Moose River Plains Campsite 52 (Moose River Plains Camping Area)
FREE roadside primitive camping. DEC-designated primitive ROADSIDE campsite ('Moose River Plains Campsite 52') in the Moose River Plains Camping Corridor, part of New York's Adirondack Forest Preserve, in the central Adirondacks between Inlet and Indian Lake, strung along the seasonal Moose River Plains Road -- the Towns of Webb and Ohio in Herkimer County and the Towns of Arietta, Inlet, Long Lake, Lake Pleasant and Morehouse in Hamilton County. This is the classic Adirondack free drive-up corridor: New York provides free primitive roadside campsites (the DEC place page states 116 primitive roadside campsites along the Limekiln Lake-Cedar River Road, Otter Brook Road, Rock Dam Road and short spur roads off of them, all free and first-come/first-served) at NO CHARGE (the DEC complex page lists the fee as 'Free'), first-come and cannot be reserved -- you pull off the Moose River Plains Road and camp at a numbered site. ACCESS IS SEASONAL AND GATED: these sites are reached only by the Moose River Plains Road (the Limekiln Lake-Cedar River Road), a gated dirt road running roughly 23 miles from the Limekiln Gate near Inlet in the west to the Wakely Dam Gate near Indian Lake in the east. That road is CLOSED outside the warmer months (winter and mud season), so the corridor is NOT drivable year-round -- confirm the CURRENT gate opening and closing dates with the DEC Northville office before you go. DON'T CONFUSE THESE FREE SITES WITH THE NEARBY PAID CAMPGROUNDS: the DEC-operated Limekiln Lake Campground (271 sites, near the Limekiln Gate at Inlet) and Eighth Lake Campground (126 sites) -- developed, reservable, fee-based public campgrounds are separate developed facilities that charge a fee and take reservations -- these numbered roadside sites are the free ones. Camping for more than 3 nights in one spot requires a FREE New York State Forest Ranger permit; a free New York State Forest Ranger permit is required for any stay of more than three nights at one spot, or for a group of ten or more (the DEC complex page states this verbatim; there is no stricter local threshold). Arrange any permit in advance through the DEC Region 5 Northville Office (Mon-Fri 7:30 AM-3:30 PM) at (518) 863-4545. Camp only at the marked site (look for the yellow 'Camp Here' disc), keep camp 150 feet from water unless the site is otherwise designated, and follow the posted Moose River Plains rules. These are primitive sites: no hookups, no potable water, pack out all trash, follow Leave No Trace and the DEC fire rules. Rules, site numbering and the road's gate dates change -- confirm with the DEC unit page (dec.ny.gov/places/moose-river-plains-complex) or the Region 5 Northville office before you go; we have not visited.
Everything you need — measured from Moose River Plains Campsite 52 (Moose River Plains Camping Area) · Moose River Plains Camping Area · NY
- FFuel7 mi
- GGrocery8 mi
- HHardware8 mi
- @Mail8 mi
- WWater8 mi
- LLaundry10 mi
- ShShower14 mi
- RxPharmacy15 mi
- DDump19 mi
- +Urgent care21 mi
- MMechanic22 mi
- EVEV fast charger22 mi
- OOutfitter23 mi
- AAir-up46 mi
The read: water's a short hop out, fuel & food sit about 7 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 — Moose River Plains Campsite 52 (Moose River Plains Camping Area)
Nearby & resupply — around Moose River Plains Campsite 52 (Moose River Plains Camping Area) · Moose River Plains Camping Area · NY (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureSumner Stream · ~0.1 mi · USGS: perennial stream
- Also mapped (OSM)Helldiver Pond (water) · mapped within 1.6 mi
- Nearest townSagamore · ~6.7 mi
- Rail & highwaynone mapped within 10 mi
- Drinking waterDrinking water · ~7.8 mi
- FuelFuel · ~7.2 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- Dump station~18.9 mi
- GroceriesKalil's Market · ~7.7 mi
- PharmacyKinney Drugs · ~15.0 mi
- HardwareAce Hardware - Old Forge Department Store · ~14.8 mi
EV charging — from Moose River Plains Campsite 52 (Moose River Plains Camping Area) · Moose River Plains Camping Area · NY — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger22.1 mi straight-line E — Indian Lake - Welcome Center · VIALYNK · CCS · 4 fast ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reach1 within 25 mi · 20 within 50 · 262 within 100 · 525 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)44.8 mi — Chestertown, NY - Tesla Supercharger, Chestertown
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO45.9 mi — Iroquois Travel Plaza, Little Falls
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)7.4 mi — SWTCH Energy Inc., Inlet, NY (at a parking lot) · SWTCH · J1772 · 2 Level 2 ports listed · listed open, no confirmation date on the record · 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 405740 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Moose River Plains Campsite 52 (Moose River Plains Camping Area) · Moose River Plains Camping Area · NY — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- No mapped restroom within 30 miles — plan to pack it out.
Coming out here — Moose River Plains Campsite 52 (Moose River Plains Camping Area) · Moose River Plains Camping Area · NY
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Sumner Stream as a perennial stream, ~0.1 mi from the pin (National Hydrography Dataset, data refreshed October 2022). Mapped as perennial is not the same as flowing today. Nobody has checked it for you. Filter or boil anything you drink.
- Ground slope around the pin: about 1.4% — flat. Measured on USGS's 3DEP elevation model (1 m data here), sampled every 10 metres around the point. That is the hillside, not the ground under your wheels — a graded pullout or a bench a few metres across is too small to show up at that spacing, and nobody has checked this one for you.
- No rail line and no interstate or US route is mapped within 10 mi of the pin. Checked against the FRA/BTS North American Rail Network (data updated Jul 21, 2026) and the Census's TIGER/Line primary roads (TIGER/Line 2025, released Oct 2025). Both are national files and both are maps of what is built, not counts of what moves on it.
- Power: Dave carries his own — batteries or solar. A generator will run your rig and it is also the thing everybody camped near you can hear.
- Getting online: Dave recommends Starlink. He has had it since SpaceX introduced it, used it for four years living on the road, and it delivers as promised — several hundred nights out, and he can count on one hand the places he could not connect. The cable on his unit runs 150 feet, which is usually all it takes to find enough sky. Starlink → Referral link — Starlink pays Dave $100 in cash if you sign up through it, and that money funds this site and the next trip. It costs you nothing and does not change the recommendation.
Open Moose River Plains Campsite 52 (Moose River Plains Camping Area) elsewhere
Other camps near Moose River Plains Campsite 52 (Moose River Plains Camping Area)
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Moose River Plains Campsite 53 (Moose River Plains Camping Area)~0.1 mi
- Moose River Plains Campsite 54 (Moose River Plains Camping Area)~0.1 mi
- Moose River Plains Campsite 55 (Moose River Plains Camping Area)~0.1 mi
- Moose River Plains Campsite 51 (Moose River Plains Camping Area)~0.4 mi
The unit that manages Moose River Plains Campsite 52 (Moose River Plains Camping Area)
Moose River Plains Campsite 52 is in Moose River Plains Camping Area, a camping area managed by NY DEC. Stay limits, permits, road closures and fire restrictions are set there, not at the campsite — check before you go. Its page maps every camp in it.
How we know this — Moose River Plains Campsite 52 (Moose River Plains Camping Area)
What we don’t know about Moose River Plains Campsite 52 (Moose River Plains Camping Area)
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
- Seasonal & winter access
- 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