Franklin County, Town of Harrietstown
Lake Clear, NY
Paddling Water & Fly-In Camps
The Adirondack hamlet you can fly into: daily flights two miles up the road, a naturally sandy beach, and 940 acres of paddling water with no public motorboat launch.
Living in Lake Clear, NY: The Hamlet You Can Fly Into
Lake Clear is a hamlet and a 940-acre lake in the Town of Harrietstown, sitting between Saranac Lake and Tupper Lake, about six miles northwest of Saranac Lake village. It is not a village and it has no downtown. What it has instead is an unusual combination for a place this small: a naturally sandy public beach, a state fish hatchery, a lodge that has been family-run since 1886, several genuine restaurants, and a commercial airport a mile and a half up the road. The lake is part of the original Seven Carries canoe route, and the state owns much of the land around it, including most of the shoreline.
That last fact is the one that shapes everything. There is no public motorboat launch on Lake Clear. Canoes, kayaks and other man-powered boats launch with portages at Lake Clear Beach and the Outlet, and motorboat use is tied to residential property owners. The result is water that lives up to its name, in a region where most lakes of this size fill with engine noise from June to Labor Day. For a certain buyer, that single regulatory detail is worth more than any amenity, and it is not something a future zoning change can casually undo when the surrounding land is classified forever wild.
Lake Clear NY real estate is one of the thinnest markets we cover, and it is genuinely two-tier. There is a small number of road-front houses and camps in the high six figures, and a real Great Camp tier out on the St. Regis Carry that runs into the millions. There is very little in between at any given moment. When we last looked, the spread ran from $675,000 for a modest house on Route 30 to $5,990,000 for a ten-bedroom on the Carry. We are not going to publish a median: the major portals all refused access when this was researched, and no verified median list price, sale price, price per square foot or days-on-market figure exists for ZIP 12945. The housing stock skews seasonal, and the honest way to shop it is to watch it with someone who lives here.
Lake Clear NY Real Estate Market Snapshot
Sources: asking prices read directly from our own listings in July 2026; Wikipedia and the Saranac Lake regional tourism authority for the lake and its boating rules. No median list price, median sale price, price per square foot or days-on-market figure is published here: Zillow, Redfin, Realtor.com, Homes.com and LandSearch all refused access during this research, so nothing was verified for ZIP 12945. Inventory in this hamlet is genuinely tiny and can change completely in a month.
Homes for Sale in Lake Clear, NY
Browse current Lake Clear listings: road-front houses and camps along Route 30 near the beach and the lodge, and Great Camp scale property out on the St. Regis Carry. This is a small hamlet, so we have put the wider Saranac Lake search right beside it.
Why Buyers Choose Lake Clear NY Real Estate
Daily Flights, Two Miles Away
Adirondack Regional Airport is town-owned, sits 1.5 miles northeast of the hamlet at 1,663 feet, and runs two asphalt runways, the longer at 6,573 by 150 feet. Cape Air has served it since February 2008, and in February 2026 the U.S. Department of Transportation renewed its Essential Air Service contract for two years through February 29, 2028: 14 round trips a week to Boston Logan and 7 a week to New York JFK. Be clear-eyed about the scale. These are nine-seat Cessna 402 and Tecnam P2012 aircraft, and the airport averaged about 14.5 departing passengers a day in 2025. It is real scheduled service, not a jet hub, and for a second-home owner commuting from Boston or New York it changes the whole calculation.
A 940-Acre Lake With No Public Motor Launch
Lake Clear is part of the original Seven Carries canoe route, and the state owns most of the land around it, including most of the shoreline, classified forever wild. There is no public motorboat launch. Paddle craft portage in at Lake Clear Beach and the Outlet, and motorboat use is tied to residential property owners. That combination is genuinely rare, and it is the structural reason the water stays clear and the lake stays quiet through August.
A Naturally Sandy Beach
The regional tourism authority calls the Lake Clear public beach an Adirondack gem, with a naturally sandy shoreline, which it notes is a rarity here, alongside clear, shallow water and picnic areas, and quieter pockets toward one end. Most Adirondack swimming is rock, weed or trucked-in sand. This is not, and anyone who has spent a summer trying to get small children into a cold rocky lake will understand immediately why that matters.
Paddling Straight Into the Canoe Area
Lake Clear sits next to the St. Regis Canoe Area, the only designated canoe area in New York State, which makes this hamlet a paddler's base rather than a place you drive from to go paddling. Little Clear Pond is a popular starting point for the Seven Carries route, and MAC's Canoe Livery handles local rentals. The fishery holds landlocked Atlantic salmon and bass, and the state's Adirondack Fish Hatchery here raises landlocked salmon for distribution across New York, open April 1 to November 30 with an indoor visitors' center.
More Dining Than a Hamlet Should Have
Lake Clear Lodge and Resort has been family owned and operated since 1886, on 25 acres at 6319 State Route 30 with direct lake frontage, offering cabins, lake view suites and chalets in the Great Camp tradition. Hohmeyer's Adirondack Alps Restaurant marks its 60th year in 2026, and the lodge runs a 1920s speakeasy with a hidden wine and beer cellar, plus Great Camp dinners, tasting dinners, cooking classes and sleigh rides. Add Charlie's Inn, a classic Adirondack gathering spot popular with snowmobilers, The 1892 Bar and Grille, Cavu Cafe and Donnelly's Ice Cream, and this hamlet eats considerably better than its size suggests.
The Rail Trail, and the Rental Question
The 34-mile Adirondack Rail Trail linking Lake Placid, Saranac Lake and Tupper Lake crosses Route 30 right here at mile 15.7, with the McMaster's Crossing parking area at mile 14.1. It is walking and biking in summer, and groomed in winter for snowmobiling, cross-country skiing, fat tire biking and snowshoeing. The last New York Central passenger train ran on April 24, 1965, and the tracks came up in 2021 to make it. On rentals: Lake Clear is in the Town of Harrietstown, outside the village line, so the Village of Saranac Lake's 2023 permit law and its residency requirement do not apply. The town's ordinances page lists only its Land Use Code, but those documents are scanned images we could not search, so confirm with the town clerk at (518) 891-1470 rather than assuming.
The St. Regis Carry, the Route 30 Corridor and the Hamlets Nearby
Lake Clear splits cleanly into two markets, and knowing which one you are shopping saves a lot of time.
St. Regis Carry: The Great Camp Tier
The upper tier of this hamlet sits out on St. Regis Carry Road, and it is the real thing: multi-million dollar Great Camp scale property, seven to ten bedrooms, four to seven thousand square feet, on protected water. Both of the hamlet's high-end listings when we last checked were here, at $2,600,000 and $5,990,000. Upper St. Regis Lake lies about three miles north, which places this corridor in the middle of the most storied waterfront in the northern Adirondacks. Properties at this level rarely come to market and often sell without ever being widely advertised.
Ask about St. Regis Carry property →
The Route 30 Corridor and the Beach
Route 30 is the spine of the hamlet, carrying Lake Clear Lodge, the public beach and the rail trail crossing, and it is where the accessible end of the market lives: road-front houses and camps, generally not lakefront, in the high six figures. This is also the practical choice for a buyer who wants the beach, the trail and the airport within a couple of minutes and does not need private frontage to be happy. Saranac Inn, with a golf course and waterfront access, sits about four miles west.
Harrietstown and Saranac Lake
Lake Clear is part of the Town of Harrietstown, which owns and operates the airport and whose offices are at 39 Main Street in Saranac Lake. That municipal distinction is worth understanding, because the Village of Saranac Lake's short-term rental permit rules stop at the village line and do not reach out here. Saranac Lake village itself, about six miles southeast, is where the hospital, grocery, downtown and the rest of daily life are, and it offers a far deeper and more varied housing market than this hamlet ever will.
Search Saranac Lake listings →
Paul Smiths, Gabriels and Tupper Lake
Paul Smiths is about five miles north, bringing the college, the VIC trail network and the St. Regis chain of lakes. Gabriels is the small farming hamlet on the way toward Saranac Lake. Tupper Lake lies the other way down Route 30, at the far end of the rail trail. Buyers who like Lake Clear's paddle-first, low-noise character usually find something to like in all three, and the price points differ enough to be worth the drive.
Why Work With Tina Leonard Real Estate
Tina Leonard Real Estate was founded in June 2016 by the late Tina Leonard, a Lake Placid native, a REALTOR since 1991, and a past president of the Northern Adirondack Board of Realtors. After her passing in 2021, the brokerage she built stayed rooted in the community where it started. Today it is led by Broker Chase Jermano from the office at 2577 Main St in downtown Lake Placid, and it has been voted Best Real Estate Office of the Adirondacks in 2020, 2023, 2024 and 2025.
A hamlet that can hold three listings, two of them Great Camps, is not a market you can read from a screen. Every major portal refused to publish usable numbers for this ZIP when we went looking, which tells you how little reliable public data exists here. What fills that gap is knowing which camps are being thought about, which St. Regis Carry owners might entertain an offer, and what a road-front house near the beach is genuinely worth in a year when nothing comparable has sold. Chase and the team work Harrietstown year-round and will give you the unvarnished version.
Thinking about selling in Lake Clear? Start with a free home value estimate. Buying? Reach out, or read more about the brokerage.
Credentials and Recognition
- ✔ Voted Best Real Estate Office of the Adirondacks 2020, 2023, 2024 and 2025
- ✔ Best Real Estate Agent of the Adirondacks 2024 and 2025
- ✔ Founded June 2016 by the late Tina Leonard, Lake Placid native and REALTOR since 1991
- ✔ Led by Broker Chase Jermano (NY License 10491211719)
- ✔ Office at 2577 Main St, Lake Placid, NY 12946
- ✔ Full service: sales, first-time buyers, second homes, relocation, long-term rental management
- ✔ Team designations: Seller Representative Specialist, Accredited Buyer Representative, Pricing Strategy Advisor, Resort and Second Home Property Specialist
Lake Clear NY Real Estate: Frequently Asked Questions
Can you fly into Lake Clear, NY?
Effectively yes. Adirondack Regional Airport (SLK) sits about 1.5 miles from the hamlet and has scheduled commercial service. In February 2026 the U.S. Department of Transportation renewed Cape Air's Essential Air Service contract for two years through February 29, 2028, covering round trips to Boston Logan 14 times per week and round trips to New York JFK 7 times per week on nine-seat aircraft.
Which airline flies to Adirondack Regional Airport, and where does it go?
Cape Air, which has served the airport since February 2008, flying to Boston Logan International and New York JFK. Average fares reported in early 2026 were about $118 to Boston and $169 to JFK, on nine-seat Cessna 402 and Tecnam P2012 Traveller aircraft.
How big is Lake Clear and can I use a motorboat?
Lake Clear covers 940 acres and is part of the original Seven Carries canoe route. There is no public motorboat launch. Canoes, kayaks and other man-powered boats can launch with portages at Lake Clear Beach and the Outlet, and motorboat use is tied to residential property owners, which is a large part of why the lake stays so quiet and clear.
Is there a public beach in Lake Clear?
Yes. The Lake Clear public beach has a naturally sandy shoreline, which the regional tourism authority calls a rarity in the Adirondacks, with clear shallow water and picnic areas, plus quieter pockets toward one end.
What school district serves Lake Clear, NY?
The Saranac Lake Central School District, which covers Saranac Lake village and the outlying hamlets including Lake Clear.
Can I short-term rent a house in Lake Clear, NY?
Lake Clear is in the Town of Harrietstown, outside the Village of Saranac Lake, so the village's 2023 short-term rental permit law and its village-residency requirement do not apply here. The town's published ordinances page lists only its Land Use Code, and no separate town short-term rental law is listed, though those documents are scanned images we could not search directly. Confirm current requirements with the Harrietstown town clerk at (518) 891-1470 before buying with rental income in mind.
How far is Lake Clear from Saranac Lake and Lake Placid?
Saranac Lake village is about 6 miles southeast of the hamlet. Lake Placid is roughly 10 miles east of Saranac Lake on Route 86, so Lake Placid is reached by continuing through the village.
What is there to do in Lake Clear year-round?
Paddling from the doorstep of the St. Regis Canoe Area and the Seven Carries route, swimming at the sandy public beach, fishing waters holding landlocked Atlantic salmon and bass, and touring the state's Adirondack Fish Hatchery, open April 1 to November 30. The 34-mile Adirondack Rail Trail crosses Route 30 at Lake Clear at mile 15.7, used for walking and biking in summer and snowmobiling, cross-country skiing, fat tire biking and snowshoeing in winter. Dining includes Lake Clear Lodge's Hohmeyer's Adirondack Alps Restaurant, in its 60th year in 2026, plus Charlie's Inn, The 1892 Bar and Grille, Cavu Cafe and Donnelly's Ice Cream.
Lake Clear, NY Location and Map
Talk to a Lake Clear, NY Real Estate Broker
Whether you are looking at Great Camp property on the St. Regis Carry, want a road-front camp near the beach and the airport, or are working out whether a fly-in second home is genuinely practical, start with a conversation. Broker Chase Jermano and the Tina Leonard Real Estate team work the Town of Harrietstown year-round from the office at 2577 Main St, Lake Placid, NY 12946.
Prefer email? chasejrealestate@gmail.com
