Ashokan High Point Trail Primitive Campsite #2 (Sundown Wild Forest)
FREE primitive camping in Sundown Wild Forest, part of New York's CATSKILL Forest Preserve (DEC Region 3, Ulster County -- the Ashokan High Point / Vernooy Kill Falls country). This is a DEC-designated primitive tent site ('Ashokan High Point Trail Primitive Campsite #2', on Kanape Brook), and New York provides it at NO CHARGE: the DEC Sundown Wild Forest page lists the fee as 'Free' and the unit as open year-round, first-come first-served. HIKE-IN: this is a foot-access Catskill Forest Preserve site, about 85 feet from the Ashokan High Point Trail (red); plan on roughly a 1.3-mile walk in from the nearest public road/trailhead. Note: a hike-in site along the Ashokan High Point Trail as it climbs from Kanape Brook; about 1.3 miles straight-line from the nearest public road and farther on foot because the trail switchbacks up -- plan on a real climb from the Watson Hollow Road trailhead. Kanape Brook runs ~200 feet off. This is free Catskill Forest Preserve backcountry -- do NOT confuse it with the Peekamoose Valley 'Lower Field' sites a few miles west along County Route 42, which are on the paid Reserve America system and require a $10 permit (all visitors, including campers) from May 15 to September 15; this site is well outside that permit corridor. SEASON / ACCESS: DEC lists Sundown Wild Forest as open YEAR-ROUND and free, but these are foot-access (or road-end) Catskill backcountry sites; the trailhead roads (Watson Hollow Road, Trails End Road) are minor mountain roads that may not be plowed or maintained in winter and can wash out -- 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 yellow 'Camp Here' disc that marks 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)). DEC prints no other night limit for these sites, so plan around that statewide 3-night default and confirm 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 a brook. 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/sundown-wild-forest) or with the New Paltz office (845-256-3076) before you go; we have not visited.
Everything you need — measured from Ashokan High Point Trail Primitive Campsite #2 (Sundown Wild Forest) · Sundown Wild Forest · NY
- @Mail4 mi
- FFuel6 mi
- GGrocery6 mi
- RxPharmacy6 mi
- MMechanic7 mi
- WWater8 mi
- DDump8 mi
- ShShower8 mi
- HHardware10 mi
- EVEV fast charger10 mi
- AAir-up11 mi
- +Urgent care11 mi
- LLaundry13 mi
- OOutfitter14 mi
- PPropane52 mi
The read: water's a short hop out, fuel & food sit about 6 mi out.
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 — Ashokan High Point Trail Primitive Campsite #2 (Sundown Wild Forest)
Nearby & resupply — around Ashokan High Point Trail Primitive Campsite #2 (Sundown Wild Forest) · Sundown Wild Forest · NY (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureKanape Brook · under 0.1 mi · USGS: intermittent stream
- Nearest townSamsonville · ~2.4 mi
- Rail & highwaynone mapped within 10 mi
- Drinking waterDrinking water · ~8.2 mi
- FuelFuel · ~11.0 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- Dump station~8.4 mi
- GroceriesGood Friend · ~3.6 mi
- PharmacyNekos Boiceville Pharmacy · ~6.4 mi
- Hospital / clinicEllenville Regional Hospital · ~13.5 mi
- HardwareP&T Surplus · ~16.4 mi
EV charging — from Ashokan High Point Trail Primitive Campsite #2 (Sundown Wild Forest) · Sundown Wild Forest · NY — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger10.4 mi straight-line SE — SUNY Ulster - Hasbrouck Hall, Stone Ridge, NY · VIALYNK · J1772, CCS · 6 fast ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reach30 within 25 mi · 80 within 50 · 876 within 100 · 1510 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)14.6 mi — Kingston, NY - Tesla Supercharger, Kingston
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO16.6 mi — PRESHYUN PKG 1, Kingston
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)9.2 mi — Marbletown - 350 Tongore Rd, Kingston, NY · Blink Network · J1772 · 3 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 450089 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Ashokan High Point Trail Primitive Campsite #2 (Sundown Wild Forest) · Sundown Wild Forest · NY — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Highway rest areaUlster Travel Plaza · ~17.1 mi NE
- Highway rest areaParking/Rest Area · ~19.2 mi NE
- RestroomFederal restroom · ~20.3 mi S · FWS
- RestroomPavilion · ~20.7 mi SE · NPS
Coming out here — Ashokan High Point Trail Primitive Campsite #2 (Sundown Wild Forest) · Sundown Wild Forest · NY
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Kanape Brook as an intermittent stream, under 0.1 mi from the pin (National Hydrography Dataset, data refreshed October 2022). Mapped as intermittent — expect it dry for part of the year. Nobody has checked it for you. Filter or boil anything you drink.
- Ground slope around the pin: about 2.3% — flat. 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 Ashokan High Point Trail Primitive Campsite #2 (Sundown Wild Forest) elsewhere
Other camps near Ashokan High Point Trail Primitive Campsite #2 (Sundown Wild Forest)
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Ashokan High Point Trail Primitive Campsite #1 (Sundown Wild Forest)~1.2 mi
- Trails End Campsite (Sundown Wild Forest)~3.6 mi
- Vernooy Falls primitive tent site [DEC #228992] (Sundown Wild Forest)~4.5 mi
- Vernooy Falls primitive tent site [DEC #228991] (Sundown Wild Forest)~4.6 mi
The unit that manages Ashokan High Point Trail Primitive Campsite #2 (Sundown Wild Forest)
Ashokan High Point Trail Primitive Campsite #2 is in Sundown 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 — Ashokan High Point Trail Primitive Campsite #2 (Sundown Wild Forest)
What we don’t know about Ashokan High Point Trail Primitive Campsite #2 (Sundown 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