Best Lake Placid Day Trips & Things to Do

The Adirondack Mountains village hosted the Winter Olympics in 1932 and 1980 and is a popular destination for winter sports. Lake Placid originated as a location for iron ore mining in the early 1800s and was called North Elba until its name was changed in 1895 partly due to the Placid Park Club formed by Dewey Decimal System inventor Melvil Dewey. Lake Placid village is still within the greater North Elba. The actual body of water Lake Placid has a surface area of 2,170 acres and supplies drinking water to the village.