Overview
North Pole is a small hamlet in the town of Wilmington in Essex County NY, near Whiteface Mountain and Lake Placid.
1 things to do · 1 places to stay
Updated from Wikivoyage on 1 October 2026 · Something wrong or missing? Improve it on Wikivoyage
Best things about North Pole
Santa's Workshop
Santa and Christmas theme park with entertainment, rides and shops. Many rides have a maximum 75 lb weight, 48" height limit as these are intended for small children.
Plan your trip
Best time to visit & weather
Most comfortable: May–Sep. Summer highs reach about 78°F; winter lows dip to about 7°F. Cold months (Jan, Feb, Mar, Dec) can bring snow and ice; check road conditions. Wettest: Jul and Jun. (climate data from nearby Montpelier)
Blue bars: average daily high and low (°F). Purple columns: average monthly rain and melted snow (inches).
Getting there
- From you: to see whether to drive or fly, and how long it takes.
- SLK Adirondack Regional Airport, Saranac Lake — 18 mi away. Directions
- PBG Plattsburgh International Airport, Plattsburgh — 26 mi away. Directions
- ALB Albany International Airport, Albany — 114 mi away (major hub). Directions
By car, North Pole NY is two miles west of Wilmington on Whiteface Memorial Highway (NY 431), a road which then ascends through parkland to climb Whiteface Mountain.
Full “Get in” guide ↓Budget & where to stay
No prices are listed for this place yet. See the Sleep guide ↓ for options.
Food for you
Facilities are limited at the North Pole crossroads, try Wilmington.
What to ask about, for your diet
Diet labels come from each listing's description and cuisine; “likely” means the cuisine usually has good choices, not a promise. Check with the restaurant. Open the food finder
Photos
Map
Every listing with a location. Tap a pin for its Google Maps link.
Understand
North Pole is a tiny crossroads with only a few houses, near Lake Placid. It is home of one of the earliest US theme parks. Santa's Workshop opened on July 1, 1949, six years before Disneyland (1955), serving as a model for many theme parks of the 1950s. A postal substation was opened as "North Pole NY" in 1953 and remains open seasonally. It is possible to purchase a letter from Santa with the North Pole postmark.
The hamlet once claimed to have its own television station: while the "WPTZ 5 North Pole" studios were always in Plattsburgh, the original analogue TV transmitter site was on a mountaintop in this area. (The station no longer has any tie to the "North Pole".)
Get in
By car, North Pole NY is two miles west of Wilmington on Whiteface Memorial Highway (NY 431), a road which then ascends through parkland to climb Whiteface Mountain.
From Interstate 87 (Keeseville), take NY Hwy 9N 16 miles southwest through Au Sable Forks to Jay, then NY Hwy 86 5 miles west to Wilmington. Turn west on Whiteface Memorial Highway 431.
From Lake Placid, take NY Hwy 86 12 miles north to Wilmington. Turn west on Whiteface Memorial Highway 431.
Get around
Access is by car or bicycle, normally following the Whiteface Veterans' Memorial Highway from Wilmington.
A toll ($10/car or $6/bicycle) is charged to those continuing beyond North Pole to ascend Whiteface Mountain by road. There are various lookout points with parking on the mountain itself.
See and do
Buy
Eat and drink
Facilities are limited at the North Pole crossroads, try Wilmington.
Sleep
Go next
Nearby
Wilmington
City / town · 26 listings · 2 mi away
Jay
City / town · 4 listings · 6 mi away
Keene
City / town · 5 listings · 10 mi away
Lake Placid
City / town · 41 listings · 10 mi away
Saranac Lake
City / town · 46 listings · 15 mi away
Elizabethtown
City / town · 13 listings · 19 mi away
Essex
City / town · 1 listings · 25 mi away
Westport
City / town · 8 listings · 25 mi away
My experience
Write about your trip here. Notes save automatically in this browser as you type; back them up from My journal.