The biggest annual paddling event in the Adirondacks has been cancelled this year due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Organizers for the Adirondack Canoe Classic, a 90-mile, three-day flatwater race from Old Forge to Saranac Lake, recently announced they have decided to cancel the event this year.
The event was scheduled for September 11 to 13. It usually attracts roughly 1,500 paddlers and supporters.
Organizers said the decision to cancel was based on the uncertainty of the direction of the pandemic and its potential effects on the small town populations of the Adirondacks.
“We rely on numerous volunteers, organizations, municipalities and local businesses to pull off the three-day paddling extravaganza, and we can’t ask them to prepare for an event we are not certain will be allowed to take place,” said Adirondack Watershed Alliance events coordinator Brian McDonnell.
The AWA puts on the event in cooperation with the Northern Forest Canoe Trail. Representatives from both organizations say they will monitor the guidance surrounding the reopening of the North Country from the pandemic. Should conditions and state and local government permit, they say they may be able to offer one or two days of canoe and kayak racing on the Northern Forest Canoe Trail on the traditional date in September. Any decisions to move forward will be made by August 1, 2020.