Boquet River Just East Of Jct. 9 & 73 Campsite [DEC #13935] (Giant Mountain Wilderness)
FREE primitive camping in Giant Mountain Wilderness, part of New York's Adirondack Forest Preserve (DEC Region 5, the Chapel Pond / Roaring Brook Falls country along NY 73 in Essex County, near Keene Valley / St. Huberts). This is a DEC-designated primitive tent site ('Boquet River Just East Of Jct. 9 & 73 Campsite', on Boquet River), and New York provides it at NO CHARGE: the DEC page lists the fee as 'Free' and the unit as open year-round, first-come first-served. ROADSIDE (park-and-step-in): a DEC-designated primitive site right next to a public highway in a motor-vehicle-free Wilderness -- you park at the road/pull-off and walk the last few steps in; you cannot legally drive onto the site itself (about 138 feet from the road). Note: a roadside primitive site just off US 9 near the Route 9/73 junction (about 140 feet from the highway), roughly 310 feet from the Boquet River. Park at the roadside pull-off and step in; no driving onto the site in this motor-free Wilderness. This is Adirondack WILDERNESS backcountry, not a developed campground -- there is no campground office, fee booth, hookups, showers or potable water, and no legal car access onto the site; do not confuse it with the developed fee state campgrounds the DEC page points amenity-seekers to (Lincoln Pond Campground and Sharp Bridge Campground). SEASON / ACCESS: DEC lists Giant Mountain Wilderness as open YEAR-ROUND, but this is a motor-vehicle-free Wilderness reached on foot (three roadside sites are a park-and-step-in off the highway; the rest are a 0.1-2.4 mile walk in). DEC's current advisory asks hikers to postpone the higher trails ABOVE Giant's Washbowl, 'the Cobbles' and Owl Head Lookout during mud season / high-elevation wet conditions -- none of these campsites is in that zone, but several sit at trailheads for it. NY 73 through Chapel Pond is a busy, narrow pass with very limited parking; arrive early and park only in legal pull-offs. Plan for a self-sufficient trip and confirm current road, gate and trail status with the Ray Brook office (518-897-1200) 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 Adirondack 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 5 Ray Brook Office at (518) 897-1200 (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 or pond. 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/giant-mountain-wilderness) or with the Ray Brook office (518-897-1200) before you go; we have not visited.
![USGS topographic map of Boquet River Just East Of Jct. 9 & 73 Campsite [DEC #13935] (Giant Mountain Wilderness)](img/boquet-river-just-east-of-jct-9-73-campsite-dec--ny-44105n73686w-topo.png)
![Aerial image of Boquet River Just East Of Jct. 9 & 73 Campsite [DEC #13935] (Giant Mountain Wilderness)](img/boquet-river-just-east-of-jct-9-73-campsite-dec--ny-44105n73686w-aerial.jpg)
Everything you need — measured from Boquet River Just East Of Jct. 9 & 73 Campsite [DEC #13935] (Giant Mountain Wilderness) · Giant Mountain Wilderness · NY
- @Mail5 mi
- GGrocery8 mi
- OOutfitter8 mi
- MMechanic8 mi
- RxPharmacy8 mi
- FFuel9 mi
- +Urgent care9 mi
- HHardware9 mi
- EVEV fast charger9 mi
- WWater10 mi
- ShShower14 mi
- DDump14 mi
- LLaundry17 mi
- AAir-up56 mi
The read: water's a short hop out, fuel & food sit about 8 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 — Boquet River Just East Of Jct. 9 & 73 Campsite [DEC #13935] (Giant Mountain Wilderness)
Nearby & resupply — around Boquet River Just East Of Jct. 9 & 73 Campsite [DEC #13935] (Giant Mountain Wilderness) · Giant Mountain Wilderness · NY (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureBoquet River · under 0.1 mi · USGS: perennial river
- Also mapped (OSM)Cranberry Pond (water) · mapped within 1.6 mi
- Nearest townUnderwood · ~1.3 mi
- Nearest rail linenone mapped within 10 mi
- Nearest highway~2.3 mi · Interstate 87
- Drinking waterDrinking water · ~7.2 mi
- FuelMineville Oil Company · ~9.2 mi
- Propane / LPGAmeriGas · ~23.3 mi
- Dump station~14.0 mi
- GroceriesValley Grocery · ~7.8 mi
- PharmacyMoriah Pharmacy · ~11.9 mi
- Hospital / clinicElizabethtown Community Hospital · ~8.9 mi
- HardwareBryant's Lumber and Hardware · ~10.8 mi
EV charging — from Boquet River Just East Of Jct. 9 & 73 Campsite [DEC #13935] (Giant Mountain Wilderness) · Giant Mountain Wilderness · NY — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger9.0 mi straight-line NE — Egglefield Bros, Elizabethtown, NY (at a public site) · FORD_CHARGE · CCS · 2 fast ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reach12 within 25 mi · 65 within 50 · 230 within 100 · 493 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)10.9 mi — North Hudson, NY - Tesla Supercharger, North Hudson
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO10.9 mi — EVolve NY North Hudson, North Hudson
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)7.8 mi — McDonough's Valley Hardware, Keene Valley, NY (at a hardware store) · Non-Networked · J1772 · 1 Level 2 port listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2024-08-15 · 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 358297 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Boquet River Just East Of Jct. 9 & 73 Campsite [DEC #13935] (Giant Mountain Wilderness) · Giant Mountain Wilderness · NY — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Highway rest areaHigh Peaks (South) · ~6.2 mi S
- Highway rest areaHigh Peaks (North) · ~6.4 mi S
Coming out here — Boquet River Just East Of Jct. 9 & 73 Campsite [DEC #13935] (Giant Mountain Wilderness) · Giant Mountain Wilderness · NY
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Boquet River as a perennial river, 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 1.8% — 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 is mapped within 10 mi of the pin in the FRA/BTS North American Rail Network (data updated Jul 21, 2026) — abandoned, lifted and out-of-service track excluded, so a rail-trail does not count as one.
- Interstate 87 is mapped ~2.3 mi from the pin. Straight-line, from the Census's TIGER/Line primary roads (TIGER/Line 2025, released Oct 2025) — the divided, limited-access highways, which is why a state expressway or a two-lane US route near this camp would not appear here.
- 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 Boquet River Just East Of Jct. 9 & 73 Campsite [DEC #13935] (Giant Mountain Wilderness) elsewhere
Other camps near Boquet River Just East Of Jct. 9 & 73 Campsite [DEC #13935] (Giant Mountain Wilderness)
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Boquet River Just East Of Jct. 9 & 73 Campsite [DEC #13934] (Giant Mountain Wilderness)~0.1 mi
- East Side Of Boquet River Primitive Area Campsite (Giant Mountain Wilderness)~1.7 mi
- Marie Louise Pond Campsite (Giant Mountain Wilderness)~3.6 mi
- Giant'S Wash Bowl Campsite [DEC #13929] (Giant Mountain Wilderness)~3.7 mi
The unit that manages Boquet River Just East Of Jct. 9 & 73 Campsite [DEC #13935] (Giant Mountain Wilderness)
Boquet River Just East Of Jct. 9 & 73 Campsite [DEC #13935] is in Giant Mountain Wilderness, a wilderness 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 — Boquet River Just East Of Jct. 9 & 73 Campsite [DEC #13935] (Giant Mountain Wilderness)
What we don’t know about Boquet River Just East Of Jct. 9 & 73 Campsite [DEC #13935] (Giant Mountain Wilderness)
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