Presidents, Champions, and One Enduring Course

Long before it was a golf course, Saranac Inn was one of the grandest luxury hotels in the Adirondacks, standing on the shores of Upper Saranac Lake near Saranac Lake, New York. The story begins in 1864 with a modest 15-room lodge called the Prospect House, built when simply reaching the Adirondack Mountains was an adventure in itself.

As roads and rail improved and the wealthy discovered the mountains, demand for fine accommodations soared, and the Prospect House grew with it, expanding to 100 rooms. In 1886 the original inn was sold to a group of investors who launched an ambitious program of renovation and construction, enlarging the hotel to 250 rooms and drawing distinguished guests, including U.S. Presidents Grover Cleveland and Chester Arthur.

In 1912 the Saranac Inn was purchased by Harrington Mills, owner of the Harrington Hotel in Washington, D.C., who set out to make it a premier vacation destination. Mills rebuilt the hotel from the ground up, adding two full stories, elevators, and a private bath in every room.

A further expansion in 1920 turned the property into a sprawling resort — a sizable main hotel, lakeside cottages, and platform tents that together could house up to 1,000 guests. These were the Inn's heyday, a golden era of Adirondack hospitality on the water at Upper Saranac Lake.

The Great Depression hit the American hotel business hard, and the Saranac Inn was not spared. The resort endured many difficult years and changed hands repeatedly. In 1962 its doors finally closed for good, and the property was purchased by auctioneers for $400,000, with the land, cottages, hotel, and championship golf course each sold off separately. In 1978, the great main hotel burned to the ground.

The hotel is gone, but the course it left behind still shines on the shores of Upper Saranac Lake.

Today the golf course continues to shine, and the original cottages and guest houses still carry the unmistakable feel of a great Adirondack vacation destination on the shores of Upper Saranac Lake. Saranac Inn Golf Club is a public course, welcoming visitors from Saranac Lake, Lake Placid, Tupper Lake, and beyond to walk the same fairways that once entertained presidents and champions.

The championship layout was shaped by pioneering golf architect Seymour Dunn, whose design gives the course its enduring character. Read on to learn how his vision made Saranac Inn one of the most storied golf courses in the Adirondacks.