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Deerland Tent Site 1 [DEC #12698] (Sargent Ponds Wild Forest)

Drive-up · New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation · NY · 43.92687, -74.47530

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New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation lists this site. Someone from the agency inventoried it, so it is a real camp — not a spot we guessed at. What changes is conditions — roads, gates, closures, fire rules. Check those with the unit before you commit to the drive.

FREE first-come primitive tent camping at the Deerland Tent Site 1, a DEC-mapped primitive tent site in the Sargent Ponds Wild Forest (Hamilton County, central Adirondacks, DEC Region 5). New York provides it at NO CHARGE: the DEC Sargent Ponds Wild Forest page lists the unit as 'Free' and open year-round, and confirms 'Backcountry camping is also allowed throughout the property as long as the site is at least 150 feet from a water body, road, or trail.' This is one of DEC's mapped tent sites, about 716 feet from the Raquette River (measured against OpenStreetMap, which also maps this as a tent site). This is a lower-elevation primitive site near the Raquette River just northeast of the Deerland hamlet, off a foot path / old woods road. If the spot is a marked designated site you may be within the usual 150 feet of water; if it is NOT marked, camp at least 150 feet back from the river and any trail. Treat any water you take from the river. Note: Forked Lake also has the DEC 'Forked Lake Campground & Day Use Area' -- a separate, developed, reservable FEE campground with its own launch/day-use area at the EAST end of the lake, more than two and a half miles away. This site is NOT part of that campground and is free. If you choose to launch your canoe from that developed day-use area to paddle out here, there can be a launch/day-use fee AT THAT FACILITY when it is staffed -- but the primitive site itself is free, and Forked Lake can also be reached without paying it. CONFIDENCE / RULES NOTE -- please read: this is MEDIUM confidence. The DEC page allows primitive camping unit-wide but does not publish which of DEC's mapped tent-site points are officially designated -- so treat this spot as an established DEC-mapped tent site rather than a certified designated one. Away from a marked designated site, New York's rule is to camp at least 150 feet from any road, trail, or water; on the ground, use the established/hardened tent pad and look for a round yellow DEC 'Camp Here' disc, and if the spot is not marked, move back 150+ feet from the water and trail. These are FREE, first-come sites -- no reservation, no fee, no facilities (no hookups, no showers, no potable water); this is NOT the reservable Forked Lake Campground. 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 office at (518) 863-4545 (Forest Rangers via 911 or 1-833-NYS-RANGERS / 1-833-697-7264)). Bring water or treat what you take from the lake or river, 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 water levels vary by season -- confirm current conditions and this specific site's status on the DEC page (dec.ny.gov/places/sargent-ponds-wild-forest) or with the DEC Region 5 office (518-863-4545) before you go; we have not visited.

Can I go now? — Deerland Tent Site 1 [DEC #12698] (Sargent Ponds Wild Forest) · Sargent Ponds Wild Forest · NY

Open today Year-round per the agency record.

New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation record: “Year-round” Read against the calendar on 2026-09-22; with JavaScript your browser re-checks it against today.

USGS topo — contours & terrain

USGS topographic map of Deerland Tent Site 1 [DEC #12698] (Sargent Ponds Wild Forest)

Aerial — USGS / NAIP

Aerial image of Deerland Tent Site 1 [DEC #12698] (Sargent Ponds Wild Forest)

Weather outlook — at Deerland Tent Site 1 [DEC #12698] (Sargent Ponds Wild Forest)

Loading the latest forecast…

Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 1,636 ft.

Fire & smoke — around Deerland Tent Site 1 [DEC #12698] (Sargent Ponds Wild Forest)NIFC · 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 Deerland Tent Site 1 [DEC #12698] (Sargent Ponds Wild Forest) · Sargent Ponds Wild Forest · NY

▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.

Nearest of each

@Mail4 mi
FFuel4 mi
GGrocery4 mi
+Urgent care4 mi
ShShower8 mi
MMechanic14 mi
EVEV fast charger14 mi
LLaundry15 mi
OOutfitter17 mi
WWater20 mi
HHardware20 mi
RxPharmacy21 mi
DDump26 mi

≤30 mi30–4545+water

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 — Deerland Tent Site 1 [DEC #12698] (Sargent Ponds Wild Forest)

Access

Drive-up

Land

New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation

Elevation

1,636 ft

Ground slope

7.7% · gentle

State

Coordinates

43.92687, -74.47530

Cost

Free

Nearby & resupply — around Deerland Tent Site 1 [DEC #12698] (Sargent Ponds Wild Forest) · Sargent Ponds Wild Forest · NY (OpenStreetMap)

Water featureLong Lake · under 0.1 mi · USGS: perennial lake or pond
Nearest townLong Lake · ~3.7 mi
Rail & highwaynone mapped within 10 mi
Drinking waternone within 10 mi
FuelStewart's · ~4.0 mi
Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
Dump station~26.5 mi
GroceriesStewart's Shops · ~4.0 mi
PharmacyKinney Drugs · ~21.2 mi
Hospital / clinicHospital · ~4.1 mi
HardwareAce Hardware · ~20.0 mi

EV charging — from Deerland Tent Site 1 [DEC #12698] (Sargent Ponds Wild Forest) · Sargent Ponds Wild Forest · NY — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)

Nearest public DC fast charger14.5 mi straight-line SE — 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 · 14 within 50 · 245 within 100 · 463 within 150
Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)31.9 mi — ChargeSmart EV - Saranac Lake, Saranac Lake
Nearest listing CHAdeMO37.0 mi — EVolve NY North Hudson, North Hudson
Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)1.9 mi — Long View Lodge, Long Lake, NY · EV Connect · J1772 · 2 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 Deerland Tent Site 1 [DEC #12698] (Sargent Ponds Wild Forest) · Sargent Ponds Wild Forest · NY — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)

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

Coming out here — Deerland Tent Site 1 [DEC #12698] (Sargent Ponds Wild Forest) · Sargent Ponds Wild Forest · NY

Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Long Lake 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 7.7% — gentle. 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 Deerland Tent Site 1 [DEC #12698] (Sargent Ponds Wild Forest) elsewhere

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Other camps near Deerland Tent Site 1 [DEC #12698] (Sargent Ponds Wild Forest)

If this one is full, gated or washed out.

The unit that manages Deerland Tent Site 1 [DEC #12698] (Sargent Ponds Wild Forest)

Deerland Tent Site 1 [DEC #12698] is in Sargent Ponds 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.

Sargent Ponds Wild Forest →

How we know this — Deerland Tent Site 1 [DEC #12698] (Sargent Ponds Wild Forest)

Open season

Year-round

Permit

Free permit needed only for stays over 3 nights or groups of 10 or more

Closures

None posted (checked 2026-07-25)

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 12698, NAME verbatim 'Deerland Tent Site 1', ASSET='PRIMITIVE TENT SITE', PUBLICUSE='Y', ACCESSIBLE='N', FACILITY='Sargent Ponds Wild Forest', 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 confirmed on dec.ny.gov/places/sargent-ponds-wild-forest (Sargent Ponds Wild Forest, read 2026-07-25): 'Fee: Free', open year-round; Hamilton County; DEC Region 5 (518) 863-4545. COUNT/CONFIDENCE (MED): the DEC page confirms 'Backcountry camping is also allowed throughout the property as long as the site is at least 150 feet from a water body, road, or trail, unless posted Camping Prohibited', and lists lean-tos/camping at Forked Lake, but it does NOT publish a designated-site count or enumerate which of DEC's 5 mapped tent-site points are designated, so this site 'Deerland Tent Site 1' ships MED (real DEC-mapped PUBLICUSE tent site, camping allowed unit-wide, but NOT certifiable as an officially designated site -- honest floor, not HIGH; Windham-Blackhead established-site basis). IDENTITY/LOCATION CORROBORATION: OSM independently maps this as a tourism=camp_site node; measured against OSM this point is about 716 feet from the Raquette River; a foot path / old woods road about 200-380 feet away, roughly 700 feet from the Raquette River (OSM `out geom`, maps.mail.ru, 2026-07-25, point-to-nearest-vertex). CLUSTER: Deerland Tent Site near the Raquette River NE of Deerland (OSM river ~700 ft, path ~200-380 ft). PAID-NEIGHBOUR PIP (guardrail 2): the DEC 'Forked Lake Campground & Day Use Area' is a SEPARATE developed reservable FEE campground + day-use area at the EAST end of Forked Lake; ray-cast point-in-polygon vs its OSM boundary (relation 6388955, maps.mail.ru `out geom` 2026-07-25) puts this site OUTSIDE it, 2.69 mi from the boundary. This is a FREE Wild-Forest primitive site, not a campground site; the only fee on this water is at that developed day-use area, which the site does not require. ELEVATION ~1636 ft (USGS EPQS, 2026-07-25); low central-Adirondack elevation -- the 4,000-ft High-Peaks camping restriction does not apply (not a High-Peaks unit), no elevation kills. LEGALITY (guardrail 1): DEC-mapped, publicly-usable primitive tent site (PUBLICUSE='Y') in a Wild Forest where the page confirms backcountry/at-large primitive camping is allowed (150-ft rule; 'unless posted Camping Prohibited'). No closure posted for the unit (checked 2026-07-25). Plus DEC State Land Camping Rules (dec.ny.gov/things-to-do/camping/state-land-rules): camp 150+ ft from road/trail/water unless at a marked designated site; free Forest Ranger permit for stays over 3 nights or groups of 10+. Ingest 2026-07-25.

Season

Read from the agency's own season / closure text in this record (data/conditions.py) and checked against the calendar. The words we read are printed under the verdict at the top of the page.

EV chargers

US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center station locator, snapshot 2026-09-16. Straight-line miles to the nearest public, open, unrestricted station; restricted and planned units are shown but never counted.

Field check

On the agency's books. The land manager inventoried this site, so its existence is not in question — current conditions are. Nobody from here has camped it recently.

What we don’t know about Deerland Tent Site 1 [DEC #12698] (Sargent Ponds 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

Before you go — Deerland Tent Site 1 [DEC #12698] (Sargent Ponds Wild Forest)

Camping near a reservoir →Water on public land →Cold-weather camping →How to read this page →All field notes →

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