Cedar River Flow Tentsite (Moose River Plains Wild Forest)
FREE primitive camping. DEC-designated primitive tent site ('Cedar River Flow Tentsite') in the Moose River Plains WILD FOREST -- the backcountry sibling of the famous free roadside Moose River Plains corridor -- part of New York's Adirondack Forest Preserve, in the central Adirondacks in and around the Moose River Plains Complex between Inlet and Indian Lake -- the Towns of Webb and Ohio in Herkimer County and the Towns of Arietta, Inlet, Long Lake, Lake Pleasant and Morehouse in Hamilton County. New York provides these designated primitive tent sites at NO CHARGE (the DEC complex page lists the fee as 'Free' and confirms no fee or permit is required to access or camp at primitive sites); sites are first-come and cannot be reserved. This is a BACKCOUNTRY site on/near the Cedar River Flow, reached on foot via the Wakely Dam Trailhead (the Flow itself is also commonly paddled) -- it is not a drive-up site. ACCESS IS LARGELY SEASONAL AND GATED: most trailheads and the numbered corridor in this complex are reached from the Moose River Plains Road system (the Limekiln Lake-Cedar River Road and its spurs), a gated dirt-road network that is CLOSED outside the warmer months (winter and mud season). Confirm the CURRENT gate opening and closing dates with the DEC Northville office before you go. DON'T CONFUSE THESE FREE SITES WITH THE NEARBY PAID CAMPGROUNDS: the DEC-operated Limekiln Lake Campground (271 sites) and Eighth Lake Campground (126 sites) -- developed, reservable, fee-based public campgrounds at the edges of this complex are separate developed facilities that charge a fee and take reservations -- these primitive sites are the free ones. Camping for more than 3 nights in one spot requires a FREE New York State Forest Ranger permit; a free New York State Forest Ranger permit is required for any stay of more than three nights at one spot, or for a group of ten or more (the DEC complex page states this verbatim; there is no stricter local threshold). Arrange any permit in advance through the DEC Region 5 Northville Office (Mon-Fri 7:30 AM-3:30 PM) at (518) 863-4545. Camp only at the marked site (look for the yellow 'Camp Here' disc), keep camp 150 feet from water and trails unless the site is otherwise designated, and follow the posted Moose River Plains rules. These are primitive sites -- typically only a fire ring and a pit privy, no hookups and no potable water; pack out all trash and follow Leave No Trace and the DEC fire rules. Rules, site numbering, trail lengths and the road's gate dates change -- confirm with the DEC unit page (dec.ny.gov/places/moose-river-plains-complex) or the Region 5 Northville office before you go; we have not visited.
Everything you need — measured from Cedar River Flow Tentsite (Moose River Plains Wild Forest) · Moose River Plains Wild Forest · NY
- ShShower6 mi
- FFuel11 mi
- GGrocery11 mi
- @Mail11 mi
- MMechanic12 mi
- LLaundry12 mi
- EVEV fast charger12 mi
- WWater15 mi
- DDump15 mi
- HHardware16 mi
- +Urgent care16 mi
- RxPharmacy25 mi
- OOutfitter25 mi
- AAir-up47 mi
The read: water's a short hop out, fuel & food sit about 11 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 — Cedar River Flow Tentsite (Moose River Plains Wild Forest)
Nearby & resupply — around Cedar River Flow Tentsite (Moose River Plains Wild Forest) · Moose River Plains Wild Forest · NY (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureCedar River Flow · under 0.1 mi · USGS: perennial reservoir
- Also mapped (OSM)Payne Brook (stream) · mapped within 1.6 mi
- Nearest townSagamore · ~8.2 mi
- Rail & highwaynone mapped within 10 mi
- Drinking waterDrinking water · ~5.9 mi
- FuelStewart's · ~12.3 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- Dump station~15.2 mi
- GroceriesStore · ~11.0 mi
- PharmacyKinney Drugs · ~24.6 mi
- Hospital / clinicNorth Creek Health Center · ~24.8 mi
- HardwareAce Hardware - Old Forge Department Store · ~24.3 mi
EV charging — from Cedar River Flow Tentsite (Moose River Plains Wild Forest) · Moose River Plains Wild Forest · NY — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger12.4 mi straight-line NE — 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 reach1 within 25 mi · 20 within 50 · 265 within 100 · 535 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)35.2 mi — Chestertown, NY - Tesla Supercharger, Chestertown
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO41.3 mi — EVolve NY North Hudson, North Hudson
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)11.8 mi — The Museum on Blue Mountain Lake · 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 405740 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Cedar River Flow Tentsite (Moose River Plains Wild Forest) · Moose River Plains Wild Forest · NY — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- No mapped restroom within 30 miles — plan to pack it out.
Coming out here — Cedar River Flow Tentsite (Moose River Plains Wild Forest) · Moose River Plains Wild Forest · NY
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Cedar River Flow as a perennial reservoir, 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 8.9% — 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.
- 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 Cedar River Flow Tentsite (Moose River Plains Wild Forest) elsewhere
Other camps near Cedar River Flow Tentsite (Moose River Plains Wild Forest)
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Cedar Flow 6 (West Canada Lake Wilderness)~0.6 mi
- Cedar River Flow Primitive Campsite 2 (Moose River Plains Wild Forest)~0.6 mi
- Cedar Flow 7 (West Canada Lake Wilderness)~0.8 mi
- Cedar River Flow Primitive Campsite 6 (Moose River Plains Wild Forest)~0.9 mi
The unit that manages Cedar River Flow Tentsite (Moose River Plains Wild Forest)
Cedar River Flow Tentsite is in Moose River Plains 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 — Cedar River Flow Tentsite (Moose River Plains Wild Forest)
What we don’t know about Cedar River Flow Tentsite (Moose River Plains 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