The Town of Inlet, located in Hamilton County in the west-central Adirondack Mountains, is situated along the Route 28 corridor of New York State’s six million acre Adirondack Park. Inlet encompasses approximately 66.4 square miles at its longest north to south distance.
Inlet’s abundance of natural features contributes to the rustic character of this Adirondack hamlet. It is considered a gateway to more primitive and pristine portions of the Adirondack Park and has been characterized as an “Adirondack Outpost.”
Inlet, as a township and a hamlet, is predominantly a tourist destination. As such, the hamlet offers visitors lodging, dining, shopping, recreational opportunities and equipment sales, rentals and services.
Other businesses such as the hardware store(s), convenience store/gas station, laundromat, movie theater, grocery store, liquor store, insurance/real estate business, Adirondack furnishings store, and a marina offer tourists, seasonal residents, and year round residents a variety of products and services. Outside of the hamlet boundaries are several other restaurants, lodging, and marinas, most of which are on or near one of the lakes within the Fulton Chain of Lakes. A number of these businesses, however, operate only summer and fall months during the peak tourist seasons.
The hamlet also includes three churches, the post office and a public library. The Town Governmental Offices, the Information Office, the Police Department, the Justice Quarters, and a Senior Center are housed within the Inlet Town Hall, adjacent to Arrowhead Park. Arrowhead Park, located downtown, and Fern Park, located within easy walking distance of downtown, offer a variety of recreational facilities and host numerous local events.
The vast majority of the hamlet is comprised of commercial and public structures, with residences falling at either end of the downtown area along Route 28. Seasonal and year round residences are found primarily along this route, the shores of Fourth, Sixth, Seventh, and Limekiln Lakes, with scattered residences elsewhere along Fifth Lake, Uncas Road, South Shore Road, Loomis Road, Gilbert Road, Sixth Lake Road, Deerwood Drive, Limekiln Road, Parkhurst Road, and Seventh Lake Road.