If you are driving on Route 3 between Saranac Lake and Tupper Lake, you have passed through Coreys, perhaps without even knowing it.

Located in the southern part of Harrietstown, Coreys is best known for its access to the Seward Range in the western side of the High Peaks Wilderness. Coreys Road, found on the right hand side of Route 3 a few miles from Tupper, heading toward Saranac Lake, serves as a starting point for multiple recreational uses: Horse riding trails, canoe routes, hiking and mountain biking.

Turn onto Coreys Road and the first mile or so of the road is lined with cabins and some year-round residences, some of which border the Stoney Creek Ponds. Most notable of these homes is that which belonged to Clarence Petty, noted wilderness guide, pilot and conservationist, who died at the end of 2009 at the age of 104.

According to biographer Christopher Angus, who published “The Extraordinary Adirondack Journey of Clarence Petty,” not only did Petty grow up at the homestead in Coreys, but he returned to live in his boyhood home later in life, living there well into his 90s.

In his youth, Clarence and his brother Bill would make a 16-mile wilderness trek to attend school in Saranac Lake. They would leave on Sunday afternoon, board in the village during the week and return home on Friday.

Angus writes of the journey, “In winter the trip was usually made in the dark, the pitchiest of black nights, with no thought of such things as streetlights or even the dim reflections on low clouds from nearby towns…It was so dark that they would have to find their way by looking up at the treetops and following the path outlined where the tall pine trees blotted out the stars.”

Coreys Road today is much different than how it looked during the Petty boys’ childhood. Logging had taken down much of the old-growth forest and the woods today are filled with red pine, some of which were planted 100 years ago. The quiet forest and unparalleled outdoor access make it a popular destination for recreation seekers and contribute to Coreys’ timeless appeal.