American Adventurer
Found · unverifiedNY DECFree

Hitchins Pond Campsite 4 [DEC #3293] (Eastern Five Ponds Access Primitive Area)

Drive-up · New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation · NY · 44.11704, -74.66030
We haven't personally camped here. Everything below is pulled from public land data, USGS maps and OpenStreetMap — a real place on New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation land, but not field-checked by us. Confirm road conditions, current access, stay limits and fire restrictions before you go.

FREE primitive camping: this is DEC-designated tent site 'Hitchins Pond Campsite 4' on the Hitchins Pond in the Eastern Five Ponds Access Primitive Area of the Bog River Complex (Adirondack Forest Preserve, DEC Region 6, near Lows Lake / the Lows dams). It is a paddle-in / water-access site reached by canoe or kayak on the Bog River Flow (Lows Lake) -- non-motorized boats only; there is a carry at the Lows Lower Dam. New York provides it at NO CHARGE -- the DEC Bog River Complex page lists the unit as 'Fee: Free' and 'Open for recreation: Year-round'. It is a first-come, first-served DESIGNATED tent site (tents only, marked with a yellow 'Camp Here' disc) with a fire ring and a short pit privy (privy replaced 2023); maximum nine persons per site (groups of six or fewer are encouraged). A free Forest-Ranger permit is required only for stays over 3 nights, groups of 10 or more, or use of the Virgin Timber/Boone's/Moose Bay shared landings in June-August -- otherwise just show up. There are no hookups and no potable water: bring or treat all water, pack out all trash, follow Leave No Trace and DEC fire rules, and store food from bears. This is one of exactly five designated campsites on Hitchins Pond, the small flow just above the Lows Lower Dam. The area is prime loon, eagle and osprey habitat, so camp and paddle quietly. The nearby towns hope 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/bog-river-complex) or with the DEC Region 6 Potsdam office / local Forest Ranger at (315) 265-3090 (Mon-Fri 8:00-4:30); Forest Rangers in an emergency via 911 or 1-833-NYS-RANGERS (1-833-697-7264) before you go.

USGS topo — contours & terrain
USGS topographic map of Hitchins Pond Campsite 4 [DEC #3293] (Eastern Five Ponds Access Primitive Area)
Aerial — USGS / NAIP
Aerial image of Hitchins Pond Campsite 4 [DEC #3293] (Eastern Five Ponds Access Primitive Area)
XFacebookReddit
Weather outlook
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 1,725 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

15 MI30 MI60 MIYOUR CAMPN ↑Water · 18 miWDump · 19 miDFuel · 12 miFStewart's Shops · Grocery · 12 miGKinney Drugs · Pharmacy · 13 miRxAubuchon Hardware · Hardware · 12 miHBrent’s Auto Repair · Mechanic · 12 miMLaundry · 25 miLShower · 18 miShCamp Massawepie Health Lodge · Urgent care · 10 mi+Raquette River Outfitters · Outfitter · 11 miOWanakena Post Office · Mail · 13 mi@
Straight-line miles · bearings approx · roads run longer
Nearest of each
  • +Urgent care10 mi
  • OOutfitter11 mi
  • FFuel12 mi
  • MMechanic12 mi
  • GGrocery12 mi
  • HHardware12 mi
  • RxPharmacy13 mi
  • @Mail13 mi
  • WWater18 mi
  • ShShower18 mi
  • DDump19 mi
  • LLaundry25 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water

The read: water's a short hop out, fuel & food sit about 12 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
New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation
Elevation
1,725 ft
State
NY
Coordinates
44.11704, -74.66030
Cost
Free

Nearby & resupply (OpenStreetMap)

  • Water featureHitchins Pond (water) · nearby
  • Nearest townHorseshoe · ~1.9 mi
  • Drinking waternone within 10 mi
  • FuelFuel · ~12.0 mi
  • Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
  • Dump stationDump station · ~19.0 mi
  • GroceriesStewart's Shops · ~12.2 mi
  • PharmacyKinney Drugs · ~12.7 mi
  • Hospital / clinicCamp Massawepie Health Lodge · ~10.4 mi

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

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 3293, GIS NAME verbatim 'Hitchins Pond Campsite 4', ASSET='PRIMITIVE TENT SITE', PUBLICUSE='Y', ACCESSIBLE='N', FACILITY='Eastern Five Ponds Access Primitive Area'. DESCRIP='Designated Campsite. With Short Privy'; NOTES='Privy Replaced 2023'. Coordinate is DEC's own point geometry (WGS84), pulled 2026-07-26 via the layer's /query endpoint (outSR=4326, one paced bundled curl -- the DEC GIS host rate-blocks bursts). FREE confirmed on the DEC page dec.ny.gov/places/bog-river-complex (Bog River Complex, read 2026-07-26 via WebFetch): 'Fee: Free', 'Open for recreation: Year-round' (the May 1-Sep 30 window applies only to the Big Tupper/Piercefield Flow conservation easements, not this Forest Preserve Primitive Area). CONFIDENCE (HIGH): the DEC Bog River Complex page states verbatim that Hitchins Pond has 'Five campsites with fire rings and pit privies ... on a first-come, first-served basis', and this GIS layer returns exactly five Hitchins Pond campsites, each DESCRIP-confirmed with a privy -- an exact count + named-location + feature match. LOCATION CORROBORATION: no OSM camp_site node mapped near this backcountry water-access site (normal for the Adirondack interior); DEC page + DEC GIS point carry existence. ELEVATION ~1725 ft (USGS EPQS, 2026-07-26) -- DEC Region 6 (Western Adirondacks), no high-elevation camping restriction applies. LAND/FEE (guardrail 2): Adirondack Forest Preserve Primitive Area, no entry/access/day-use fee; the only permit is a FREE Forest-Ranger permit for stays over 3 nights, groups of 10+, or use of the Virgin Timber/Boone's/Moose Bay shared landings June-Aug. LEGALITY (guardrail 1): a DEC-DESIGNATED PUBLICUSE primitive tent site (yellow 'Camp Here' disc, tents only), camping explicitly allowed, first come-first served, per DEC State Land Camping Rules. Ingest 2026-07-26.
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.

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 →