Mud Lake Outlet Tent Site [DEC #22302] (Shaker Mountain Wild Forest)
FREE backcountry primitive camping at Mud Lake (at its outlet) in the Shaker Mountain Wild Forest of New York's southern ADIRONDACK Forest Preserve (DEC Region 5, in the Caroga / Bleecker / Arietta area of Fulton and Hamilton Counties). This is a DEC-designated primitive tent site ('Mud Lake Outlet Tent Site [DEC #22302]'), and New York provides it at NO CHARGE: the DEC Shaker Mountain Wild Forest page lists the fee as 'Free' and the unit as open year-round, first-come first-served (no reservations). It is on the Northville-Placid Trail near the outlet of Mud Lake -- a hike-in wild-forest tent site with a fire ring. COUNT DISCLOSURE: the DEC unit page enumerates six designated primitive tent sites on this wild forest -- two at Pine Lake and one each at Indian, Stewart, Holmes and Chase Lakes -- plus a Holmes Lake and a Chase Lake lean-to (a separate structure not listed here). DEC's mapping data returns seven 'Primitive Tent Site' points: those six lake sites plus a Mud Lake Outlet site on the Northville-Placid Trail that the unit page does not separately enumerate. This batch ships six (the three lake sites verified on their OpenStreetMap shorelines at high confidence, plus Stewart Lake, the first Pine Lake site, and the Mud Lake Outlet site at medium confidence) and HOLDS the second Pine Lake point, whose coordinate sits about half a mile from Pine Lake with no water body at the pin, pending a shoreline coordinate. No pins were invented. This is free, first-come Adirondack Forest Preserve backcountry camping in the Shaker Mountain Wild Forest -- do NOT confuse it with a reservable fee campground; the nearest fee campgrounds are the SEPARATE Caroga Lake Campground and Northampton Beach Campground, both miles away, and neither charges to reach these sites. SEASON / ACCESS: DEC lists Shaker Mountain Wild Forest as open YEAR-ROUND and free, but every site here is reached on foot along a hiking trail -- trails can be wet, muddy, snow-covered or blowdown-blocked, so confirm current trail and site conditions with the DEC Region 5 Northville office (518-863-4545) or the unit page before you go, especially in winter or mud season. RULES: no reservation and no fee; camp only at a designated site (look for the round yellow DEC 'Camp Here' disc) or, elsewhere in the wild forest, more than 150 feet from any road, trail or water; 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 5 Office in Northville at (518) 863-4545 (Forest Rangers via 911 or DEC dispatch 1-833-NYS-RANGERS)). This site is around 1320 feet elevation, well below any Adirondack high-elevation camping restriction. These are primitive sites: expect at most a fire ring -- 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, trail status and this site's status on the DEC page (dec.ny.gov/places/shaker-mountain-wild-forest) or with the Northville office (518-863-4545) before you go; we have not visited.
![USGS topographic map of Mud Lake Outlet Tent Site [DEC #22302] (Shaker Mountain Wild Forest)](img/mud-lake-outlet-tent-site-dec-22302-shaker-mount-ny-43214n74247w-topo.png)
![Aerial image of Mud Lake Outlet Tent Site [DEC #22302] (Shaker Mountain Wild Forest)](img/mud-lake-outlet-tent-site-dec-22302-shaker-mount-ny-43214n74247w-aerial.jpg)
Everything you need — measured from Mud Lake Outlet Tent Site [DEC #22302] (Shaker Mountain Wild Forest) · Shaker Mountain Wild Forest · NY
- FFuel3 mi
- GGrocery3 mi
- MMechanic3 mi
- @Mail4 mi
- RxPharmacy4 mi
- HHardware4 mi
- LLaundry4 mi
- OOutfitter8 mi
- +Urgent care11 mi
- AAir-up12 mi
- DDump13 mi
- EVEV fast charger15 mi
- ShShower21 mi
- WWater21 mi
The read: water is a real 21-mi drive, 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 — Mud Lake Outlet Tent Site [DEC #22302] (Shaker Mountain Wild Forest)
Nearby & resupply — around Mud Lake Outlet Tent Site [DEC #22302] (Shaker Mountain Wild Forest) · Shaker Mountain Wild Forest · NY (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureMud Lake · ~0.7 mi · USGS: perennial lake or pond
- Drinking waternone within 10 mi
- FuelValero · ~2.9 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- Dump station~12.8 mi
- GroceriesGrocery · ~2.9 mi
- PharmacyWalgreens · ~3.9 mi
- Hospital / clinicDialysis Clinic · ~10.7 mi
- HardwareAllen & Palmer True Value · ~3.9 mi
- Rail & highwaynone mapped within 10 mi
EV charging — from Mud Lake Outlet Tent Site [DEC #22302] (Shaker Mountain Wild Forest) · Shaker Mountain Wild Forest · NY — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger14.7 mi straight-line SW — Aldi Johnstown TUL 110 (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 reach9 within 25 mi · 103 within 50 · 282 within 100 · 843 within 150
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO29.2 mi — GMG DCFC FORT EDWARD #1, Fort Edward
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)3.9 mi — Timeless Tavern, Northville, NY (at a parking lot) · Non-Networked · J1772 · 2 Level 2 ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2024-08-15 · 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 451463 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Mud Lake Outlet Tent Site [DEC #22302] (Shaker Mountain Wild Forest) · Shaker Mountain Wild Forest · NY — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Highway rest areaParking/Rest Area · ~20.1 mi S
- Highway rest areaParking/Rest Area · ~20.2 mi S
- Highway rest areaMohawk Travel Plaza · ~21.2 mi S
- Highway rest areaPattersonville Travel Plaza · ~23.2 mi S
Coming out here — Mud Lake Outlet Tent Site [DEC #22302] (Shaker Mountain Wild Forest) · Shaker Mountain Wild Forest · NY
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Mud Lake as a perennial lake or pond, ~0.7 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 9.1% — noticeable. 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 Mud Lake Outlet Tent Site [DEC #22302] (Shaker Mountain Wild Forest) elsewhere
Other camps near Mud Lake Outlet Tent Site [DEC #22302] (Shaker Mountain Wild Forest)
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Woods Lake Campsite #2 (Silver Lake Wilderness)~4.1 mi
- Woods Lake Campsite #1 (Silver Lake Wilderness)~4.1 mi
- Woods Lake Campsite #3 (Silver Lake Wilderness)~4.2 mi
- Woods Lake Campsite #4 (Silver Lake Wilderness)~4.4 mi
The unit that manages Mud Lake Outlet Tent Site [DEC #22302] (Shaker Mountain Wild Forest)
Mud Lake Outlet Tent Site [DEC #22302] is in Shaker Mountain 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 — Mud Lake Outlet Tent Site [DEC #22302] (Shaker Mountain Wild Forest)
What we don’t know about Mud Lake Outlet Tent Site [DEC #22302] (Shaker Mountain 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