09/08/2026
I want to say thank you to Tupper Lake, you have not gone a day without bringing me happiness ❤️
Apparently the people who come up here to look at the leaves are called leaf peepers.
Peepers for short 👀
Imagine you’re Matt and no hint of this entered your life until right out of the blue.
“Get ready, the peepers are coming.” My neighbor says.
So I need to order new curtains and keep a bat by the door?
There is no way you all don’t think that is an absolutely hilarious name for a group of adults participating in one of the most wholesome activities I can think of 😂
Imagine you are standing in line at the store and some guy walks in wearing sunglasses, a floppy brimmed hat, binoculars around his neck, buying two energy drinks and a breakfast sandwich.
You say, “What are you up to today?”
“Oh, I’m gonna go do some peeping.”
Excuse me?
And these people are serious about it.
Some people have been peeping their entire lives.
Their parents taught them to peep.
Maybe even their grandparents.
Generations of peepers.
“Grandpa taught Dad to peep. Dad and Mom taught me. And this year I’m finally taking the kids out and teaching them how to peep.”
A proud family tradition.
And there is apparently quite an art to good peeping.
You want the right light.
You want the right elevation.
You need to know when the peeping is approaching peak.
Experienced peepers know the same subject can look completely different depending on the angle you peep it from.
Some people get up before sunrise because apparently early morning peeping is excellent.
Others prefer sunset peeping.
Moonlight peepers. They’re rare but they swear that’s when you see the best of it.
Some hike mountains to peep.
Some drive around slowly peeping out the windows.
There are bicycle peepers.
Just quietly pedaling along in Lycra spandex peeping as they go.
There are roadside peepers who will practically cause a traffic incident because somebody spotted a particularly colorful subject.
There are very serious looking peepers carrying cameras with those oddly giant lenses.
And of course, they photograph their peeps.
They spend an entire afternoon peeping, go home, sort through 400 photographs, and proudly post their very best peep of the day for all the other peepers to admire.
“Caught this one just before sunset.”
“Great peep.”
“Beautiful, just so lovely”
You also have the aquatic peepers.
These people put a canoe in the water and paddle miles into the wilderness just to find some premium waterside peeping.
And now we have van peepers.
That’s right.
People travel in vans so they can wander around the country doing more peeping.
They roll into town, park somewhere scenic, open the side door, make coffee, and start peeping before breakfast.
Some of these folks are basically living a full-time peeping lifestyle.
Just driving around America asking themselves:
“Where should we peep next?”
Some people peep alone.
Some peep with their spouse.
Some prefer group peeping.
There are entire busloads of peepers.
Organized peeping.
“I like peeping alone, Susan prefers group peeping.”
There are websites telling you where to peep.
Maps showing you where the peeping is best.
Reports about current peeping conditions.
People literally wake up in the morning and check to see whether the peeping is any good yet.
“Not quite. Give it another week.”
“Really?”
“Oh yeah. The peeping is gonna be incredible.”
And somewhere in Albany or Syracuse or Buffalo, there is a couple waking up this Friday morning.
The husband rolls over, looks at his wife and says:
“Honey, you wanna go do some peeping this weekend?”
She gets that little smirk, thinks about it for half a second and says:
“Yeah. Let’s do it.”
No reservations.
No itinerary.
Just two consenting adults throwing some binoculars in the car and heading north for a weekend of spur-of-the-moment peeping.
Sometimes the best peeping is the peeping you never planned.
And let us not forget where all this is happening.
The Adirondacks are basically one enormous protected peeping area.
The largest protected land area in the country.
Six million acres of premium peeping territory.
Mountaintop peeping.
Roadside peeping.
Lakeside peeping.
Canoe peeping.
Bicycle peeping.
Deep woods peeping.
Casual peeping.
Hardcore, wake-up-before-dawn peeping.
“The van has made it so we can peep anytime we get the urge.”
You could spend your whole weekend up here peeping and barely scratch the surface.
The sheer variety of peeping opportunities is remarkable.
And if you are looking for somewhere to do your peeping, come to Tupper Lake.
We welcome peepers with open arms.
Come stay local.
Eat local.
Shop local.
Drink local.
Peep from the mountains.
Peep from the water.
Peep while you’re having your morning coffee.
Peep until you are completely peeped out.
Then go home and tell everybody how good the peeping is in Tupper Lake.
Tell your friends.
Tell your family.
Tell the serious peepers.
Tell the casual peepers.
Tell the lifelong peepers.
Tell the people whose parents taught them to peep.
Tell the people who have never peeped before but have always been a little curious.
Send all those peepers our way.
There is plenty of peeping to go around.
So anyway, the peepers are coming.
Welcome to Tupper Lake and the Adirondacks.
Please enjoy yourselves, spend locally, be nice to everybody, pull over if you are peeping while driving, teach the next generation to peep responsibly.
I’ll say it no matter how peculiar, alarming, or just plain ridiculous it sounds. If it gets people to Tupper Lake, then come on Peepers let’s do some Peeping.
I’m ready to peep.
I’m in.
I’ll be the peepingest fool in the northeast.
I ❤️ PEEPERS
