Keck Trail Site 4 (Watsons East Triangle Wild Forest)

FREE primitive camping in Watson's East Triangle Wild Forest, part of New York's Adirondack Forest Preserve (DEC Region 6, the Croghan/Number Four country of Lewis and Herkimer counties in the northwestern Adirondacks). This is a DEC-designated primitive tent site ('Keck Trail Site 4'), and New York provides it at NO CHARGE: the DEC page lists the fee as 'Free' and the unit is open generally year-round. HIKE-IN: reach it on foot 48 feet from the nearest road (an unnamed track ~50 feet away). Note: DEC files this as a Keck Trail site (foot access); OpenStreetMap shows an unnamed track only about 50 feet away that MIGHT allow driving, but its public-vehicle status is unverified, so we follow DEC's trail designation and flag the track -- confirm access with DEC. This is interior Adirondack Forest Preserve, not a developed campground -- there is no campground office, fee booth or hookups; do not confuse it with any developed state campground elsewhere in the region, which would charge a fee. SEASON: DEC lists the complex as 'generally year-round', but its own page warns access is 'via seasonal access roads which are used by snowmobiles in the winter and closed during the spring mud season' -- so drive-up access is NOT year-round; confirm road status with the Lowville office before a spring or winter trip. RULES: this is a designated, first-come, free site -- no reservation and no fee. Standard Adirondack Forest Preserve rules apply: camp only at the designated site, 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 6 Lowville Office at 315-376-3521 (Forest Rangers via 911 or DEC dispatch)). DEC prints no other night limit for this unit, so plan around that statewide 3-night default and confirm on site. These sites are 'heavily used during the big game hunting season' per DEC, so expect company in the fall. This is a primitive site: expect at most a fire ring -- no hookups, no showers and no potable water, so bring water or treat what you take from the pond 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). Confirm current rules and this site's status on the DEC page (dec.ny.gov/places/watsons-east-triangle-complex) or with the Lowville office (315-376-3521) before you go; we have not visited.

USGS topo — contours & terrain

Aerial — USGS / NAIP

EV charging — from Keck Trail Site 4 (Watsons East Triangle Wild Forest) · New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation · NY — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)

• Nearest public DC fast charger27.1 mi straight-line W — Aldi Carthage TUL 27, West Carthage, NY (at a public site) · RED_E · CCS, NACS (Tesla) · 8 fast ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: not listed · directions
• Public DC fast stations within reachnone within 25 mi · 13 within 50 · 173 within 100 · 443 within 150
• Nearest listing CHAdeMO45.0 mi — EVolve NY Potsdam, Potsdam
• Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)11.3 mi — Otto's Abode, Wanakena, NY (at a parking lot) · Non-Networked · J1772 · 1 Level 2 port listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2024-03-14 · 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 434178 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center

Nearby restrooms — around Keck Trail Site 4 (Watsons East Triangle Wild Forest) · New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation · NY — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)

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

Open Keck Trail Site 4 (Watsons East Triangle Wild Forest) elsewhere

Other camps near Keck Trail Site 4 (Watsons East Triangle Wild Forest)

If this one is full, gated or washed out.

• Massawepie Pond Campsite (Watsons East Triangle Wild Forest)~0.7 mi
• Buck Pond Accessible Campsite (Watsons East Triangle Wild Forest)~1.8 mi
• Keck Trail Site 3 (Watsons East Triangle Wild Forest)~1.8 mi
• Wolf Pond Campsite (Watsons East Triangle Wild Forest)~2.0 mi

How we know this — Keck Trail Site 4 (Watsons East Triangle Wild Forest)

What we don’t know about Keck Trail Site 4 (Watsons East Triangle 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 — Keck Trail Site 4 (Watsons East Triangle Wild Forest)