Welcome to The Bark Eater
The Bark Eater has hosted guests for more than 150 years. Originally a stagecoach stop, the inn is located on an old family farm nestled among the High Peaks of the Adirondack Mountains, at the entrance to Lake Placid’s Olympic Region and minutes from the village of Lake Placid.
Tucked away just off the main road, The Bark Eater offers a quiet, relaxed atmosphere with 250 acres of private land for your personal enjoyment. Its wooded surroundings make it seem isolated—yet close by are all the year-round activities and attractions of this famous mountain vacation area.
The Bark Eater has been featured in Gourmet, Snow Country, Men’s Journal, and the New York Times.
“Bark Eater” is an English translation of the Mohican word “Adirondack,” a term the Mohawk once used for Algonquian-speaking tribes who were said to eat the inside of the bark of the white pine when food was scarce. The Adirondack mountains were given their name in 1838. The Adirondack Park, a mix of public and private land, contains the largest wilderness area in the Eastern United States.
Meet Your Hosts
The Wilson family purchased the Bark Eater in the late 1930s with a gold coin collection. At that time, it was a working dairy farm and inn hosting artists from New York City for the summer months. It has been run by the Wilson family since then. Joe-Pete Wilson Sr., a former Olympian, took over the business in 1970. Joe Pete Wilson Jr. (“Fox”) and his family are your current hosts.
We’re proud of The Bark Eater’s long-standing tradition of Adirondack hospitality, and we look forward to sharing the Inn with you.