New York is more than just a city. I got this lucky snap of a raven taking flight a couple hundred feet below the rocky peak of Whiteface Mountain, near Lake Placid, New York (site of the 1932 and 1980 winter Olympics).
Adirondack Park is the largest protected area in the lower 48 United States at the state level and the largest park in the contiguous United States, comprising over six million acres, more than a third of which is constitutionally-protected forest preserve. The tallest peaks are just over 5,000 feet (1615 meters) above sea level, but the relatively low elevation of the Adirondack dome means the topography is locally rugged.
For those less inclined to climb, there is a five mile toll road that terminates short of the 4867-foot summit of Whiteface Mountain, with an elevator to the observation center at the peak. Summer rates in 2014 are $10 for car and driver, $7 for each additional passenger and $6 for hardy bicyclists
And in winter, there is always skiing the biggest vertical drop in North America east of the Rocky Mountains, over 3000 feet (about 1000 meters).
