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Allaben Roadside Campsite [DEC #228942] (Shandaken Wild Forest)

Drive-up · New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation · NY · 42.10759, -74.34859

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New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation lists this site. Someone from the agency inventoried it, so it is a real camp — not a spot we guessed at. What changes is conditions — roads, gates, closures, fire rules. Check those with the unit before you commit to the drive.

FREE roadside primitive camping at the ALLABEN campsites, along a short state-land access road just off NY Route 28 in the hamlet of Allaben (town of Shandaken), in the Shandaken Wild Forest of New York's CATSKILL Forest Preserve (DEC Region 3, Ulster County). This is a DEC-designated primitive campsite ('Allaben Roadside Campsite [DEC #228942]'), and New York provides it at NO CHARGE: the DEC Shandaken Wild Forest page lists the fee as 'Free' and the unit as open year-round, first-come first-served, and community listings confirm 'nine campsites' here with no fee to stay. This site is a roadside drive-up: turn off NY Route 28 at Allaben (a hamlet in the town of Shandaken) onto the short DEC access road -- community sources say the only marker is a small 'State Land Access' sign -- and the designated sites sit just off that access road (measured a few dozen to a couple hundred feet, 74-174 ft), so you drive right in and park at the site rather than hiking to it. It is one of a cluster of nine designated sites (two of them listed by DEC as accessible); the Esopus Creek -- a noted Catskill trout stream -- runs nearby (about 1228 feet away, across toward Route 28), though these sites are NOT on the water. This is free, first-come Catskill Forest Preserve ROADSIDE camping (the Allaben sites in Shandaken Wild Forest) -- do NOT confuse it with a reservable fee campground; the nearest paid DEC campgrounds (Woodland Valley near Phoenicia, Kenneth L. Wilson near Mt Tremper) are a separate, paid system several miles away. SEASON / ACCESS: DEC lists Shandaken Wild Forest as open YEAR-ROUND and free, but the Allaben access road and sites are unplowed primitive infrastructure -- confirm current road, gate and site status with the DEC Region 3 New Paltz office (845-256-3076) before you go, especially in winter or mud season. RULES: these are designated, first-come first-served free sites -- no reservation and no fee. Look for the round yellow DEC 'Camp Here' marker and camp only at a designated site; standard NY State Land camping rules apply (keep 150 feet from water/trails/roads unless the marked site itself is 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 1-833-NYS-RANGERS)). DEC lists two of the Allaben sites as accessible; the ATV / MAPPWD (accessible motorized access) permit DEC mentions applies ONLY to Rochester Hollow Road, a separate parcel -- it is NOT needed for these Allaben roadside sites. Every one of these sites sits around 1,050 feet, well below the 3,500-foot line, so the March 21-December 21 Catskill high-elevation camping ban does not apply here; confirm current fire rules on site. These are primitive sites: expect at most a fire ring, picnic table and grill (reported) -- no hookups, no showers and no potable water, so bring water or treat what you take from the creek. 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 status and this site's status on the DEC page (dec.ny.gov/places/shandaken-wild-forest) or with the New Paltz office (845-256-3076) before you go; we have not visited.

Can I go now? — Allaben Roadside Campsite [DEC #228942] (Shandaken Wild Forest) · Shandaken Wild Forest · NY

Open today Year-round per the agency record.

New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation record: “Year-round” Read against the calendar on 2026-09-22; with JavaScript your browser re-checks it against today.

USGS topo — contours & terrain

USGS topographic map of Allaben Roadside Campsite [DEC #228942] (Shandaken Wild Forest)

Aerial — USGS / NAIP

Aerial image of Allaben Roadside Campsite [DEC #228942] (Shandaken Wild Forest)

Weather outlook — at Allaben Roadside Campsite [DEC #228942] (Shandaken Wild Forest)

Loading the latest forecast…

Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 1,064 ft.

Fire & smoke — around Allaben Roadside Campsite [DEC #228942] (Shandaken Wild Forest)NIFC · AirNow

Checking active fires & air quality…

Active wildfires from NIFC (within ~50 mi); air quality from AirNow. Always confirm current fire restrictions with the managing office before you go.

Everything you need — measured from Allaben Roadside Campsite [DEC #228942] (Shandaken Wild Forest) · Shandaken Wild Forest · NY

▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.

Nearest of each

@Mail2 mi
FFuel2 mi
GGrocery2 mi
RxPharmacy2 mi
AAir-up2 mi
+Urgent care2 mi
OOutfitter2 mi
WWater5 mi
DDump5 mi
MMechanic6 mi
LLaundry7 mi
ShShower8 mi
HHardware10 mi
EVEV fast charger13 mi

≤30 mi30–4545+water

The read: water is basically at camp, fuel & food sit about 2 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 — Allaben Roadside Campsite [DEC #228942] (Shandaken Wild Forest)

Access

Drive-up

Land

New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation

Elevation

1,064 ft

Ground slope

5.7% · gentle

State

Coordinates

42.10759, -74.34859

Cost

Free

Nearby & resupply — around Allaben Roadside Campsite [DEC #228942] (Shandaken Wild Forest) · Shandaken Wild Forest · NY (OpenStreetMap)

Water featureEsopus Creek · ~0.3 mi · USGS: perennial stream
Nearest townPhoenicia · ~2.4 mi
Rail & highwaynone mapped within 10 mi
Drinking waterWater · ~4.9 mi
FuelValero · ~2.4 mi
Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
Dump station~5.0 mi
GroceriesCountry Store & Kitchen · ~2.4 mi
PharmacyWellness Rx · ~2.4 mi
Hospital / clinicMedical Associates of the Hudson Valley · ~2.4 mi
HardwareVillage Hardware · ~9.9 mi

EV charging — from Allaben Roadside Campsite [DEC #228942] (Shandaken Wild Forest) · Shandaken Wild Forest · NY — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)

Nearest public DC fast charger12.7 mi straight-line NE — Thorpe's GMC, TANNERSVILLE, NY · EV Connect · CCS · 1 fast port listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily · directions
Public DC fast stations within reach19 within 25 mi · 107 within 50 · 759 within 100 · 1437 within 150
Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)19.0 mi — Ulster Service Plaza, Ruby
Nearest listing CHAdeMO14.3 mi — NYC FLEET DEP_ARKVLE_1_L3, Arkville
Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)3.2 mi — SI - STATION 1 STATION 1, Shandaken, NY · ChargePoint Network · 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 254289 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center

Nearby restrooms — around Allaben Roadside Campsite [DEC #228942] (Shandaken Wild Forest) · Shandaken Wild Forest · NY — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)

Highway rest areaUlster Travel Plaza · ~19.0 mi E
Highway rest areaParking/Rest Area · ~19.1 mi E
Highway rest areaParking/Rest Area · ~20.0 mi E
Highway rest areaMalden Travel Plaza · ~20.1 mi E

Coming out here — Allaben Roadside Campsite [DEC #228942] (Shandaken Wild Forest) · Shandaken Wild Forest · NY

Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Esopus Creek as a perennial stream, ~0.3 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 5.7% — 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.
No rail line and no interstate or US route is mapped within 10 mi of the pin. Checked against the FRA/BTS North American Rail Network (data updated Jul 21, 2026) and the Census's TIGER/Line primary roads (TIGER/Line 2025, released Oct 2025). Both are national files and both are maps of what is built, not counts of what moves on 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 Allaben Roadside Campsite [DEC #228942] (Shandaken Wild Forest) elsewhere

Google satellite →Gaia GPS →CalTopo →Back to the map →

Other camps near Allaben Roadside Campsite [DEC #228942] (Shandaken Wild Forest)

If this one is full, gated or washed out.

The unit that manages Allaben Roadside Campsite [DEC #228942] (Shandaken Wild Forest)

Allaben Roadside Campsite [DEC #228942] is in Shandaken 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.

Shandaken Wild Forest →

How we know this — Allaben Roadside Campsite [DEC #228942] (Shandaken Wild Forest)

Open season

Year-round

Closures

None posted

Area rules

Camping is prohibited within 150 feet of any road, trail, spring, stream, pond or other body of water except at areas designated by a "Camp Here" disk.

Source

NY Dept. of Environmental Conservation

Confidence

Researched — The record is detailed and internally consistent, and the coordinates land where the managing agency says this site is.

How it was placed

NY DEC 'Primitive Campsite' GIS layer (https://gisservices.dec.ny.gov/arcgis/rest/services/dil/dil_land_assets_prm_cmp/MapServer/0), ASSET_UID 228942, NAME verbatim 'Allaben campsite', ASSET='PRIMITIVE TENT SITE', PUBLICUSE='Y', FACILITY='Shandaken Wild Forest', REGION 3 (New Paltz office). DESCRIP/NOTES blank; ACCESSIBLE='N'. Coordinate is DEC's own point geometry (WGS84), pulled 2026-07-24 via the layer's /query endpoint (outSR=4326). FREE confirmed on dec.ny.gov/places/shandaken-wild-forest (Shandaken Wild Forest, read 2026-07-24): Fee='Free', open year-round, APSLMP class WILD FOREST; DEC Region 3 New Paltz 845-256-3076; corroborated free + 'nine campsites' + roadside-off-NY-28 by cnyhiking.com/ShandakenWildForest.htm and freecampsites.net (read 2026-07-24). COUNT DISCLOSURE: GIS tags 9 'Allaben campsite' records for Shandaken Wild Forest, matching the community 'nine campsites' count (cnyhiking / freecampsites.net) exactly; the DEC page phrases Allaben as 'eight designated campsites' plus 'two roadside primitive campsites' (accessible), an apparent 8+2 overlapping to the same nine. All 9 shipped; none padded or trimmed. The separate Rochester Hollow parcel (ATV/MAPPWD access) is NOT in this pull. APSLMP CLASS = WILD FOREST and this is a ROADSIDE DRIVE-UP off the DEC access road that leaves NY Route 28 at Allaben (access character confirmed against cnyhiking / freecampsites.net + OSM road geometry before classing, not assumed). ACCESS-COST CHECK (guardrail 2): no entry/day-use/parking/launch fee stated, NY has no statewide access pass, and there is NO named sub-area access permit for Allaben (the MAPPWD ATV permit DEC mentions is for the separate Rochester Hollow Road parcel only, checked per the Sundown-WF Peekamoose lesson); only the standard FREE Forest-Ranger permit for >3 nights or 10+ groups. ELEVATION 1064 ft (USGS EPQS, 2026-07-24) -- far below the 3,500-ft line, so the Mar 21-Dec 21 Catskill high-elevation camping ban does NOT apply. PAID-NEIGHBOUR GUARD: Woodland Valley / Kenneth L. Wilson fee campgrounds bbox-guarded; this site passes. LIVE-CONDITIONS CHECK (DEC Shandaken Wild Forest page, read 2026-07-24): no closure posted against the Allaben sites. MEASURED GEOMETRY (OpenStreetMap via maps.mail.ru Overpass, 2026-07-24, point-to-vertex on `out geom`): ~95 ft to the DEC access road (way 291847815), ~864 ft to NY Route 28 (way 155801031), ~1228 ft to the Esopus Creek (ways 135509411/834820743 -- nearby trout water but NOT waterfront); access class 'roadside'. No OSM camp_site node at this exact pin -- DEC point geometry is the sole coordinate source, corroborated by the three OSM camp_site nodes nearby in the same Allaben cluster and the documented 'nine campsites' count. Plus DEC State Land Camping Rules (dec.ny.gov/things-to-do/camping/state-land-rules): designated-site + 150-foot rule, free Forest Ranger permit for stays over 3 nights or 10+ people. Ingest 2026-07-24.

Season

Read from the agency's own season / closure text in this record (data/conditions.py) and checked against the calendar. The words we read are printed under the verdict at the top of the page.

EV chargers

US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center station locator, snapshot 2026-09-16. Straight-line miles to the nearest public, open, unrestricted station; restricted and planned units are shown but never counted.

Field check

On the agency's books. The land manager inventoried this site, so its existence is not in question — current conditions are. Nobody from here has camped it recently.

What we don’t know about Allaben Roadside Campsite [DEC #228942] (Shandaken 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

Before you go — Allaben Roadside Campsite [DEC #228942] (Shandaken Wild Forest)

Cold-weather camping →Fire rules & restrictions →Reading the aerial →Camping with a dog →All field notes →

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