Found · unverifiedNY DECFree

Copperas Pond Site #1 [DEC #4782] (Sentinel Range Wilderness)

Drive-up · New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation · NY · 44.33087, -73.89724

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 Copperas Pond Site #1, one of the four DEC-designated primitive tent sites in the Sentinel Range Wilderness (Essex County, northern Adirondacks between Lake Placid and Wilmington, DEC Region 5). New York provides it at NO CHARGE: the DEC Sentinel Range Wilderness page lists the unit as 'Free' and open year-round, and states 'There are four designated primitive tent sites and one lean-to,' with one tent site on Owens Pond, two on Copperas Pond, and one off the Jackrabbit Ski Trail. This is one of the two designated tent sites on the shore of Copperas Pond, a popular short hike off NY 86 between Lake Placid and Wilmington (a lean-to also sits on the pond). Treat any water you take from the pond. These are FREE, first-come, designated sites -- no reservation, no fee, no facilities (no hookups, no showers, no potable water); this is NOT the developed Wilmington Notch Campground (a separate DEC fee campground about 2.3 miles away on NY 86). Camp only on the designated/hardened site (look for 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 5 Ray Brook office at (518) 897-1200 (Forest Rangers via 911 or 1-833-NYS-RANGERS / 1-833-697-7264)). Bring water or treat what you take, 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 Adirondack access and conditions vary by season -- confirm current conditions and this specific site's status on the DEC page (dec.ny.gov/places/sentinel-range-wilderness) or with the DEC Region 5 office (518-897-1200) before you go; we have not visited.

USGS topo — contours & terrain

USGS topographic map of Copperas Pond Site #1 [DEC #4782] (Sentinel Range Wilderness)

Aerial — USGS / NAIP

Aerial image of Copperas Pond Site #1 [DEC #4782] (Sentinel Range Wilderness)

Weather outlook

Loading the latest forecast…

Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 1,814 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

WWater2 mi
ShShower2 mi
DDump2 mi
OOutfitter4 mi
@Mail5 mi
FFuel5 mi
GGrocery5 mi
MMechanic5 mi
RxPharmacy6 mi
HHardware6 mi
+Urgent care6 mi
LLaundry25 mi

≤30 mi30–4545+water

The read: water is basically at camp, fuel & food sit about 5 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

1,814 ft

State

Coordinates

44.33087, -73.89724

Cost

Free

Nearby & resupply (OpenStreetMap)

Water featureCopperas Pond (water) · nearby
Nearest townUndercliff · ~3.6 mi
Drinking waterDrinking water · ~2.2 mi
FuelMobil · ~5.4 mi
Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
Dump stationDump station · ~2.4 mi
GroceriesStewart's Shops · ~5.4 mi
PharmacyKinney Drugs · ~12.1 mi
Hospital / clinicAdirondack Medical Center at Lake Placid · ~6.1 mi
HardwareAubuchon Hardware · ~5.8 mi

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

Highway rest areaHigh Peaks (South) · ~23.7 mi SE
Highway rest areaHigh Peaks (North) · ~23.9 mi SE
Highway rest areaValcour · ~27.5 mi NE

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

Researched — The record is detailed and internally consistent, and the coordinates land where the managing agency says this site is.

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 4782, NAME verbatim 'Copperas Pond Site #1', ASSET='PRIMITIVE TENT SITE', PUBLICUSE='Y', ACCESSIBLE='N', FACILITY='Sentinel Range Wilderness', DEC Region 5. DESCRIP=''; NOTES=''. 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/sentinel-range-wilderness (Sentinel Range Wilderness, read 2026-07-25): 'Fee: Free', open year-round, Essex County, DEC Region 5 (518) 897-1200. CONFIDENCE (HIGH): the page enumerates exactly -- 'There are four designated primitive tent sites and one lean-to', 'one ... on the shore of Owens Pond and two ... on the shore of Copperas Pond ... A designated tent site is also located off the Jackrabbit Ski Trail' -- count 4 = GIS 4 and the per-location split (Owen 1 / Copperas 2 / Jackrabbit 1) matches the GIS points location-for-location, so this designated site is individually certifiable (Crystal Lake enumeration basis). IDENTITY/LOCATION CORROBORATION (OSM `out geom`, overpass.kumi.systems, 2026-07-25): this point is about 84 feet from Copperas Pond; LOCATION: on the Copperas Pond shore (one of the page's 'two ... on the shore of Copperas Pond'). ELEVATION ~1815 ft (USGS EPQS, 2026-07-25) -- Sentinel Range is NOT the High Peaks Wilderness; far below the Adirondack 4,000-ft camping restriction, no elevation kills. PAID-NEIGHBOUR (guardrail 2): the DEC Wilmington Notch Campground is a separate developed FEE campground on NY 86, OSM-measured 2.28 mi away -- not adjacent, not required for access; the sites are reached free from the Copperas Pond / Owen Pond trailheads (or the Jackrabbit Ski Trail for Barkeater Cliffs), no parking/day-use/permit fee. LEGALITY (guardrail 1): DEC-designated, publicly-usable tent 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 Researched 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 →