Hope and Wells are the second two towns in Hamilton County, along the Sacandaga River upstream from where the river becomes Sacandaga Lake by Northville. The road follows the river closely on the east side and is very scenic. Hope is a small hamlet without even a speed zone. But the state wilderness areas, like east of Hope Falls, are very rugged and desolate. There are good, free, marked tent sites along East Stony Creek, on state land, before Hope Falls.

Wells is a nice hamlet stretching for about three miles along Lake Algonquin, a town owned lake that is yet another dammed up part of the Sacandaga River. There is a 40 mph speed zone, a real sidewalk on the west side of the road and a small but free sandy town beach at the foot of the bridge. Also the town maintains a free dock and boat launch on the west side of the lake. The town even provides public restrooms, but not in cold weather! A lot of small but interesting businesses are on NY Route 30 here, enough for the basics of outdoor Adirondack life! West of the hamlet, along a dead end town road, West River Road, is Whitehouse. There a famous old hunting camp used to be. All that is left is a lone chimney. Now the state owns the land and it's open to informal car camping along the many tracks. If camping nearby with your family be sure to let the kids know that there is no wi-fi out here and they'll need to temporarily exchange their online space mmo games for the amenities of the great outdoors. This can include activities such as hiking and backpacking which is typically very popular with family members of all ages. The Northville-Lake Placid Trail can be accessed here. Warning, watch out for black bears, don't leave food around or act like they are tame animals! NY Route 8 comes in from the east three miles north of the hamlet. That way there are falls on the East Branch of the Sacandaga River a couple miles up the hill on the left. The NY Routes 30 & 8 part, heading to Speculator, goes through timber company land. You can use part of it for forest access, the river or east side downhill part, but they are more restrictive than the state. There is a trail open to motorized sports on the old route near the river for part of the way. There is NO CAMPING in the big clearing.