3 Champion paddle trips

Adirondack paddlers have had much to celebrate in recent years as the state’s acquisition of former Finch, Pruyn lands has opened up spectacular waterways to the public, including Boreas Ponds and the Essex Chain Lakes. But another land deal two decades ago did as much, perhaps more, for canoeists and kayakers.

At the end of 1998, Gov. George Pataki announced that the state had struck a deal with Champion International to conserve 139,000 acres in the Adirondack Park. Most of the land would be protected by conservation easements allowing sustainable forestry, but the state would buy outright portions of eight river corridors in the northern Adirondacks.

Twenty years ago this August, these waterways were is highlighting three flat-water paddling trips made possible by this landmark deal. All lie within the Santa Clara Tract, the largest of three swaths of former Champion lands.