Found · unverifiedNY DECFree

Clear Pond Universally Accessible Campsite [DEC #11564] (White Hill Wild Forest)

Drive-up · New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation · NY · 44.55891, -74.77166

We haven't personally camped here. Everything below is pulled from public land data, USGS maps and OpenStreetMap — a real place on New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation land, but not field-checked by us. Confirm road conditions, current access, stay limits and fire restrictions before you go.

FREE first-come primitive camping at the Clear Pond Universally Accessible Campsite, a DEC-designated site in the White Hill Wild Forest (St. Lawrence County, northern Adirondacks, part of DEC's Raquette Boreal Complex, Region 6). New York provides it at NO CHARGE: the DEC page lists the unit as 'Free' and open year-round, and states 'There are six designated primitive tent sites and two designated campsites,' with designated sites marked by a yellow 'Camp Here' disc. This is the Clear Pond site the DEC page describes as ADA / universally accessible, on Clear Pond's northeastern shore near an ADA-compliant hand launch and picnic site. Treat any water you take from the pond. These are FREE, first-come, designated sites -- no reservation, no fee, and no facilities (no hookups, no showers, no potable water), though DEC/SCA installed privies at several of them. CONFIDENCE / RULES NOTE -- please read: this is MEDIUM confidence. The DEC page says Clear Pond has four designated tent sites and one campsite, but DEC's mapping data shows only three points on Clear Pond, so treat this as an established, DEC-mapped designated Clear Pond site rather than a certified specific one; on the ground, camp only where you see a round yellow DEC 'Camp Here' disc. 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 6 Potsdam office at (315) 265-3090 (Forest Rangers via 911 or 1-833-NYS-RANGERS / 1-833-697-7264)). Bring water or treat what you take from the pond, pack out all trash, follow Leave No Trace and the DEC fire rules, and store food from bears (this is black-bear country). SEASON / ACCESS: DEC lists the unit as open year-round, but northern-Adirondack access and conditions vary by season -- confirm current conditions and this specific site's status on the DEC page (dec.ny.gov/places/raquette-boreal-complex) or with the DEC Region 6 office (315-265-3090) before you go; we have not visited.

USGS topo — contours & terrain

USGS topographic map of Clear Pond Universally Accessible Campsite [DEC #11564] (White Hill Wild Forest)

Aerial — USGS / NAIP

Aerial image of Clear Pond Universally Accessible Campsite [DEC #11564] (White Hill Wild Forest)

Weather outlook

Loading the latest forecast…

Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 1,302 ft.

Fire & smokeNIFC · 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 camp

Straight-line miles · bearings approx · roads run longer

Nearest of each

@Mail7 mi
ShShower8 mi
FFuel8 mi
DDump8 mi
GGrocery10 mi
+Urgent care13 mi
HHardware13 mi
RxPharmacy13 mi
LLaundry13 mi
MMechanic13 mi
WWater25 mi
OOutfitter29 mi

≤30 mi30–4545+water

The read: water is a real 25-mi drive, 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). Open in Google Maps ↗

The site

Access

Drive-up

Land

New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation

Elevation

1,302 ft

State

Coordinates

44.55891, -74.77166

Cost

Free

Nearby & resupply (OpenStreetMap)

Water featureClear Pond (water) · nearby
Nearest townPickettville · ~4.2 mi
Drinking waternone within 10 mi
FuelFuel · ~8.1 mi
Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
Dump stationDump station · ~8.2 mi
GroceriesPotsdam Food Co-op · ~12.9 mi
PharmacyHarris Medical · ~13.1 mi
Hospital / clinicSt. Lawrence Health Urgent Care · ~12.7 mi
HardwareEvans and Whites · ~13.0 mi

Nearby restrooms — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)

No mapped restroom within 30 miles — plan to pack it out.

Open this spot elsewhere

Google satellite →Gaia GPS →CalTopo →Back to the map →

Other camps nearby

If this one is full, gated or washed out.

How we know this

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 11564, NAME verbatim 'Clear Pond Universally Accessible Campsite', ASSET='PRIMITIVE TENT SITE', PUBLICUSE='Y', ACCESSIBLE='Y', FACILITY='White Hill Wild Forest', DEC Region 6. DESCRIP='Universally Accessible Campsite'; NOTES='Campsite 1'. Coordinate is DEC's own point geometry (WGS84), pulled 2026-07-25 via the layer's /query endpoint (outSR=4326). FREE + COUNT confirmed on dec.ny.gov/places/raquette-boreal-complex (Raquette Boreal Complex (White Hill Wild Forest), read 2026-07-25): 'Fee: Free', open year-round (most properties), St. Lawrence County, DEC Region 6 Potsdam (315) 265-3090; the page states 'There are six designated primitive tent sites and two designated campsites', 'Clear Pond has four designated tent sites and one campsite', 'Long Pond has a designated tent site', 'Lilypad Pond has a designated tent site', and that designated sites are marked with a yellow 'Camp Here' disc. CONFIDENCE (MED): the page says Clear Pond has four designated tent sites and one campsite (five designated) but DEC's GIS maps only three Clear Pond points, and the uniform GIS ASSET type does not distinguish the page's tent-site vs campsite designation, so -- while every mapped point is certainly among the designated ones -- this specific numbered point is filed at the honest MEDIUM floor with the GIS-vs-page gap disclosed rather than over-claimed as HIGH. IDENTITY/LOCATION CORROBORATION (OSM `out geom`, overpass.kumi.systems, 2026-07-25): this point is about 110 feet from OSM 'Clear Pond'. LOCATION: Clear Pond NE shore, the page's ADA-compliant campsite (near the ADA hand launch). MED: page says Clear Pond has 4 designated tent sites + 1 campsite (5) but GIS maps only 3 Clear Pond points -- GIS<page gap disclosed (this is the strongest of the 3). ELEVATION ~1302 ft (USGS EPQS, 2026-07-25) -- low northern-Adirondack elevation, no elevation restriction applies. PAID-NEIGHBOUR (guardrail 2): no fee campground found near this remote unit; Clear Pond even has a free ADA hand launch; no access/day-use/permit fee. LEGALITY (guardrail 1): DEC-designated, publicly-usable site, first-come, no-reservation. Plus DEC State Land Camping Rules (dec.ny.gov/things-to-do/camping/state-land-rules): free Forest Ranger permit only for stays over 3 nights or groups of 10+. Ingest 2026-07-25.

Field check

Not verified on the ground. Nobody from here has camped it. It stays at Likely until someone does.

What we don’t know

A land record can put you within a few metres 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
Seasonal & winter access
Current fire restrictions
Whether any water here is drinkable
Shade & wind exposure
Noise and who else shows up

Before you go

Your first dispersed night →Fire rules & restrictions →Getting unstuck →Power off-grid →All field notes →

Been here? Tell us what changed. This page is built from public records, so the fastest way it gets better is somebody who has actually pulled in. Road washed out, site gone, gate locked, or it is exactly as described — all of it useful. Send a report →