Parks & Recreation

The Village's parks are maintained by a dedicated staff employed year-round to ensure that each park and its unique features are kept up. The parks crew utilizes staff expertise in areas such as tree care and ski area management in order to provide community spaces in our Village parks.

About

Each Village park is unique in terms of its environmental context, connection to natural resources, proximity to the Village core, facilities, uses, and generally include the following range of urban and natural conditions: waterfront access, beaches, trails, interpretive elements, court games, open space recreation areas, riverwalk, urban plazas, public art performance venues, a skate park, a carousel, pocket parks, play equipment, paddling, mountain biking, fishing, and winter recreation. The Park Vision Plan, adopted in 2018, sets out goals and strategies to manage the existing park resources and enhance these key community destinations, improve park user experiences, and create improved access to local and regional parkland networks. Utilizing the Park Vision Plan, the Village can continue to improve each park through the phased implementation of prioritized projects. A stakeholder group that was essential in developing the Park Vision Plan and continues to advocate for the health of the Village's parks is the Parks and Trails Advisory Board.  

Park Use

The recreational opportunities provided by the Village's parks include providing a space for hosting a special event. Baldwin Park, Berkeley Green, Hydro Point Park, Ken Garwood POW Park, the Mt. Pisgah Recreation Center, Prescott Park, Riverfront Park, Riverside Park, The Saranac River Walk, Saranac Lake Skatepark, William Morris Park, William Wallace Beach, Ward Plumadore Park, and the World War 1 Memorial are all parks that can be used in some capacity as a special event space. A park must be reserved at least 30 days prior to the actual event. Fill out an Event/Park Use Request Form today. Community events that routinely take place in a Village park include: 

• 90 Miler Canoe Race- Finish 
• Farm to Fork Festival 
• Farmer's Market
• Northern Current Music Festival
• Music on the Green Concert Series
• Thursday Fun Runs

Mount Pisgah 

The Village's local ski hill is a fully operational recreation center that functions as the alpine sports destination in the winter and mountain biking trail system in the summer. Additional amenities include a tubing hill, cross-country ski trails, hiking trails, a combined basketball and tennis court, a lodge with restrooms and an outdoor deck. Visit the Mount Pisgah Recreation Center page for additional information on this community center. 

Tree Committee

The Village established an advisory committee to care for the health of street trees and trees and shrubs within the Village's parks. The members of this committee apply their working knowledge to provide a long-range plan every five years for the Village relating to street trees and shrubs, provide the Board of Trustees with a yearly estimate of the cost of nursery stock to be used, and establish a suggested species list for the Village for the type and kind of trees to be planted upon Village property, among other tree care practices. The Tree Committee provided input during the drafting of the Community Forest Management Plan.

Committee Members

The Tree Committee works closely with the Parks Manager, the DPW Superintendent, and the Village Manager.