Located in Franklin County, New York, Tupper Lake is a lake at about 471 m (1,545 ft) above sea level. It is part of Adirondack Park. The nearest town is Tupper Lake, about 8.5 km (5.3 mi) away (Tupper Lake lies SW of town).
Tupper Lake (a.k.a. Big Tupper Lake) is located in the state of New York in the United States. The lake is in the Adirondack Park and crosses the county lines of St. Lawrence County and Franklin County. Tupper Lake was discovered by Native Americans indigenous to the area around the 16th century. The lake was named after a land surveyor named Ansel Tupper who was the first European to have seen the lake. It is aligned in a northeast to southwest direction along its length. The lake is fed and drained by the Raquette River. The lake is located in the towns of Tupper Lake, New York (Franklin County) and Piercefield (St. Lawrence County). The Village of Tupper Lake is at the northeast end of the lake in the Town of Tupper Lake. The village is adjacent to Raquette Pond, an arm of the lake at its northwest end. Another arm of the lake, Lake Simond (also known as Simond Pond and Simon...From the Wikipedia article “Tupper Lake (New York)”, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Sunrise & sunset directions
At Tupper Lake the sunrise point swings a long way through the year: about 56° (NE) at the June solstice and 123° (ESE) in late December. Sunset moves from 305° (NW) in June to 237° (WSW) in December, and the midday sun climbs to 69° in summer but only 22° in winter.
| Date | Sunrise | Azimuth | Sunset | Azimuth | Noon sun | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| March equinox (Mar 20) | 7:02 AM | 90° E | 7:11 PM | 271° W | 46° | 12h 08m |
| June solstice (Jun 21) | 5:15 AM | 56° NE | 8:46 PM | 305° NW | 69° | 15h 31m |
| September equinox (Sep 22) | 6:46 AM | 89° E | 6:58 PM | 271° W | 46° | 12h 12m |
| December solstice (Dec 21) | 7:31 AM | 123° ESE | 4:23 PM | 237° WSW | 22° | 8h 52m |
Azimuth is measured clockwise from true north (90° = east, 270° = west). Computed for 2026; values change by less than a degree from year to year.
Golden hour & blue hour by month
Lakes reflect best in calm air — usually the first hour after sunrise, before breezes ripple the surface.
| Month (15th) | Blue hour starts | Sunrise | Golden hour ends | Golden hour starts | Sunset | Blue hour ends | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6:59 AM | 7:31 AM | 8:17 AM | 4:00 PM | 4:45 PM | 5:18 PM | 9h 14m |
| February | 6:29 AM | 6:59 AM | 7:39 AM | 4:47 PM | 5:28 PM | 5:57 PM | 10h 29m |
| March | 6:43 AM | 7:12 AM | 7:50 AM | 6:26 PM | 7:04 PM | 7:33 PM | 11h 53m |
| April | 5:45 AM | 6:15 AM | 6:54 AM | 7:03 PM | 7:42 PM | 8:12 PM | 13h 27m |
| May | 4:59 AM | 5:33 AM | 6:14 AM | 7:36 PM | 8:18 PM | 8:52 PM | 14h 46m |
| June | 4:38 AM | 5:15 AM | 5:59 AM | 8:00 PM | 8:44 PM | 9:21 PM | 15h 29m |
| July | 4:54 AM | 5:29 AM | 6:12 AM | 7:57 PM | 8:40 PM | 9:15 PM | 15h 11m |
| August | 5:31 AM | 6:02 AM | 6:42 AM | 7:25 PM | 8:05 PM | 8:36 PM | 14h 02m |
| September | 6:09 AM | 6:38 AM | 7:16 AM | 6:33 PM | 7:11 PM | 7:40 PM | 12h 33m |
| October | 6:44 AM | 7:13 AM | 7:53 AM | 5:36 PM | 6:16 PM | 6:45 PM | 11h 02m |
| November | 6:23 AM | 6:54 AM | 7:38 AM | 3:49 PM | 4:33 PM | 5:04 PM | 9h 39m |
| December | 6:54 AM | 7:27 AM | 8:15 AM | 3:33 PM | 4:21 PM | 4:54 PM | 8h 54m |
Local time (America/New York), including daylight saving time. Golden hour runs from about −4° to +6° solar altitude, so the morning golden hour begins during blue hour, before sunrise.
Milky Way & night sky
From Tupper Lake, the Milky Way core is visible in a dark sky from March through September. June gives the longest window (about 3.5 hours on a moonless night), and the core peaks around 17° above the southern horizon. Our light-pollution model puts the sky at about Bortle 2 (typical truly dark site), which is excellent for astrophotography.
| Month | Core visible (15th) | Hours | Max altitude | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | Below 10° in darkness | — | -3° | — |
| February | Below 10° in darkness | — | 8° | — |
| March | 4:51 AM – 5:31 AM | 0.7 | 13° | SSE → SSE |
| April | 2:48 AM – 4:18 AM | 1.5 | 16° | SSE → S |
| May | 12:54 AM – 3:24 AM | 2.5 | 17° | SSE → S |
| June | 11:11 PM – 2:41 AM | 3.5 | 17° | SSE → SSW |
| July | 10:56 PM – 1:26 AM | 2.5 | 17° | S → SSW |
| August | 9:57 PM – 11:27 PM | 1.5 | 16° | S → SSW |
| September | 8:50 PM – 9:20 PM | 0.5 | 13° | SSW → SSW |
| October | Below 10° in darkness | — | 8° | — |
| November | Below 10° in darkness | — | -2° | — |
| December | Below 10° in darkness | — | -20° | — |
Window when the galactic core is at least 10° high during astronomical darkness on the 15th of each month. Pick nights within a few days of the new moon. Plan exact nights with the Milky Way planner.
Estimated sky darkness: 2 Bortle 2 — Typical truly dark site. The summer Milky Way shows rich structure; clouds look like black holes in the stars. Modeled zenith brightness ≈ 21.7 mag/arcsec². Aurora needs roughly Kp 4.5+ to show low on the northern horizon here.
Weather & best season
Long-term NASA satellite data for this area show September as the clearest month (about 55% average cloud cover) and December as the cloudiest (83%). July is the warmest month and January the coldest, which matters for gear, snow access and how long batteries last at night.
Average cloud cover (%)
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High °F | 57 | 62 | 74 | 79 | 85 | 85 | 88 | 86 | 88 | 78 | 69 | 62 |
| Low °F | -27 | -27 | -20 | 6 | 24 | 33 | 41 | 42 | 28 | 21 | -9 | -23 |
| Precip. (in) | 2.3 | 2.4 | 2.5 | 3.5 | 3.8 | 4.9 | 4.1 | 3.8 | 3.6 | 4.4 | 3.0 | 3.1 |
Monthly climatology for the surrounding 1° grid cell from NASA POWER (MERRA-2). Mountain sites can be colder and cloudier than the cell average.
Photography tips for this lake
- Expose for the brighter sky; reflections are typically half a stop to a stop darker.
- After sunset, long exposures smooth wind ripples into glass.
- For mirror reflections, get low and close to the water; the reflection grows with a lower camera.
- A polarizer can remove reflections to show the lakebed — or keep them, depending on rotation.
- Bring a spare battery — cold weather and long exposures drain them fast.
Season: Autumn mornings bring mist and fall color; high-elevation lakes are usually ice-free only from early summer to mid-autumn.
Suggested gear: Tripod, Circular polarizer, Wide-angle lens, Waterproof boots. Work out exposures with the depth of field, ND filter and NPF rule calculators.
Nearby photo spots
Other locations within 25 km of Tupper Lake, closest first.
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When is the best time to photograph Tupper Lake?
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Sources
Location data: Wikidata, USGS GNIS / GeoNames, Wikipedia. Sun, moon and Milky Way times are computed by LWPhoto Atlas for 2026. Climate: NASA POWER. Sky darkness is a population-based estimate (Walker's law), not a measurement. See data sources & licenses.