The Adirondack Experience is a museum that explores the culture and landscape of the Adirondacks. First known as the Adirondack Museum, it later acquired a more site-specific name, Adirondack Experience: The Museum on Blue Mountain Lake. The museum opened in 1957, and has since evolved into one of the most elaborate and sophisticated regional museums in the country. The museum’s 121-acre grounds include 20 exhibit buildings and themed halls dedicated to particular aspects of the region (boating, logging, Great Camps, and more). The museum overlooks Blue Mountain Lake, one of hundreds of large scenic lakes in the Adirondacks. These lakes, more than anything else, drew early tourists and Gilded Age great campers to the region.