Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Saranac Lake's 2nd Annual-

Cruisin' 2026 Car Show 

Main Street (Downtown), Saranac Lake, NY

June 19-20th, 2026

This free, family-friendly event will feature classic and specialty vehicles, live music, food and drink trucks, and community fun throughout downtown.

Event Highlights:

  • Free for attendees
  • Food and drink vendors
    • Maine Lobster Truck
    • Mtn Chef
    • ADK Mobile Bar
  • Live DJ (WVCR's Brian Donovan)
  • Awards ceremony
  • History of Automobiles in Saranac Lake display
  • Classic and specialty vehicles on display

Friday, June 19:

  • 4:00–10:00 PM: Welcome Party at Hotel Saranac
    • Live music and drinks at the Great Hall Bar. Meet other car enthusiasts and talk shop!
  • 5:00–10:00 PM: Porsche Car Show on Main Street, hosted by the Porsche Club of America

Saturday, June 20:

  • 8:30–10:00 AM: Vehicle registration
  • 10:00 AM–2:00 PM: Cruisin’ 2026 Car Show on Downtown Main Street
    • Food and drink vendors available throughout the event
  • 2:00–2:30 PM: Awards ceremony  

Vehicle Registration:

  • Registration for Saturday’s show is now open
  • Cost is $25 per vehicle
  • Participants can register and pay online through the event link on the side of this page, "Register Your Vehicle".

Sponsorship Opportunities:

  • Sponsorships are available for businesses and individuals looking to support the event
  • Sponsorships help fund participant awards
  • Sponsors will receive shoutouts throughout the show
  • Sponsors can also choose to sponsor an award
  • $100 Sponsorship Fee

To become a sponsor, complete the sponsorship form through the right side tab "Event Sponsors" and submit it to the Village office with your donation.    

For questions, contact Bayle at [email protected].

Come out and enjoy a great weekend in downtown Saranac Lake!

Saranac Lake’s First Automobile

In July 1902, honeymooners Captain Herbert J. Sackett and Miss Gillian Mae Stevens arrived at the Ampersand Hotel on Lower Saranac Lake. Their most unusual luggage? An automobile – the first ever seen not just in Saranac Lake, but in the entire Adirondacks. This pioneering vehicle brought new freedom with a top speed of 22 mph. The Sacketts explored widely, from Paul Smith’s Hotel to Lake Placid, and even ascended Mount Pisgah in Saranac Lake. As more families embraced the automobile, a new age of travel and vacationing roared into the Adirondacks.

Adjusting Business

Like many communities, the automobile's arrival permanently transformed Saranac Lake. With Henry Ford's Model T making cars affordable, remote Grand Hotels soon gave way to easily accessible downtown businesses, such as the Hotel Saranac on Main Street.Local businesses quickly adapted. Giles Bombard, owner of Fowler’s Livery (later Bombard’s Livery), offered a heated garage for Hotel Saranac guests' early vehicles before antifreeze became common.Bombard himself may have owned Saranac Lake's first resident-owned automobile in 1909. As quick and pronounced as the cars themselves, the motor age had arrived.

Car Camping

The automobile forever changed the way families planned their vacations, especially in the Adirondacks. As cars became more common, the Conservation Commission established car camping sites that were easily accessible thanks to an expanding network of highways.
Fish Creek, with 355 sites today, quickly filled up with campers from all over. Its popularity led to the opening of Rollins Pond, which has 287 sites. The automobile was no longer just for sightseeing; it had truly opened up the Adirondacks for a new era of family adventures.


Auto Racing

Sixty years after the first automobile crept through Saranac Lake, revved-up engines were unleashed for auto racing. In 1962, Aaron and Pearl Hoyt opened a track at their farm off Trudeau Road, and it became an instant hit. Huge crowds came to watch their favorite drivers, with nearly 1,500 paid admissions and hundreds more viewing from outside the fence. Most drivers were locals, including legends like Jim Hoyt and Wes "Slugger" Moody. The track closed around August 30, 1968, but its outline can still be seen via satellite today—a lasting marker of another chapter in Saranac Lake's automobile history.

Click Here to Sponsor the 2026 Car Show

2025 Sponsors

- Beef's Electric
- Adirondack Stiles Real Estate Company
- Rice Furniture
- Say Real Estate
- Bitters & Bones
- Barefoot Peddler Antiques and Accessories
- li goody goody's toy & games, inc
- Early Dawn Confections
- Bloom
- Saranac Lake Chamber of Commerce
- Village of Saranac Lake

Comments or Questions?

Bayle Reichert: [email protected]  

Katrina Glynn: [email protected]

Register Your Vehicle

Online Registration Form or Printable Form

Checks can be made payable to: Village of Saranac Lake

Mailed to: 39 Main St, Ste 9, Saranac Lake, NY 12983

Pay online!

Click the button below, open the Permits & Applicaitons tab, enter fee amount and pay!

 

Book Your Stay During the Car Show!

 

Boutique Adirondack Resort and Spa | Hotel Saranac

Discounted booking link. The rate will be good 30 days before arrival. 

 

 

Adirondack Women's Weekend | Bike Adirondacks

Discounted booking link. This rate will be available until May 8th (6 weeks before event)