Alder Lake Site #5 (Balsam Lake Mountain Wild Forest)
FREE primitive camping at ALDER LAKE, in the Balsam Lake Mountain Wild Forest, part of New York's CATSKILL Forest Preserve (DEC Region 3, Ulster County). This is a DEC-designated primitive tent site ('Alder Lake Site #5') on the old Coykendall estate lake, and New York provides it at NO CHARGE: the DEC Balsam Lake Mountain Wild Forest page lists the fee as 'Free' and the unit as open year-round, first-come first-served (14 numbered designated sites ring the lake; the page prose rounds to 'five', but DEC's site inventory tags 14). HIKE-IN / WALK-IN (backpack only): you cannot drive to the site -- park at the DEC Alder Lake parking area at the lake's west end and walk in on the Alder Lake Loop trail, roughly a 0.48-mile walk from the lot. Note: close to the water at the lake's east end, about 0.48 mile around the loop from the parking area -- the farthest-in cluster, so plan the longest carry. This is free, first-come Catskill Forest Preserve backcountry at Alder Lake -- do NOT confuse it with a reservable fee campground; the nearest paid DEC campgrounds (Little Pond, Mongaup Pond) are several miles away and are a separate, paid system. SEASON / ACCESS: DEC lists Balsam Lake Mountain Wild Forest as open YEAR-ROUND and free, but Alder Lake is reached by a short backpack/walk in from the parking area, and the access road and trailhead lots are minor Catskill mountain infrastructure that may not be plowed or maintained in winter -- confirm current road, gate and trail status with the New Paltz office (845-256-3076) before you go. RULES: this is a designated, first-come first-served free site -- no reservation and no fee. Look for the round yellow DEC 'Camp Here' marker at each designated site. Standard Catskill Forest Preserve rules apply: camp only at the designated site, keep 150 feet from water/trails/roads unless the site itself is marked closer, and a free Forest Ranger permit is required only if you stay more than 3 nights or camp with a group of 10 or more (arrange it through the DEC Region 3 New Paltz Office at (845) 256-3076 (Forest Rangers via 911 or DEC dispatch)). Alder Lake sits near 2,200 feet, well below the 3,500-foot line, so the seasonal high-elevation camping ban does not apply and campfires with dead-and-down wood are allowed; still confirm current fire rules on site. This is a primitive backcountry site: expect at most a fire ring -- no privy, no hookups, no showers and no potable water, so carry water or treat what you take from the lake. Pack out all trash, follow Leave No Trace and the DEC fire rules, and store food from bears (this is black-bear country). Confirm current rules, road/trail status and this site's status on the DEC page (dec.ny.gov/places/balsam-lake-mountain-wild-forest) or with the New Paltz office (845-256-3076) before you go; we have not visited.
Everything you need — measured from Alder Lake Site #5 (Balsam Lake Mountain Wild Forest) · Balsam Lake Mountain Wild Forest · NY
- DDump4 mi
- WWater4 mi
- ShShower4 mi
- @Mail6 mi
- FFuel7 mi
- GGrocery7 mi
- MMechanic7 mi
- LLaundry7 mi
- +Urgent care7 mi
- EVEV fast charger8 mi
- HHardware10 mi
- OOutfitter15 mi
- RxPharmacy18 mi
- AAir-up19 mi
The read: water is basically at camp, fuel & food sit about 7 mi out.
Not within 60 mi: Propane. Plan those before you head up.
One dot per need — the nearest of each kind, straight-line from camp. Places from OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors); the EV fast charger from the US DOE station locator. Open in Google Maps ↗
The site — Alder Lake Site #5 (Balsam Lake Mountain Wild Forest)
Nearby & resupply — around Alder Lake Site #5 (Balsam Lake Mountain Wild Forest) · Balsam Lake Mountain Wild Forest · NY (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureAlder Lake · under 0.1 mi · USGS: perennial lake or pond
- Nearest townMargaretville · ~6.6 mi
- Nearest rail line~7.2 mi · main line
- Nearest highwayno interstate or US route within 10 mi
- Drinking waterWater · ~3.7 mi
- FuelSunoco · ~6.6 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- Dump station~3.6 mi
- GroceriesVerona Country Store & Kitchen · ~6.6 mi
- PharmacyK&K PHARMACY · ~18.1 mi
- Hospital / clinicHealth Lodge · ~7.4 mi
- HardwareWadler Bros. Home Center · ~9.8 mi
EV charging — from Alder Lake Site #5 (Balsam Lake Mountain Wild Forest) · Balsam Lake Mountain Wild Forest · NY — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger7.8 mi straight-line N — NYC FLEET DEP_ARKVLE_1_L3, Arkville, NY · ChargePoint Network · CHAdeMO, CCS · 1 fast port listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reach2 within 25 mi · 77 within 50 · 627 within 100 · 1412 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)14.7 mi — Roscoe, NY - Tesla Supercharger, Roscoe
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)7.3 mi — Town of Middletown, Arkville, NY · EV Connect · J1772 · 2 Level 2 ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily
- Pricing at the fast chargernot listed
- Power (kW)not listed by AFDC — “DC fast” spans roughly 24 to 350 kW, so ask the network.
- Read this honestlyStraight-line miles, like every distance on this site. Roads run longer than this, and you have to get back. We know where a charger is listed. We don’t know if it works today, how fast it is, or the road miles. Check the network before you commit.
Snapshot 2026-09-16 · AFDC record 433990 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Alder Lake Site #5 (Balsam Lake Mountain Wild Forest) · Balsam Lake Mountain Wild Forest · NY — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Highway rest areaRoscoe · ~13.1 mi SW
- Highway rest areaEast Branch · ~25.3 mi W
- RestroomCallicoon PA Access Seasonal Toilet · ~28.4 mi SW · NPS
Coming out here — Alder Lake Site #5 (Balsam Lake Mountain Wild Forest) · Balsam Lake Mountain Wild Forest · NY
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Alder Lake as a perennial lake or pond, under 0.1 mi from the pin (National Hydrography Dataset, data refreshed October 2022). Mapped as perennial is not the same as flowing today. Nobody has checked it for you. Filter or boil anything you drink.
- Ground slope around the pin: about 5.6% — gentle. Measured on USGS's 3DEP elevation model (1 m data here), sampled every 10 metres around the point. That is the hillside, not the ground under your wheels — a graded pullout or a bench a few metres across is too small to show up at that spacing, and nobody has checked this one for you.
- Rail line mapped ~7.2 mi from the pin — the national rail atlas classes it as a main line. The atlas also records tourist, museum or scenic passenger service on it. That is the FRA/BTS North American Rail Network (data updated Jul 21, 2026), which records that a line is there and what class of track it is. Whether anything runs on it, how often, and at what hour, it does not say, and nobody has checked this one for you.
- No interstate or US route is mapped within 10 mi of the pin in the Census's TIGER/Line primary roads (TIGER/Line 2025, released Oct 2025). That file holds the divided, limited-access highways only — a state expressway or a two-lane US route near this camp would not be in it.
- Power: Dave carries his own — batteries or solar. A generator will run your rig and it is also the thing everybody camped near you can hear.
- Getting online: Dave recommends Starlink. He has had it since SpaceX introduced it, used it for four years living on the road, and it delivers as promised — several hundred nights out, and he can count on one hand the places he could not connect. The cable on his unit runs 150 feet, which is usually all it takes to find enough sky. Starlink → Referral link — Starlink pays Dave $100 in cash if you sign up through it, and that money funds this site and the next trip. It costs you nothing and does not change the recommendation.
Open Alder Lake Site #5 (Balsam Lake Mountain Wild Forest) elsewhere
Other camps near Alder Lake Site #5 (Balsam Lake Mountain Wild Forest)
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Alder Lake Site #6 (Balsam Lake Mountain Wild Forest)~0.1 mi
- Alder Lake Site #7 (Balsam Lake Mountain Wild Forest)~0.2 mi
- Alder Lake Site #4 (Balsam Lake Mountain Wild Forest)~0.2 mi
- Alder Lake Site #3 (Balsam Lake Mountain Wild Forest)~0.2 mi
The unit that manages Alder Lake Site #5 (Balsam Lake Mountain Wild Forest)
Alder Lake Site #5 is in Balsam Lake Mountain Wild Forest, a wild forest managed by NY DEC. Stay limits, permits, road closures and fire restrictions are set there, not at the campsite — check before you go. Its page maps every camp in it.
How we know this — Alder Lake Site #5 (Balsam Lake Mountain Wild Forest)
What we don’t know about Alder Lake Site #5 (Balsam Lake Mountain Wild Forest)
A land record can put you within a few meters of a spot. It cannot tell you any of this — so check it yourself, and treat anything below as the open question it is.
- Road surface & last-mile access
- How many rigs actually fit
- Cell coverage by carrier
- Current fire restrictions
- Whether any water here is drinkable
- Shade & wind exposure
- Noise and who else shows up
- Whether a listed EV charger works today, or the road miles to it