Elizabethtown: A Quaint Mountain Town

by Shannon Eaton on March 15, 2022

Serving as the county seat for Essex County, Elizabethtown offers a fair share of services such as a pharmacy, grocery store, gas station, florist, pizza joint, a Stewart’s, and of course, town offices.

If you’re coming up the Northway, Elizabethtown is just as easy to access as Keene or Keene Valley but with a different local laid-back feel.

Located on the opposite side of the Giant Mountain Wilderness, Elizabethtown has easy access to great hiking trails such as Hurricane, Owl Head Lookout, and Rocky Peak Ridge. For the more adventurous, you can set out to hike over the range to Keene Valley.

With the Boquet River streaming through town, those who enjoy canoeing and/or kayaking will find excellent conditions in the spring through the fall.

Check Beta Trails for information on mountain biking, skiing and trail running on Otis Mountain and Blueberry Hill trail systems.

Otis Mountain is an old local ski hill that is (probably) best known for its annual music festival – the Otis Mountain Get Down. The event was postponed last year (2021) due to COVID, but plans to resume its schedule in 2022.

In addition to great outdoor activities, Elizabethtown is home to one of Shannon’s favorite restaurants, The Deer’s Head Inn, the oldest tavern in the Adirondacks. Reopened in 2016 by Aaron Woolf and Carolyn Sicher. The restaurant supports lots of local farms with a changing and seasonal menu.

Elizabethtown is an idyllic mountain town, brimming with opportunities for exploration and putting down roots. Those who love the “forever wild” aspects of the Adirondacks will surely fall in love with Elizabethtown’s laid-back vibe.