The Route: Two to four days of shoreline paddling with overnights and home-style cooking at lakefront B&Bs. Some of the longer itineraries include an ascent of 5.344-foot Mount Marcy, New York's highest peak.

When to go: June through September

Difficulty: Easy

Travel advisory: Experienced ocean kayakers, take note: Lake waves, albeit usually smaller than ocean waves, swell much closer together and with more frequency. They are also steeper.

High/low points:

• Paddling under a 200-foot waterfall as it cascades off the Palisades, a series of sheer cliffs on the New York side of the lake.
• Having to take a van to the day's destination when southerly winds kick up to 75 miles per hour and waves reach seven feet.