American Adventurer
Found · unverifiedNY DECFree

Lillypad Pond Campsite [DEC #1900] (White Hill Wild Forest)

Drive-up · public land · NY · 44.53248, -74.76255
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 camping at the Lillypad Pond Campsite, a DEC-designated site in the White Hill Wild Forest (St. Lawrence County, northern Adirondacks, part of DEC's Raquette Boreal Complex, Region 6). New York provides it at NO CHARGE: the DEC page lists the unit as 'Free' and open year-round, and states 'There are six designated primitive tent sites and two designated campsites,' with designated sites marked by a yellow 'Camp Here' disc. This is the single designated site on the shore of Lilypad Pond (the DEC GIS spells it 'Lillypad'), a remote pond reached by trail/paddle. Treat any water you take from the pond. These are FREE, first-come, designated sites -- no reservation, no fee, and no facilities (no hookups, no showers, no potable water), though DEC/SCA installed privies at several of them. 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 Potsdam office at (315) 265-3090 (Forest Rangers via 911 or 1-833-NYS-RANGERS / 1-833-697-7264)). Bring water or treat what you take from the pond, 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 northern-Adirondack access and conditions vary by season -- confirm current conditions and this specific site's status on the DEC page (dec.ny.gov/places/raquette-boreal-complex) or with the DEC Region 6 office (315-265-3090) before you go; we have not visited.

USGS topo — contours & terrain
USGS topographic map of Lillypad Pond Campsite [DEC #1900] (White Hill Wild Forest)
Aerial — USGS / NAIP
Aerial image of Lillypad Pond Campsite [DEC #1900] (White Hill Wild Forest)
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Weather outlook
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at the elevation shown above.
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 · 23 miWDump · 8 miDKunnoco · Fuel · 9 miFThe Country Store · Grocery · 12 miGHarris Medical · Pharmacy · 15 miRxEvans and Whites · Hardware · 14 miHMartin's · Mechanic · 15 miMPotsdam Laundry & Dry cleaners · Laundry · 15 miLShower · 7 miShSt. Lawrence Health Urgent Care · Urgent care · 14 mi+Raquette River Outfitters · Outfitter · 27 miOMail · 6 mi@
Straight-line miles · bearings approx · roads run longer
Nearest of each
  • @Mail6 mi
  • ShShower7 mi
  • DDump8 mi
  • FFuel9 mi
  • GGrocery12 mi
  • +Urgent care14 mi
  • HHardware14 mi
  • RxPharmacy15 mi
  • LLaundry15 mi
  • MMechanic15 mi
  • WWater23 mi
  • OOutfitter27 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water

The read: water is a real 23-mi drive, fuel & food sit about 9 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
State
NY
Coordinates
44.53248, -74.76255
Cost
Free

Nearby & resupply (OpenStreetMap)

  • Water featureLilypad Pond (water) · nearby
  • Nearest townStark · ~5.8 mi
  • Drinking waternone within 10 mi
  • FuelFuel · ~8.6 mi
  • Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
  • Dump stationDump station · ~7.9 mi
  • GroceriesPotsdam Food Co-op · ~14.4 mi
  • PharmacyHarris Medical · ~14.6 mi
  • Hospital / clinicSt. Lawrence Health Urgent Care · ~14.3 mi
  • HardwareEvans and Whites · ~14.5 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 1900, NAME verbatim 'Lillypad Pond Campsite', ASSET='PRIMITIVE TENT SITE', PUBLICUSE='Y', ACCESSIBLE='N', FACILITY='White Hill Wild Forest', DEC Region 6. DESCRIP=''; NOTES='Privy Installed by SCA summer 2024'. Coordinate is DEC's own point geometry (WGS84), pulled 2026-07-25 via the layer's /query endpoint (outSR=4326). FREE + COUNT confirmed on dec.ny.gov/places/raquette-boreal-complex (Raquette Boreal Complex (White Hill Wild Forest), read 2026-07-25): 'Fee: Free', open year-round (most properties), St. Lawrence County, DEC Region 6 Potsdam (315) 265-3090; the page states 'There are six designated primitive tent sites and two designated campsites', 'Clear Pond has four designated tent sites and one campsite', 'Long Pond has a designated tent site', 'Lilypad Pond has a designated tent site', and that designated sites are marked with a yellow 'Camp Here' disc. CONFIDENCE (HIGH): the page enumerates exactly ONE designated site on this pond and GIS has exactly one here, so this designated site is individually certifiable (Crystal Lake enumeration basis). IDENTITY/LOCATION CORROBORATION (OSM `out geom`, overpass.kumi.systems, 2026-07-25): this point is about 59 feet from OSM 'Lilypad Pond'. LOCATION: on the Lilypad Pond shore. HIGH: page enumerates exactly one designated site on Lilypad Pond = GIS 1, OSM 'Lilypad Pond' 59 ft -- clean 1:1. ELEVATION ~1478 ft (USGS EPQS, 2026-07-25) -- low northern-Adirondack elevation, no elevation restriction applies. PAID-NEIGHBOUR (guardrail 2): no fee campground found near this remote unit; Clear Pond even has a free ADA hand launch; no access/day-use/permit fee. LEGALITY (guardrail 1): DEC-designated, publicly-usable site, first-come, no-reservation. Plus DEC State Land Camping Rules (dec.ny.gov/things-to-do/camping/state-land-rules): free Forest Ranger permit only 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 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 →