Echo Lake -- Campsite 3 (Indian Head Wilderness)
FREE primitive camping at ECHO LAKE, the remote backcountry lake in the valley between Overlook and Plattekill Mountains near Woodstock, in the Indian Head Wilderness of New York's CATSKILL Forest Preserve (DEC Region 4, Greene/Ulster Counties). This is a DEC-designated primitive tent site ('Echo Lake -- Campsite 3'), and New York provides it at NO CHARGE: the DEC Indian Head Wilderness page lists the fee as 'Free' and the unit as open year-round, first-come first-served. This site is reached only on foot -- roughly a 2.5-mile hike one way (about a 5-mile round trip) from the Overlook Mountain trailhead on Meads Mountain Road near Woodstock, via the Overlook Trail and the 0.7-mile Echo Lake Trail spur down to the lake (a longer ~9-mile round trip from Platte Clove is the alternate route). This is free, first-come Catskill Forest Preserve backcountry (Indian Head Wilderness) -- do NOT confuse it with a reservable fee campground; the nearest paid DEC campgrounds (Devil's Tombstone on Route 214, North-South Lake) are a separate, paid system a few miles away. SEASON / ACCESS: DEC lists Indian Head Wilderness as open YEAR-ROUND and free, but every site here is a backpack/hike in over steep Catskill trails, and the trailhead roads and the notch trails may not be plowed or maintained in winter -- confirm current road, gate and trail status with the Stamford office (607-652-7365) before you go. RULES: this is a designated, first-come first-served free site -- no reservation and no fee. Look for the round yellow DEC 'Camp Here' marker. Standard Catskill Forest Preserve rules apply: camp only at the designated site, keep 150 feet from water/trails/roads unless the marked site itself is closer, and 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 4 Stamford Office at (607) 652-7365 (Forest Rangers via 911 or DEC dispatch 1-833-NYS-RANGERS)). This site sits below 2,700 feet, under the 3,500-foot line, so the March 21-December 21 Catskill high-elevation camping ban does not apply here -- but note it DOES bar camping higher up on the Devil's Path in that season; confirm current fire rules on site. This is a primitive backcountry site: expect at most a fire ring -- no privy, no hookups, no showers and no potable water, so carry water or treat what you take from the lake or stream. Pack out all trash, follow Leave No Trace and the DEC fire rules, and store food from bears (this is black-bear country). Confirm current rules, road/trail status and this site's status on the DEC page (dec.ny.gov/places/indian-head-wilderness) or with the Stamford office (607-652-7365) before you go; we have not visited.
Everything you need — measured from Echo Lake -- Campsite 3 (Indian Head Wilderness) · Indian Head Wilderness · NY
- GGrocery2 mi
- MMechanic4 mi
- +Urgent care4 mi
- FFuel4 mi
- RxPharmacy4 mi
- HHardware4 mi
- LLaundry4 mi
- @Mail4 mi
- OOutfitter5 mi
- EVEV fast charger6 mi
- WWater7 mi
- AAir-up7 mi
- ShShower8 mi
- DDump14 mi
- PPropane58 mi
The read: water's a short hop out, fuel & food sit about 2 mi out.
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 — Echo Lake -- Campsite 3 (Indian Head Wilderness)
Nearby & resupply — around Echo Lake -- Campsite 3 (Indian Head Wilderness) · Indian Head Wilderness · NY (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureEcho Lake · under 0.1 mi · USGS: perennial lake or pond
- Nearest townWest Saugerties · ~2.5 mi
- Nearest rail line~6.2 mi · main line
- Nearest highway~6.1 mi · Interstate 87
- Drinking waterDrinking water · ~7.0 mi
- FuelSpeedway · ~6.0 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- Dump station~14.4 mi
- GroceriesSunflower Natural Foods Market · ~4.1 mi
- PharmacyCVS Pharmacy · ~4.1 mi
- Hospital / clinicAdvanced Dermatology · ~9.5 mi
- HardwareP C Smith & Son · ~7.2 mi
EV charging — from Echo Lake -- Campsite 3 (Indian Head Wilderness) · Indian Head Wilderness · NY — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger6.3 mi straight-line S — Trident Chargers - 295 NY-375, West Hurley, NY · 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 reach29 within 25 mi · 133 within 50 · 812 within 100 · 1532 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)6.8 mi — Saugerties, NY - Tesla Supercharger, Saugerties
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO10.8 mi — PRESHYUN PKG 1, Kingston
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)3.6 mi — Rip Van Winkle - Back, Saugerties, NY · 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 460325 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Echo Lake -- Campsite 3 (Indian Head Wilderness) · Indian Head Wilderness · NY — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Highway rest areaParking/Rest Area · ~6.2 mi SE
- Highway rest areaParking/Rest Area · ~6.8 mi E
- Highway rest areaMalden Travel Plaza · ~7.0 mi E
- Highway rest areaUlster Travel Plaza · ~7.3 mi SE
Coming out here — Echo Lake -- Campsite 3 (Indian Head Wilderness) · Indian Head Wilderness · NY
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Echo 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 40.3% — steep. 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.
- Rail line mapped ~6.2 mi from the pin — the national rail atlas classes it as a main line. That is the FRA/BTS North American Rail Network (data updated Jul 21, 2026), which records that a line is there and what class of track it is. Whether anything runs on it, how often, and at what hour, it does not say, and nobody has checked this one for you.
- Interstate 87 is mapped ~6.1 mi from the pin. Straight-line, from the Census's TIGER/Line primary roads (TIGER/Line 2025, released Oct 2025) — the divided, limited-access highways, which is why a state expressway or a two-lane US route near this camp would not appear here.
- 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 Echo Lake -- Campsite 3 (Indian Head Wilderness) elsewhere
Other camps near Echo Lake -- Campsite 3 (Indian Head Wilderness)
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Echo Lake -- Campsite 4 (Indian Head Wilderness)~0.1 mi
- Echo Lake -- Campsite 2 (Indian Head Wilderness)~0.1 mi
- Echo Lake -- Campsite 5 (Indian Head Wilderness)~0.1 mi
- Echo Lake -- Campsite 1 (Indian Head Wilderness)~0.2 mi
The unit that manages Echo Lake -- Campsite 3 (Indian Head Wilderness)
Echo Lake -- Campsite 3 is in Indian Head Wilderness, a wilderness 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 — Echo Lake -- Campsite 3 (Indian Head Wilderness)
What we don’t know about Echo Lake -- Campsite 3 (Indian Head Wilderness)
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