Ticonderoga stands at one of the great old pinch points of North American travel: the short portage between Lake George and Lake Champlain. Armies, traders, and travellers all cared about this gap, which is why a small Adirondack town carries a name far larger than its size.
The obvious reason to come is Fort Ticonderoga, one of the continent's best-known 18th-century military sites. The fort, the lake narrows, Mount Defiance, and Mount Independence across the water make sense as one landscape; from the heights you can see why control of this place mattered.
The town itself is modest, but not empty. Downtown has the odd and excellent Star Trek Original Series Set Tour, while Bicentennial Park and the Heritage Museum keep the industrial side of Ticonderoga in view. It is worth a day if you care about early American history, military geography, or lovingly precise television fandom.