both French and English were destined for a collision of epic proportions.
During the French-Indian Wars sensing a British attack, the French under Louis-Joseph de Montcalm struck per-emptively at Fort William Henry. They succeeded and successfully destroyed the English fort but Montcalm lost control of his Indian Allies, who proceeded to scalp many survivors against French orders to spare them. The next year the British sent reinforcements under James Abercrombie and they assaulted the fortress taking heavy losses. He was replaced by Jeffery Amherst who proved more competent. After a heavy bombardment the French abandoned the fort, demolishing what they could before they left. The fort was renamed Ticonderoga, Iroquois for the Junction of two waterways.
After the war, the fort was in ruins, but it was still useful as a stopping point between Canada and the US. Early in the Revolutionary war, it was captured by an American militia group (called the Green Mountain Boys) who surprised the small, forty-eight-man, garrison. The armament was raided and the cannons hauled off. They served the American army during the siege of Boston and this connection to the birth of America cemented the legacy of the Ticonderoga as “Americas Fort”. The fort was used as a staging point for the Continental Army’s siege of Quebec before being recaptured by the British. It was a military disaster predicted by Polish-Americain hero Thaddeus Kosciuszko. It fell into disrepair before being bought and restored by the Peel family (related to C.C Claiborne governor of New Orleans).
Before pulling up to the gates, come prepared. Download the Groupon app and there is usually a discount for Ticonderoga. I only mention this because it is a more expensive attraction due to its level of restoration and on-site programming. When you purchase a ticket to the fort, it comes with a ticket to Mount Defiance, so you can view the fort from above. On the grounds of the fort there are a few things to do. This includes a garden, the fort and the battlefield cemetery. The fort has many exhibits, the one I found most interesting is one of Benedict Arnold’s work on biological warfare and vaccines, where the vilified general pioneered the modern vaccine in a controlled environment where he developed an experimental technique to inoculate his soldiers. Surely not a hero but a much-misunderstood figure if there ever was one (treason is never popular, but there is more to this story that meets the eye. Click here more information).
When leaving the fort by car, the road takes you past the battlefield of Abercrombie’s failed assault, with markers indicating the order of the battle. The road leads back to the town of Ticonderoga where you can admire the La Chute falls and walk the La Chute trail for a great view of the river. Don’t forget the go up Mount Defiance to see the fort from an important military position used during the Revolutionary Wars. At the top you will see the following quote uttered by a British officer called William Phillips.
“Where a goat can go a man can go and where a man can go he can drag a gun?”
William Phillips
An able strategist, he used Mt. Defiance as an artillery position to capture the fort below. After putting his cannons on the mountain, the fort was captured in 1777 without a fight. Phillips had outplayed the Americans. Unfortunately for Phillips he was captured at Saratoga, in a major British defeat and his brilliant work at Ticonderoga was in vain. On the other hand He did leave us with a great quote! I used it when I’m hiking and someone complains, just to annoy them!
Conclusion:
Although the region is not included on most tourists itineraries, the Lake Champlain is certainly worth a visit. The region may seem quiet now, but it was a major theater during the War of 1812, being the best route for a land invasion between Canada and the United States. Whether you like nature, or happen to be a history buff, this is the place for you.
Notes: The term French Indian War is mostly used in American textbooks. In Canada this is referred to simply as a North American theater of the seven years war and is not treated as a separate war.
