After more than a year of planning, community participation and collaboration, three northern Warren County towns have launched a brand to promote the unified area, one developed to evoke its wild character and outdoor amenities in the hope of attracting visitors seeking a truly authentic Adirondack experience.
North Warren Wilds – the brand name ultimately selected by the up-county towns – was most recently presented at a June 22 meeting of the Warren County Board of Supervisors’ Occupancy Tax Committee by Craig Legget, former Chestertown Supervisor, and Sean Magee, a co-founder and principal partner of Trampoline Design, the marketing firm hired to develop the initiative.
Leslie Karasin, Program Director for the Adirondack Center for the Economy, has said the effort was funded through a $150,000 Warren County tourism grant secured by her organization on behalf of the North Warren Chamber of Commerce.
“When embarking upon ‘placemaking,’ or developing a brand to represent a distinct and distinctive region, our approach is to immerse ourselves in that region and come to know its stakeholders. And that is what we’ve done here,” said Sean Magee.
According to Craig Legget, who currently serves as Zoning Administrator for the Town of Horicon, the project is a long-term investment in the region’s sustainability.
“It is three-town branding, tri-Town branding,” Leggett said. “It defines the unique identity of our pocket of the county – the Upper Hudson, Schroon River watershed – and reflects who we are, what we do and what we have.”
In fact, Legget told the Supervisors on June 22, “a successful branding effort is akin to a capital expense because the return on the investment of resources and effort is a long-term one, one that will pay dividends for years to come.”
The ‘North Warren Wilds’ brand, whose tagline reads, ‘adventure has a cabin here,’ “is an effort to move the needle northward into Northern Warren County,” said Legget, who noted that the campaign will showcase attractions ranging from Gore Mountain and Revolution Rail to mountain biking trails, paddling opportunities and the region’s extensive network of outdoor recreation assets.
“We’re using our natural resources – our lakes, rivers, mountains and forests – to attract people who will stay and enjoy what we have to offer. Visitors who enjoy an experience are likely to return,” said Legget. “The tagline – ‘adventure has a cabin here’ -is the start of a conversation about everything the region has to offer,” said Sean Magee.
While the brand was developed to distinguish the up-county region from the more tourist-oriented Lake George area, Leggett said the three town’s promotion of the brand will complement and supplement the efforts of the Warren County Tourism Department and the regional and local chambers of commerce to market the southern Adirondacks to visitors.
The brand’s marketing materials, for instance, “could be placed in the Lake George Visitor Center,” Legget said.
According to local business owners, the brand’s emphasis on “wilds” rather than “wilderness” also distinguishes the area from the Adirondack High Peaks and encourages visitors to identify northern Warren County with rural hamlets, bikeable roads and relatively easy day hikes.
Work on the project began in early 2025 and was guided by a 15-member committee representing the three towns.
The branding materials produced by Trampoline comprise a comprehensive marketing system that includes individual identities for every hamlet, signage concepts, promotional merch and swag and a new website that will connect visitors with local businesses, lodging, attractions and recreational opportunities.
The hamlet-specific logos incorporate identifiable local landmarks and attractions, visually united with one another as well as with the collective brand.
“Though there are countless similarities among our three towns, it’s important that we acknowledge the unique character and identity of each of the small communities interspersed throughout the region,” Leggett said.
Future marketing efforts will include social media advertising, search marketing, print campaigns and promotional merchandise.
“We’ve given the individual towns the tools they need to craft advertising and merchandise that will be as consistent as possible with the regional brand as they move forward,” said Sean Magee.
According to Magee, the following organizations and local businesses made significant contributions to the development of the North Warren Wilds brand: ASA Adirondack; the Carol Theatre; the North Warren Chamber; Revolution Rail; Gallo Realty; The Hub (Brant Lake); Natural Stone Bridge and Caves; The Northern Forest Center; Point O’Pines Camp; North Country Ministry; and Panther Mountain Traders.
