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Lost Channel Campsite [DEC #15669] (Chazy Highlands Wild Forest)

Drive-up · New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation · NY · 44.56037, -74.00637

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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 drive-up style designated primitive campsite (Lost Channel) 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? — Lost Channel Campsite [DEC #15669] (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 2026-09-18; with JavaScript your browser re-checks it against today.

USGS topo — contours & terrain

USGS topographic map of Lost Channel Campsite [DEC #15669] (Chazy Highlands Wild Forest)

Aerial — USGS / NAIP

Aerial image of Lost Channel Campsite [DEC #15669] (Chazy Highlands Wild Forest)

Weather outlook — at Lost Channel Campsite [DEC #15669] (Chazy Highlands Wild Forest)

Loading the latest forecast…

Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 1,313 ft.

Fire & smoke — around Lost Channel Campsite [DEC #15669] (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 Lost Channel Campsite [DEC #15669] (Chazy Highlands Wild Forest) · New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation · NY

Straight-line miles · bearings approx · roads run longer

Nearest of each

@Mail8 mi
FFuel11 mi
GGrocery11 mi
+Urgent care14 mi
OOutfitter15 mi
WWater16 mi
DDump16 mi
ShShower16 mi
RxPharmacy17 mi
EVEV fast charger17 mi
HHardware17 mi
MMechanic17 mi
LLaundry24 mi

≤30 mi30–4545+water

The read: water's a short hop out, fuel & food sit about 11 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 — Lost Channel Campsite [DEC #15669] (Chazy Highlands Wild Forest)

Access

Drive-up

Land

New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation

Elevation

1,313 ft

State

Coordinates

44.56037, -74.00637

Cost

Free

Nearby & resupply — around Lost Channel Campsite [DEC #15669] (Chazy Highlands Wild Forest) · New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation · NY (OpenStreetMap)

Nearest townRedford · ~10.2 mi
Drinking waternone within 10 mi
FuelMobil · ~10.9 mi
Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
Dump station~16.1 mi
GroceriesMaplefields · ~10.9 mi
PharmacyKinney Drugs · ~16.6 mi
Hospital / clinicHospital · ~14.3 mi
HardwareAubuchon Hardware · ~17.0 mi

EV charging — from Lost Channel Campsite [DEC #15669] (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 charger16.7 mi straight-line SW — Upstate Auto, Saranac Lake, NY · VIALYNK · J1772, CCS · 2 fast ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily · directions
Public DC fast stations within reach10 within 25 mi · 61 within 50 · 123 within 100 · 341 within 150
Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)17.9 mi — Aldi TUL 46 Saranac Lake, Saranac Lake
Nearest listing CHAdeMO24.2 mi — ELLIS CHEVY ELLISDCFC, Malone
Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)14.6 mi — VIC AND CAMPUS SUGAR SHACK 1.2, Paul Smiths, 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 351665 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center

Nearby restrooms — around Lost Channel Campsite [DEC #15669] (Chazy Highlands Wild Forest) · New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation · NY — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)

Highway rest areaValcour · ~25.5 mi E

Open Lost Channel Campsite [DEC #15669] (Chazy Highlands Wild Forest) elsewhere

Google satellite →Gaia GPS →CalTopo →Back to the map →

Other camps near Lost Channel Campsite [DEC #15669] (Chazy Highlands Wild Forest)

If this one is full, gated or washed out.

How we know this — Lost Channel Campsite [DEC #15669] (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 15669, GIS NAME verbatim 'Lost Channel Campsite', ASSET='PRIMITIVE TENT SITE', PUBLICUSE='Y', ACCESSIBLE='N', FACILITY='Chazy Highlands Wild Forest'. DESCRIP=''; NOTES='Drive Up Style Primitive Campsite'. 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, whose DEC page confirms 'Fee: Free' and that camping is allowed unit-wide; the page's prose enumerates other (Barnes Pond / Chazy Lake) sites, not this one by name, and OSM maps none -> MED (unit-level free confirmed, site-specific page corroboration absent). LOCATION CORROBORATION: no OSM camp node mapped there; page + GIS carry existence. ELEVATION ~1313 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 Lost Channel Campsite [DEC #15669] (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 — Lost Channel Campsite [DEC #15669] (Chazy Highlands Wild Forest)

Water on public land →Cold-weather camping →Fire rules & restrictions →Picking a spot →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 →