Lake Placid has hosted two Winter Olympics, and the town’s sporting calendar never really slowed down after the torches went out. From a world-class horse show to Olympic sliding-track racing, here’s what fills the village’s calendar year-round, and why booking your stay early matters for these dates.
Lake Placid & I Love NY Horse Shows
The biggest, longest-running event on the calendar. In 2026, the Lake Placid Horse Show runs June 23-28, followed directly by the I Love NY Horse Show from June 30-July 5, both at the historic North Elba Show Grounds. Together they mark the 57th year of the shows, bringing nearly 1,000 horses and riders from around the world to compete for more than $700,000 in prize money over the two weeks, widely known among the equestrian community as “the best two weeks of a horseman’s summer.” Lodging in the village books up well ahead of these dates, so plan early if you want to be walking distance from Main Street during the shows.
Mountain Bike Racing at Mt. Van Hoevenberg
Lake Placid’s Olympic sliding-track venue doubles as a mountain bike racing hub. The Whiteface Mountain Uphill Bike Race, an 8-mile, USATF-certified climb up Whiteface’s Veterans’ Memorial Highway, runs its 23rd edition on June 6, 2026. Later in the year, the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series returns to Mt. Van Hoevenberg for its season finale, October 2-4, 2026, with both downhill and cross-country World Cup races crowning the series champions, notably the final year of the current multi-year contract at this venue. Read more in our Mt. Van Hoevenberg guide.
Hockey at the Olympic Center
Herb Brooks Arena, site of the 1980 “Miracle on Ice,” along with the Jack Shea Arena and the USA Rink, keeps Lake Placid’s hockey calendar full nearly year-round: youth tournaments, the annual Miracle Holiday Classic each December, CAN/AM Hockey’s multi-day youth and adult tournaments (including a Special Hockey tournament for athletes with intellectual and developmental disabilities), and college hockey championships including ECAC Hockey. If your group is in town for a tournament weekend, expect the village to be busy with hockey families.
Lacrosse
Lake Placid’s lacrosse calendar centers on the Summit Classic and Summit Youth Classic tournaments, drawing club and travel teams for tournament weekends in the Adirondacks, with the Summit Classic marking its 37th year in 2026. As with the hockey tournaments, these weekends fill village lodging quickly.
Planning Around Event Weekends
Because so many of these events draw regional and national crowds to a small village, lodging near Main Street can book out weeks or months ahead, especially for the Horse Show’s two-week run and major tournament weekends. RetreatADK’s suites are two blocks from Main Street, giving horse show families, hockey and lacrosse tournament teams, and mountain bike race spectators a walkable, self-check-in base without needing a car once you’re in for the weekend.
See our units or email stay@retreatadk.com to check availability for your event dates.