Agency-listedNY DECFreeOpen today
Bog River Flow Campsite 12 [DEC #3288] (Eastern Five Ponds Access Primitive Area)
Drive-up · New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation · NY · 44.09784, -74.69999
Ask an AI about this campsiteOpens Grok already loaded with this site. It reads the same records this page is built from, and links whatever it tells you.
Ask about this camp →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 primitive camping: this is DEC-designated tent site 'Bog River Flow Campsite 12' on the Bog River Flow in the Eastern Five Ponds Access Primitive Area of the Bog River Complex (Adirondack Forest Preserve, DEC Region 6, near Lows Lake / the Lows dams). It is a paddle-in / water-access site reached by canoe or kayak on the Bog River Flow (Lows Lake) -- non-motorized boats only; there is a carry at the Lows Lower Dam. New York provides it at NO CHARGE -- the DEC Bog River Complex page lists the unit as 'Fee: Free' and 'Open for recreation: Year-round'. It is a first-come, first-served DESIGNATED tent site (tents only, marked with a yellow 'Camp Here' disc) with a fire ring and a short pit privy (privy replaced 2023); maximum nine persons per site (groups of six or fewer are encouraged). A free Forest-Ranger permit is required only for stays over 3 nights, groups of 10 or more, or use of the Virgin Timber/Boone's/Moose Bay shared landings in June-August -- otherwise just show up. There are no hookups and no potable water: bring or treat all water, pack out all trash, follow Leave No Trace and DEC fire rules, and store food from bears. Bog River Flow (Lows Lake) has 39 numbered designated campsites; this is one of them -- the exact spot is DEC's mapped point, so confirm the site's yellow disc on arrival. The area is prime loon, eagle and osprey habitat, so camp and paddle quietly. The nearby towns hope you will stop in and spend a little locally while you are passing through. Rules and site status can change and we have not visited -- confirm current conditions on the DEC page (dec.ny.gov/places/bog-river-complex) or with the DEC Region 6 Potsdam office / local Forest Ranger at (315) 265-3090 (Mon-Fri 8:00-4:30); Forest Rangers in an emergency via 911 or 1-833-NYS-RANGERS (1-833-697-7264) before you go.
Can I go now? — Bog River Flow Campsite 12 [DEC #3288] (Eastern Five Ponds Access Primitive Area) · Eastern Five Ponds Access Primitive Area · 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 Bog River Flow Campsite 12 [DEC #3288] (Eastern Five Ponds Access Primitive Area)](img/bog-river-flow-campsite-12-dec-3288-eastern-five-ny-44098n74700w-topo.png)
Aerial — USGS / NAIP
![Aerial image of Bog River Flow Campsite 12 [DEC #3288] (Eastern Five Ponds Access Primitive Area)](img/bog-river-flow-campsite-12-dec-3288-eastern-five-ny-44098n74700w-aerial.jpg)
Weather outlook — at Bog River Flow Campsite 12 [DEC #3288] (Eastern Five Ponds Access Primitive Area)
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 1,749 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Bog River Flow Campsite 12 [DEC #3288] (Eastern Five Ponds Access Primitive Area)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 Bog River Flow Campsite 12 [DEC #3288] (Eastern Five Ponds Access Primitive Area) · Eastern Five Ponds Access Primitive Area · NY
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- GGrocery11 mi
- @Mail11 mi
- +Urgent care12 mi
- OOutfitter13 mi
- FFuel14 mi
- MMechanic14 mi
- HHardware15 mi
- RxPharmacy15 mi
- WWater20 mi
- ShShower20 mi
- DDump21 mi
- LLaundry24 mi
- EVEV fast charger31 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water is a real 20-mi drive, fuel & food sit about 11 mi out, the nearest EV fast charger is a 31-mi run (and back).
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 — Bog River Flow Campsite 12 [DEC #3288] (Eastern Five Ponds Access Primitive Area)
Access
Drive-up
Land
New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation
Elevation
1,749 ft
Ground slope
12.7% · noticeable
Nearest rail line
~1.0 mi · main line
State
NY
Coordinates
44.09784, -74.69999
Cost
Free
Nearby & resupply — around Bog River Flow Campsite 12 [DEC #3288] (Eastern Five Ponds Access Primitive Area) · Eastern Five Ponds Access Primitive Area · NY (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureGrass Pond · under 0.1 mi · USGS: perennial lake or pond
- Also mapped (OSM)Long Pond (water) · mapped within 1.6 mi
- Nearest townSabattis · ~1.2 mi
- Nearest rail line~1.0 mi · main line
- Nearest highwayno interstate or US route within 10 mi
- Drinking waternone within 10 mi
- FuelFuel · ~14.4 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- Dump station~21.3 mi
- GroceriesOtto's Abode · ~11.3 mi
- PharmacyKinney Drugs · ~15.0 mi
- Hospital / clinicCamp Massawepie Health Lodge · ~12.0 mi
EV charging — from Bog River Flow Campsite 12 [DEC #3288] (Eastern Five Ponds Access Primitive Area) · Eastern Five Ponds Access Primitive Area · NY — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger30.8 mi straight-line SE — Indian Lake - Welcome Center · VIALYNK · CCS · 4 fast ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reachnone within 25 mi · 16 within 50 · 184 within 100 · 410 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)32.4 mi — ChargeSmart EV - Saranac Lake, Saranac Lake
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO41.8 mi — EVolve NY Potsdam, Potsdam
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)11.3 mi — Otto's Abode, Wanakena, NY (at a parking lot) · Non-Networked · J1772 · 1 Level 2 port listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2024-03-14 · 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 405740 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Bog River Flow Campsite 12 [DEC #3288] (Eastern Five Ponds Access Primitive Area) · Eastern Five Ponds Access Primitive Area · NY — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- No mapped restroom within 30 miles — plan to pack it out.
Coming out here — Bog River Flow Campsite 12 [DEC #3288] (Eastern Five Ponds Access Primitive Area) · Eastern Five Ponds Access Primitive Area · NY
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Grass Pond 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 12.7% — noticeable. 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 ~1.0 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 Bog River Flow Campsite 12 [DEC #3288] (Eastern Five Ponds Access Primitive Area) elsewhere
Other camps near Bog River Flow Campsite 12 [DEC #3288] (Eastern Five Ponds Access Primitive Area)
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Bog River Flow Campsite 11 [DEC #3286] (Eastern Five Ponds Access Primitive Area)~0.4 mi
- Bog River Flow Campsite 10 [DEC #3285] (Eastern Five Ponds Access Primitive Area)~0.5 mi
- Bog River Flow Campsite 9 [DEC #3289] (Eastern Five Ponds Access Primitive Area)~1.2 mi
- Hitchins Pond Campsite 8 [DEC #3291] (Eastern Five Ponds Access Primitive Area)~1.7 mi
The unit that manages Bog River Flow Campsite 12 [DEC #3288] (Eastern Five Ponds Access Primitive Area)
Bog River Flow Campsite 12 [DEC #3288] is in Eastern Five Ponds Access Primitive Area, a primitive area 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 — Bog River Flow Campsite 12 [DEC #3288] (Eastern Five Ponds Access Primitive Area)
Open season
Year-round
Permit
Free permit needed only for stays over 3 nights or groups of 10 or more
Source
NY Dept. of Environmental Conservation
Confidence
Likely — The record is good enough to put a pin on, but thin in places. Treat the details as a starting point, not gospel.
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 3288, GIS NAME verbatim 'Bog River Flow Campsite 12', ASSET='PRIMITIVE TENT SITE', PUBLICUSE='Y', ACCESSIBLE='N', FACILITY='Eastern Five Ponds Access Primitive Area'. DESCRIP='Designated Campsite. With Short Privy'; NOTES='Privy Replaced 2023'. Coordinate is DEC's own point geometry (WGS84), pulled 2026-07-26 via the layer's /query endpoint (outSR=4326, one paced bundled curl -- the DEC GIS host rate-blocks bursts). FREE confirmed on the DEC page dec.ny.gov/places/bog-river-complex (Bog River Complex, read 2026-07-26 via WebFetch): 'Fee: Free', 'Open for recreation: Year-round' (the May 1-Sep 30 window applies only to the Big Tupper/Piercefield Flow conservation easements, not this Forest Preserve Primitive Area). CONFIDENCE (MED): the DEC Bog River Complex page confirms Bog River Flow (Lows Lake) is a system of '39 numbered designated campsites', first-come and free, and this is DEC's own numbered/mapped PUBLICUSE point 'Bog River Flow Campsite 12' within it; the page enumerates the total (39) without confirming this specific number/coordinate, only 4 of the 39 are carried in this GIS layer under this facility, and OSM maps none -> MED. LOCATION CORROBORATION: no OSM camp_site node mapped near this backcountry water-access site (normal for the Adirondack interior); DEC page + DEC GIS point carry existence. ELEVATION ~1749 ft (USGS EPQS, 2026-07-26) -- DEC Region 6 (Western Adirondacks), no high-elevation camping restriction applies. LAND/FEE (guardrail 2): Adirondack Forest Preserve Primitive Area, no entry/access/day-use fee; the only permit is a FREE Forest-Ranger permit for stays over 3 nights, groups of 10+, or use of the Virgin Timber/Boone's/Moose Bay shared landings June-Aug. LEGALITY (guardrail 1): a DEC-DESIGNATED PUBLICUSE primitive tent site (yellow 'Camp Here' disc, tents only), camping explicitly allowed, first come-first served, per DEC State Land Camping Rules. Ingest 2026-07-26.
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 Bog River Flow Campsite 12 [DEC #3288] (Eastern Five Ponds Access Primitive Area)
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 — Bog River Flow Campsite 12 [DEC #3288] (Eastern Five Ponds Access Primitive Area)
Camping near a reservoir →Finding water out here →Cold-weather camping →Off-grid communication →All field notes →