Moss Lake Campsite #3 (Fulton Chain Wild Forest)
FREE primitive camping in the Fulton Chain Wild Forest, part of New York's Adirondack Forest Preserve -- Herkimer County (DEC Region 6), in the Old Forge / Inlet lakes country. This is a DEC-designated primitive tent site ('Moss Lake Campsite #3') on Moss Lake, and New York provides it at NO CHARGE: the DEC page lists the fee as 'Free' and the unit is open year-round. PADDLE/BOAT ACCESS: DEC marks this a boat-access site on Moss Lake (~55 ft from the shoreline); the easiest approach is by canoe or kayak across the lake. It is roughly 1175 feet from the nearest road through the woods. DEC's own note on this site: "Boat or beach access (herd path from Campsite 2 privy)". Do NOT confuse this free site with the nearby DEVELOPED, FEE state campgrounds -- Nicks Lake, Alger Island (a paid island-tent campground on Fourth Lake) and Limekiln Lake -- which charge a nightly fee and are separate facilities; this Wild Forest site is free. 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 Herkimer Office at 315-866-6330). DEC's page prints no other night limit for this unit, so plan around that statewide 3-night default and confirm on site. This is a primitive site: expect a fire ring and, at most of the Moss Lake sites, a nearby pit privy -- no hookups, no showers and no potable water, so bring water or treat what you take from the lake. 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/fulton-chain-wild-forest) or with the Herkimer office (315-866-6330) before you go; we have not visited.
Everything you need — measured from Moss Lake Campsite #3 (Fulton Chain Wild Forest) · Fulton Chain Wild Forest · NY
- LLaundry2 mi
- @Mail2 mi
- WWater3 mi
- GGrocery3 mi
- HHardware3 mi
- FFuel4 mi
- RxPharmacy9 mi
- OOutfitter12 mi
- ShShower23 mi
- DDump24 mi
- +Urgent care25 mi
- MMechanic28 mi
- EVEV fast charger29 mi
- AAir-up50 mi
The read: water is basically at camp, fuel & food sit about 3 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 — Moss Lake Campsite #3 (Fulton Chain Wild Forest)
Nearby & resupply — around Moss Lake Campsite #3 (Fulton Chain Wild Forest) · Fulton Chain Wild Forest · NY (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureMoss Lake · under 0.1 mi · USGS: perennial lake or pond
- Also mapped (OSM)Bubb Lake (water) · mapped within 1.6 mi
- Nearest townEagle Bay · ~1.7 mi
- Nearest rail line~3.6 mi · main line
- Nearest highwayno interstate or US route within 10 mi
- Drinking waterDrinking water · ~3.3 mi
- FuelFuel · ~3.9 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- Dump station~23.5 mi
- GroceriesKalil's Market · ~3.4 mi
- PharmacyKinney Drugs · ~8.6 mi
- Hospital / clinicClifton Fine Hospital · ~28.1 mi
- HardwareAce Hardware - Old Forge Department Store · ~8.2 mi
EV charging — from Moss Lake Campsite #3 (Fulton Chain Wild Forest) · Fulton Chain Wild Forest · NY — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger29.0 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 reachnone within 25 mi · 5 within 50 · 247 within 100 · 494 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)40.9 mi — Aldi Carthage TUL 27, West Carthage
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO51.3 mi — IONIQ L3 #1, Yorkville
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)1.8 mi — Eagle Bay Visitor Center (at a rest stop) · SWTCH · J1772 · 2 Level 2 ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2023-05-03 · 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 Moss Lake Campsite #3 (Fulton Chain Wild Forest) · Fulton Chain Wild Forest · NY — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- No mapped restroom within 30 miles — plan to pack it out.
Coming out here — Moss Lake Campsite #3 (Fulton Chain Wild Forest) · Fulton Chain Wild Forest · NY
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Moss Lake as a perennial lake or pond, under 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 22.3% — steep. 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.
- Rail line mapped ~3.6 mi from the pin — the national rail atlas classes it as a main line. The atlas also records tourist, museum or scenic passenger service on it. That is the FRA/BTS North American Rail Network (data updated Jul 21, 2026), which records that a line is there and what class of track it is. Whether anything runs on it, how often, and at what hour, it does not say, and nobody has checked this one for you.
- No interstate or US route is mapped within 10 mi of the pin in the Census's TIGER/Line primary roads (TIGER/Line 2025, released Oct 2025). That file holds the divided, limited-access highways only — a state expressway or a two-lane US route near this camp would not be in 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 Moss Lake Campsite #3 (Fulton Chain Wild Forest) elsewhere
Other camps near Moss Lake Campsite #3 (Fulton Chain Wild Forest)
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Moss Lake Campsite #2 (Fulton Chain Wild Forest)~0.2 mi
- Moss Lake Campsite #1 (Fulton Chain Wild Forest)~0.2 mi
- Moss Lake Campsite #4 (Fulton Chain Wild Forest)~0.3 mi
- Moss Lake Campsite #8 Ada Accessible (Fulton Chain Wild Forest)~0.4 mi
The unit that manages Moss Lake Campsite #3 (Fulton Chain Wild Forest)
Moss Lake Campsite #3 is in Fulton Chain Wild Forest, a wild forest 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 — Moss Lake Campsite #3 (Fulton Chain Wild Forest)
What we don’t know about Moss Lake Campsite #3 (Fulton Chain 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