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Gate Road Campsite 2 [DEC #15772] (Chazy Highlands Wild Forest)

Drive-up · New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation · NY · 44.69879, -73.98187

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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 primitive camping: this is a designated primitive campsite (Gate Road #2) in the Chazy Highlands Wild Forest. It sits on Adirondack Forest Preserve in the Chazy Highlands Wild Forest (Chazy Highlands Wild Forest, DEC Region 5). New York provides it at NO CHARGE -- the DEC page lists the unit as 'Fee: Free' and 'Open for recreation: Year-round'. A free Forest-Ranger permit is required only for stays longer than 3 nights or groups of 10 or more; otherwise just show up. There are no hookups and no potable water at primitive sites -- bring or treat all water, pack out all trash, follow Leave No Trace and DEC fire rules, and store food from animals. Note: DEC's Chazy Highlands Wild Forest page confirms the unit is free and open to camping but does not describe this specific site by name (it is DEC's own mapped designated site), so treat the exact spot as approximate and confirm on arrival. The town hopes you will stop in and spend a little locally while you are passing through. Rules and site status can change and we have not visited -- confirm current conditions on the DEC page (dec.ny.gov/places/chazy-highlands-wild-forest) or with the DEC Region 5 office (Ray Brook) at (518) 897-1200 for the Adirondack units, or the DEC Region 5 Warrensburg sub-office / local Forest Ranger via (518) 897-1300; Forest Rangers in an emergency via 911 or 1-833-NYS-RANGERS (1-833-697-7264) before you go.

Can I go now? — Gate Road Campsite 2 [DEC #15772] (Chazy Highlands Wild Forest) · New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation · NY

Open today Year-round per the agency record.

New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation record: “Year-round” Read against the calendar on 2026-09-17; with JavaScript your browser re-checks it against today.

USGS topo — contours & terrain

USGS topographic map of Gate Road Campsite 2 [DEC #15772] (Chazy Highlands Wild Forest)

Aerial — USGS / NAIP

Aerial image of Gate Road Campsite 2 [DEC #15772] (Chazy Highlands Wild Forest)

Weather outlook — at Gate Road Campsite 2 [DEC #15772] (Chazy Highlands Wild Forest)

Loading the latest forecast…

Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 1,317 ft.

Fire & smoke — around Gate Road Campsite 2 [DEC #15772] (Chazy Highlands 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 Gate Road Campsite 2 [DEC #15772] (Chazy Highlands Wild Forest) · New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation · NY

Straight-line miles · bearings approx · roads run longer

Nearest of each

FFuel4 mi
+Urgent care5 mi
GGrocery11 mi
@Mail12 mi
EVEV fast charger18 mi
RxPharmacy18 mi
HHardware23 mi
MMechanic23 mi
OOutfitter23 mi
LLaundry24 mi
WWater25 mi
DDump25 mi
ShShower25 mi

≤30 mi30–4545+water

The read: water is a real 25-mi drive, 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 — Gate Road Campsite 2 [DEC #15772] (Chazy Highlands Wild Forest)

Access

Drive-up

Land

New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation

Elevation

1,317 ft

State

Coordinates

44.69879, -73.98187

Cost

Free

Nearby & resupply — around Gate Road Campsite 2 [DEC #15772] (Chazy Highlands Wild Forest) · New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation · NY (OpenStreetMap)

Water featureMiddle Kiln Brook (stream) · nearby
Nearest townLyon Mountain · ~4.0 mi
Drinking waternone within 10 mi
FuelSunoco · ~17.8 mi
Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
Dump station~24.7 mi
GroceriesStore · ~12.7 mi
PharmacyKinney Drugs · ~18.3 mi
Hospital / clinicAlice Hyde Medical Center · ~18.7 mi
HardwareDame's Ace Hardware · ~22.6 mi

EV charging — from Gate Road Campsite 2 [DEC #15772] (Chazy Highlands Wild Forest) · New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation · NY — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)

Nearest public DC fast charger18.1 mi straight-line NW — ELLIS CHEVY ELLISDCFC, Malone, NY · ChargePoint Network · CHAdeMO, CCS · 1 fast port listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily · directions
Public DC fast stations within reach12 within 25 mi · 58 within 50 · 116 within 100 · 302 within 150
Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)23.7 mi — ChargeSmart EV - Plattsburgh, Plattsburgh
Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)17.7 mi — FEHBOCES FEH BOCES, Malone, NY · ChargePoint Network · 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 227128 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center

Nearby restrooms — around Gate Road Campsite 2 [DEC #15772] (Chazy Highlands Wild Forest) · New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation · NY — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)

Highway rest areaValcour · ~25.0 mi E
Highway rest areaBeekmantown · ~27.3 mi E
Highway rest areaPoint Au Roche · ~27.4 mi E

Open Gate Road Campsite 2 [DEC #15772] (Chazy Highlands Wild Forest) elsewhere

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Other camps near Gate Road Campsite 2 [DEC #15772] (Chazy Highlands Wild Forest)

If this one is full, gated or washed out.

How we know this — Gate Road Campsite 2 [DEC #15772] (Chazy Highlands Wild Forest)

Open season

Year-round

Permit

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

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 15772, GIS NAME verbatim 'Gate Road Campsite 2', ASSET='PRIMITIVE TENT SITE', PUBLICUSE='Y', ACCESSIBLE='N', FACILITY='Chazy Highlands Wild Forest'. DESCRIP='Campsite'; NOTES=''. Coordinate is DEC's own point geometry (WGS84), pulled 2026-07-26 via the layer's /query endpoint (outSR=4326, one paced bundled curl covering five facilities -- the DEC GIS host rate-blocks bursts). FREE confirmed on the DEC page dec.ny.gov/places/chazy-highlands-wild-forest (Chazy Highlands Wild Forest, read 2026-07-26): 'Fee: Free', 'Open for recreation: Year-round'. CONFIDENCE (MED): GIS returns this as a PUBLICUSE=Y designated primitive tent site in the Chazy Highlands Wild Forest (page 'Fee: Free', camping allowed unit-wide); the page's prose does not name this specific site and OSM maps none -> MED. LOCATION CORROBORATION: no OSM camp node mapped there; page + GIS carry existence. ELEVATION ~1317 ft (USGS EPQS, 2026-07-26) -- an Adirondack Region 5 unit, far below any high-elevation camping restriction (the 3,500-ft Catskill ban does not apply). LAND/FEE (guardrail 2): Adirondack Forest Preserve (Wild Forest / Primitive Area) land; the only permit is a FREE Forest-Ranger permit for stays over 3 nights or groups of 10 or more. LEGALITY (guardrail 1): a DEC-DESIGNATED PUBLICUSE primitive tent site, camping explicitly allowed, per DEC State Land Camping Rules (dec.ny.gov/things-to-do/camping/state-land-rules). Ingest 2026-07-26.

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 Gate Road Campsite 2 [DEC #15772] (Chazy Highlands 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 — Gate Road Campsite 2 [DEC #15772] (Chazy Highlands Wild Forest)

Finding water out here →Cold-weather camping →Fire rules & restrictions →First-night troubleshooting →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 →