Campsite 13 (Valcour Island Primitive Area)
FREE primitive camping on Valcour Island, a state-owned island in Lake Champlain and part of New York's Adirondack Forest Preserve -- Town of Peru, Clinton County (DEC Region 5), off Plattsburgh. DEC-designated primitive tent site ('Campsite 13'), one of 29 on the island's shores, each with a pit privy and a fire ring. New York provides these sites at NO CHARGE -- the DEC page lists the fee as 'Free'. WATER ACCESS ONLY: Valcour is an island, so you get here by boat, canoe or kayak -- there is no bridge and no drive-up. The nearest and free launch is Peru Dock (a free DEC boat launch on Route 9, parking for 50 cars and trailers), about 2.0 miles across the water from this site in a straight line (your real paddle is longer). Launch from free Peru Dock, NOT from the Ausable Point launch a few miles south -- DEC charges a "day use fee in season" at Ausable Point, while Peru Dock is free. This particular site sits about 120 feet from the shoreline, right on the water. Take Lake Champlain seriously: it is big, cold, open water used by motor boats of all sizes, and wind can build a real chop fast -- check the marine forecast, wear a life jacket, and do not attempt the crossing in a small paddle craft in rough weather. PERMIT (and it is FREE): between Memorial Day and Labor Day DEC restricts all Valcour sites to camping by permit only, first-come and NOT reservable. You cannot get the permit in advance -- you land, set up at any vacant designated site, and the DEC Valcour Island caretaker comes around to issue the free permit. Outside that summer window the standard Adirondack Forest Preserve rules apply (free, first-come, and a free Forest Ranger permit only if you stay more than 3 nights or camp with 10 or more people). DEC's page prints no other night limit for Valcour, so plan around that statewide 3-night default and confirm on site. Questions: leave a voicemail for the Valcour Island caretaker (voicemail 518-897-1298). These are primitive sites: a fire ring and a pit privy, no hookups, no showers and no potable water, so bring water or treat what you take from the lake. Camp only at a designated site, pack out all trash, follow Leave No Trace and the DEC fire rules, and store food from wildlife. The island has about 12 miles of hiking trails (the only marked trails on any of the complex's islands) and the historic Bluff Point Lighthouse on its western shore. Confirm current rules, the permit/caretaker schedule and this site's status on the DEC page (dec.ny.gov/places/lake-champlain-islands-complex) or with the Ray Brook office (518-897-1200) before you go; we have not visited.
Everything you need — measured from Campsite 13 (Valcour Island Primitive Area) · Valcour Island Primitive Area · NY
- FFuel4 mi
- GGrocery4 mi
- RxPharmacy4 mi
- HHardware4 mi
- MMechanic4 mi
- EVEV fast charger5 mi
- @Mail5 mi
- +Urgent care6 mi
- LLaundry6 mi
- DDump7 mi
- WWater7 mi
- OOutfitter11 mi
- ShShower14 mi
The read: water's a short hop out, fuel & food sit about 4 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 — Campsite 13 (Valcour Island Primitive Area)
Nearby & resupply — around Campsite 13 (Valcour Island Primitive Area) · Valcour Island Primitive Area · NY (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureLake Champlain · under 0.1 mi · USGS: perennial lake or pond
- Nearest townValcour · ~2.2 mi
- Nearest rail line~2.3 mi · main line
- Nearest highway~3.7 mi · Interstate 87
- Drinking waterDrinking water · ~7.1 mi
- FuelSandri Sunoco · ~4.4 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- Dump station~7.0 mi
- GroceriesYando's Big M · ~4.5 mi
- PharmacyRite Aid · ~4.5 mi
- Hospital / clinicPlanned Parenthood · ~5.5 mi
- HardwareAubuchon Hardware · ~4.5 mi
EV charging — from Campsite 13 (Valcour Island Primitive Area) · Valcour Island Primitive Area · NY — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger4.6 mi straight-line NW — Della Chevrolet Plattsburgh (at a car dealership) · QUICKCHARGE · J1772, CCS · 2 fast ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-07-15 · hours: 24 hours daily · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reach43 within 25 mi · 73 within 50 · 149 within 100 · 311 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)6.6 mi — ChargeSmart EV - Plattsburgh, Plattsburgh
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO5.1 mi — South Hero Jolley, South Hero
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)3.3 mi — TDC Building 22, Plattsburgh, NY · VIALYNK · J1772 · 4 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 462013 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Campsite 13 (Valcour Island Primitive Area) · Valcour Island Primitive Area · NY — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Highway rest areaValcour · ~4.5 mi W
- Highway rest areaColchester North Weight Station · ~12.0 mi SE
- Highway rest areaPoint Au Roche · ~12.6 mi N
- Highway rest areaBeekmantown · ~12.7 mi N
Coming out here — Campsite 13 (Valcour Island Primitive Area) · Valcour Island Primitive Area · NY
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Lake Champlain 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 1.4% — 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.
- Rail line mapped ~2.3 mi from the pin — the national rail atlas classes it as a main line. The atlas also records Amtrak 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.
- Interstate 87 is mapped ~3.7 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 Campsite 13 (Valcour Island Primitive Area) elsewhere
Other camps near Campsite 13 (Valcour Island Primitive Area)
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Campsite 14 (Valcour Island Primitive Area)~0.0 mi
- Campsite 19 (Valcour Island Primitive Area)~0.3 mi
- Campsite 20 (Valcour Island Primitive Area)~0.3 mi
- Campsite 16 (Valcour Island Primitive Area)~0.4 mi
The unit that manages Campsite 13 (Valcour Island Primitive Area)
Campsite 13 is in Valcour Island 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 — Campsite 13 (Valcour Island Primitive Area)
What we don’t know about Campsite 13 (Valcour Island 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