Found · unverifiedNY DECFree

Forked Lake West-End Campsite (far west side) [DEC #12700] (Sargent Ponds Wild Forest)

Drive-up · public land · NY · 43.89329, -74.62012

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 first-come primitive tent camping at the Forked Lake West-End Campsite (far west side), 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 16 feet from Forked Lake (measured against OpenStreetMap, which also maps this as a tent site). This is a paddle-in / water-access primitive site on the FAR WEST END of the NORTH SHORE of Forked Lake -- there is no road to it (the nearest road is roughly 0.85-0.9 mile north), so plan to reach it by canoe or kayak. Treat any water you take from the lake. 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.

USGS topo — contours & terrain

USGS topographic map of Forked Lake West-End Campsite (far west side) [DEC #12700] (Sargent Ponds Wild Forest)

Aerial — USGS / NAIP

Aerial image of Forked Lake West-End Campsite (far west side) [DEC #12700] (Sargent Ponds Wild Forest)

Weather outlook

Loading the latest forecast…

Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 1,744 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

GGrocery6 mi
@Mail6 mi
FFuel10 mi
+Urgent care11 mi
ShShower12 mi
WWater13 mi
HHardware13 mi
LLaundry13 mi
MMechanic19 mi
OOutfitter21 mi
RxPharmacy22 mi
DDump30 mi

≤30 mi30–4545+water

The read: water's a short hop out, fuel & food sit about 6 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

1,744 ft

State

Coordinates

43.89329, -74.62012

Cost

Free

Nearby & resupply (OpenStreetMap)

Resupply lookup unavailable — try the map links below.

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 12700, NAME verbatim 'Forked Lake-West End Campsite', ASSET='PRIMITIVE TENT SITE', PUBLICUSE='Y', ACCESSIBLE='N', FACILITY='Sargent Ponds Wild Forest', DEC Region 5. DESCRIP=''; NOTES='North Shore Of Forked Lake, Far West Side'. 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 'Forked Lake West-End Campsite (far west side)' 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 16 feet from Forked Lake; the Forked Lake north shore (nearest road, County Road 3, is about 0.9 mile north -- reach these sites by paddling) (OSM `out geom`, maps.mail.ru, 2026-07-25, point-to-nearest-vertex). CLUSTER: Forked Lake west-end north-shore paddle-in site (OSM shore 16-51 ft; nearest road County Road 3 ~0.85-0.9 mi). 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, 3.70 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 ~1744 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.

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 →