New York's Adirondack Adventure

Put off by the high cost of vacationing with your family? Us, too. So we had our travel experts give up all their secret bargain vacation spots--from a $12 campsite by Colorado's amazing sand dunes to a $160 cottage on a 180-acre Wisconsin farm.

Our picks, like the bargain spot in New York's Adirondack State Park below, are not only easy on the wallet, they pass the FAMILYFUN test, too, by offering memorable settings, lots of activities and a welcoming spirit to parents and children. If nothing else, these picks will put to rest the idea that you have to spend a fortune on a family vacation--or that you can trust a travel writer with a secret.

ADIRONDACK STATE PARK
NEW YORK: With six million wilderness acres, Adirondack State Park in northern New York is the largest park of its kind in the continental U.S.--and the vacation values are just as huge.

For around $20 a night, a family of four can rent a campsite at the Adirondack Loj Wilderness Campground deep in the woods by Heart Lake, located about five miles southeast of Lake Placid. Campground guests can swim, rent canoes, fish, hike with a naturalist and attend free programs in the amphitheater. Call 518-523-3441 for more details or visit their Web site.

For other bargain vacation spots, check out the following links:

UNDER $30 A NIGHT
• Arkansas' "Diamond" in the Rough
• Explore Colorado's Sand Dunes
• Camp in Style the Ohio Way
• Strike Gold in California

UNDER $75 A NIGHT
• Sleep Over at Montana's Roosevelt Cabins
• Camping on the Carolina Cape
• A California Lighthouse Getaway

UNDER $100 A NIGHT
• All Rivers Lead to Nebraska
• A Bargain Visit to Williamsburg, Virginia
• Illinois' Log Cabin Lodge
• Camp Pueblo-Style in Texas

UNDER $125 A NIGHT
• A "Hot" Time in Montana
• Lake Powell Luxury in Arizona
• An Old-Fashioned Florida Family Vacation
• A Grand Inn at the Grand Coulee Dam

UNDER $170 A NIGHT
• Cozy Up in a Maine Inn
• Oregon's Mountain Retreat
• Dive for Pearls at this Tennessee Resort
• Wisconsin's Budget B & B



Please keep in mind that phone numbers, addresses, and prices are subject to change. Originally published in September 1999. Updated March 2003.