The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and Friends of Camp Santanoni announced on Wednesday that the 2021 Winter Weekend events at Camp Santanoni in Newcomb are being canceled out of an abundance of caution to prevent the community spread of COVID-19.

Three Winter Weekend events have been held for seven consecutive years at Camp Santanoni in the Adirondacks. This year, organizers determined the indoor spaces used for the events are too small to safely accommodate typical attendance numbers under current health guidelines. DEC and its partners hope to resume these popular winter events in 2022.

The events are hosted by the Friends of Camp Santanoni and SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry’s Adirondack Interpretive Center. The Friends of Camp Santanoni is a partnership between DEC, Adirondack Architectural Heritage, the town of Newcomb, and volunteers who support preserving this Great Camp for public education, recreation and inspiration.

The historic property remains open to the public. Visitors can cross-country ski or snowshoe 9.8 miles round trip on a moderately graded road from Camp Santanoni’s Gate Lodge to the Main Lodge, located on the shores of Newcomb Lake. The Great Camp buildings, including the Gate Lodge, Main Lodge, and Artist’s Studio, will remain closed.

Camp Santanoni was commissioned by Robert and Anna Pruyn in 1892. Spanning 12,900 acres, the Adirondack Great Camp consisted of three groupings of buildings: the Gatehouse Lodge Complex; the Farm Complex; and the Main Camp. The property was sold to the state of New York in 1972 and incorporated into the State Forest Preserve. Camp Santanoni is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a National Historic Landmark. Learn more about historic Camp Santanoni on the DEC’s website.