Hi All, I have family members moving to this area in a couple of months and am looking for any info on good restaurants, attractions, places of interest, etc. Thanks in advance.
Ken

Edited to add: son-in-law is military. Should have said that sooner.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: TwoRivers,

If their interest is military history, here are two nearby sites:

https://parks.ny.gov/historic-sites/7/details.aspx

http://www.madisonbarracks.com/about.html

Ft Drum has a nice museum, though it's easier to get on post if they know someone with mil ID.

https://www.facebook.com/FortDrumMuseum/

Here's some general tourist info:

http://www.visit1000islands.com/

Thank You Sigmund!

Tell the SIL to get ready for snow. Ft Drum is about an hour north of Syracuse and east of Lake Ontario in a region that gets lake effect snow. LOTS of it. This explains it far better than I can:

http://www.newyorkupstate.com/...t_is_it_exactly.html

I grew up just south of Syracuse. The local news would show clear and sunny there but snow falling by the foot just to the north.

Winters are brutal sub zero temps with out wind chill feet and feet of snow for days on end. Pretty desolate area. Also if gun ownership is involved be aware you can NOT own or possess a handgun without a New York State permit which takes months to get. I won't go into details but the best advice is do NOT bring a pistol into New York!
We also have the "safe act" which severely limits allowable types of firearms that are legal to own. You can NOT possess legally a full featured AR type rifle or any magazine over ten round capacity for personal use. The only military exemption is for official use! There have been reports of soldiers traveling off base with military issue 30 round mags in web gear in the back seat of the car getting arrested for illegal possession of magazines. New York is gun owner hell ( exactly why I moved out a year ago)
Hate to sound so negative but to most army personnel fort drum is considered something of a hardship tour. If you follow the rules regarding gun ownership though there is lots of great hunting fishing outdoor activities ( if you can tolerate the weather) during most of big game season the snow will be 2+ feet deep at a minimum and a typical temp in late November can be expected to be 5 degrees or lower. Spring will welcome you with swarms of biting flies and has he mosquitoes as well.

Just south a bit in Parish and Fulton, NY, a few years back, they got hammered with 7 feet of snow in 24 hours. Take your mittys with you.

Too bad you aren't visiting in the Spring as the Salmon River at Pulaski, NY gets a bunch of salmon and steel heads.

quote:

Originally posted by David Lee:
Too bad you aren't visiting in the Spring as the Salmon River at Pulaski, NY gets a bunch of salmon and steel heads.

Used to fish it all the time. The Black River is quite good as well, just a little tougher to fish.

And, yes, the previous posts regarding miserable winter weather are spot on. Way back when, when I arrived at Ft. Drum in January, I had driven across Ontario from Detroit. All along the way I was remembering what I had been told about the snow and cold there and thought to myself, "This isn't so bad". Then, I crossed the bridge and entered Drum. The snow that year was higher than the street signs and I had no idea where I was going. It was like a mouse in a maze looking for the cheese. Unless they are enlisted and living in the barracks, I'd suggest investing in a snowblower.

And the cold? You've never felt anything quite like it. I had grown up in MT and felt impervious to winter weather. Despite not being as cold temperature wise as I had experienced previously, the cold there is very humid and it goes right through you. I've never been as cold as I was at times up there.

Given all of that, its still a great area. Despite being in NY, it's very rural and quite conservative with lots of outdoors-type stuff to do. It's also not that difficult to get a handgun permit up there either, which is good everywhere else in the state...except NYC.

Hope they enjoy their time there. I did. Lots of great memories and great friends made there many years ago.