Found · unverifiedNY DECFree

Crystal Lake Campsite 6 [DEC #7212] (Crystal Lake Wild Forest)

Drive-up · public land · NY · 41.86956, -75.02504

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

FREE primitive camping at Crystal Lake Campsite 6, a DEC-designated site near Crystal Lake in the Crystal Lake Wild Forest (Town of Fremont, Sullivan County, DEC Region 3). This is designated site away from the water. New York provides it at NO CHARGE: the DEC Crystal Lake Wild Forest page lists the unit as 'Free' and open year-round, with camping in DESIGNATED areas only on a first-come, first-served basis -- there are ten designated primitive campsites at Crystal Lake (three within 150 feet of the lakeshore and seven set back from the water), and this is one of them. This is one of the seven designated sites set back from the lake: it sits about 189 feet from the Crystal Lake shoreline. COUNT / CONFIDENCE NOTE: this is HIGH confidence -- the DEC page's own count of ten designated sites (3 lakeshore + 7 away) matches DEC's ten numbered GIS campsite points exactly, and we independently measured each point's distance to the lake to confirm the 3-lakeshore / 7-away split. These are FREE, first-come DEC designated sites -- no reservation, no fee, no registration, and no camping facilities (no hookups, no showers, no potable water); this is NOT a reservable fee campground. RULES: camp only at the designated sites; 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 3 New Paltz Office at (845) 256-3076 (Forest Rangers via 911 or DEC dispatch 1-833-NYS-RANGERS)); DEC will not issue group-of-10-or-more permits for the lake-shore sites, and no temporary-camping permit is issued to anyone under 18. Bring water or treat what you take from the lake or a stream, pack out all trash, follow Leave No Trace and the DEC fire rules, and store food from bears (this is black-bear country). This site is around 1743 feet elevation. SEASON / ACCESS: DEC lists the unit as open year-round, but the trail and access roads can be muddy, washed or snow-covered off-season -- confirm current conditions with the DEC Region 3 New Paltz office (845-256-3076) or the unit page before you go. Confirm current rules and this specific site's status on the DEC page (dec.ny.gov/places/crystal-lake-wild-forest) or with the New Paltz office (845-256-3076) before you go; we have not visited.

USGS topo — contours & terrain

USGS topographic map of Crystal Lake Campsite 6 [DEC #7212] (Crystal Lake Wild Forest)

Aerial — USGS / NAIP

Aerial image of Crystal Lake Campsite 6 [DEC #7212] (Crystal Lake Wild Forest)

Weather outlook

Loading the latest forecast…

Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 1,743 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

@Mail5 mi
FFuel7 mi
GGrocery7 mi
LLaundry7 mi
OOutfitter7 mi
MMechanic14 mi
+Urgent care14 mi
RxPharmacy16 mi
HHardware17 mi
ShShower17 mi
DDump18 mi
WWater18 mi
AAir-up39 mi

≤30 mi30–4545+water

The read: water's a short hop out, fuel & food sit about 7 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

public land

Elevation

1,743 ft

State

Coordinates

41.86956, -75.02504

Cost

Free

Nearby & resupply (OpenStreetMap)

Resupply lookup unavailable — try the map links below.

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

RestroomCallicoon PA Access Seasonal Toilet · ~8.0 mi S · NPS
Highway rest areaRoscoe · ~9.1 mi NE
RestroomLordville Access Seasonal Toilet · ~9.7 mi W · NPS
Highway rest areaEast Branch · ~11.0 mi NW

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 7212, NAME verbatim 'Crystal Lake Campsite 6', ASSET='PRIMITIVE TENT SITE', PUBLICUSE='Y', ACCESSIBLE='N', FACILITY='Crystal Lake Wild Forest', DEC Region 3 (New Paltz). DESCRIP=''; NOTES=''. Coordinate is DEC's own point geometry (WGS84), pulled 2026-07-25 via the layer's /query endpoint (outSR=4326). FREE confirmed on dec.ny.gov/places/crystal-lake-wild-forest (Crystal Lake Wild Forest, read 2026-07-25): 'Fee: Free', open year-round, camping in DESIGNATED areas only, first-come, no facilities; Town of Fremont, Sullivan County; DEC Region 3 New Paltz (845) 256-3076. COUNT/CONFIDENCE (HIGH): the DEC page enumerates 'three locations within 150 feet of the lakeshore' plus 'seven other campsites available away from the water' == 10 designated primitive campsites, which matches EXACTLY the 10 numbered GIS points (DEC 'Crystal Lake Campsite 1..11', #2 absent from the current GIS -> 10 present). This site is Campsite 6, one of the SEVEN designated campsites away from the water. INDEPENDENT SHORE MEASUREMENT corroborates the page's 3/7 split: measured against the OpenStreetMap Crystal Lake polygon (way 227365692, `out geom`, maps.mail.ru overpass mirror, 2026-07-25, point-to-nearest-vertex) this site is about 189 ft from the shoreline (exactly three of the ten measure within 150 ft: Campsites 1/10/11). ACCESS-COST CHECK (guardrail 2): NY has no statewide access pass and the page names no day-use, parking or permit fee; there is no DEC fee campground at Crystal Lake. LEGALITY (guardrail 1): a DEC-numbered DESIGNATED primitive site (PUBLICUSE='Y') in a free Wild Forest where camping is designated-only; no closure/alert posted for the unit (checked 2026-07-25). ELEVATION ~1743 ft (USGS EPQS, 2026-07-25); the whole unit tops out at 1,980 ft per the DEC page -- far below any high-elevation camping restriction. Plus DEC State Land Camping Rules (dec.ny.gov/things-to-do/camping/state-land-rules): free Forest Ranger permit for stays over 3 nights or groups of 10+, and per the unit page no group-of-10+ permit is issued for the lake-shore sites and no temporary-camping permit for anyone under 18. 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 →