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Owen Pond Campsite [DEC #4785] (Sentinel Range Wilderness)

Drive-up · New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation · NY · 44.32316, -73.90139
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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 first-come primitive camping at the Owen Pond Campsite, one of the four DEC-designated primitive tent sites in the Sentinel Range Wilderness (Essex County, northern Adirondacks between Lake Placid and Wilmington, DEC Region 5). New York provides it at NO CHARGE: the DEC Sentinel Range Wilderness page lists the unit as 'Free' and open year-round, and states 'There are four designated primitive tent sites and one lean-to,' with one tent site on Owens Pond, two on Copperas Pond, and one off the Jackrabbit Ski Trail. This is the designated tent site on the shore of Owen Pond (the DEC page spells it 'Owens Pond'), reached from the Owen Pond trailhead on NY 86. Treat any water you take from the pond. These are FREE, first-come, designated sites -- no reservation, no fee, no facilities (no hookups, no showers, no potable water); this is NOT the developed Wilmington Notch Campground (a separate DEC fee campground about 2.3 miles away on NY 86). Camp only on the designated/hardened site (look for a round yellow DEC 'Camp Here' disc). 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 Ray Brook office at (518) 897-1200 (Forest Rangers via 911 or 1-833-NYS-RANGERS / 1-833-697-7264)). Bring water or treat what you take, 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 Adirondack access and conditions vary by season -- confirm current conditions and this specific site's status on the DEC page (dec.ny.gov/places/sentinel-range-wilderness) or with the DEC Region 5 office (518-897-1200) before you go; we have not visited.

Can I go now? — Owen Pond Campsite [DEC #4785] (Sentinel Range Wilderness) · 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 2026-09-17; with JavaScript your browser re-checks it against today.
USGS topo — contours & terrain
USGS topographic map of Owen Pond Campsite [DEC #4785] (Sentinel Range Wilderness)
Aerial — USGS / NAIP
Aerial image of Owen Pond Campsite [DEC #4785] (Sentinel Range Wilderness)
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Weather outlook — at Owen Pond Campsite [DEC #4785] (Sentinel Range Wilderness)
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 1,726 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Owen Pond Campsite [DEC #4785] (Sentinel Range Wilderness)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 Owen Pond Campsite [DEC #4785] (Sentinel Range Wilderness) · New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation · NY

15 MI30 MI60 MIYOUR CAMPN ↑Water · 3 miWDump · 3 miDSunoco · Fuel · 5 miFStewart's Shops · Grocery · 5 miGWalgreens · Pharmacy · 5 miRxAubuchon Hardware · Hardware · 5 miHMobil Service · Mechanic · 5 miMLaundry · 26 miLShower · 3 miShLake Placid Health and Medical Fitness Center · Urgent care · 6 mi+Outfitter · 4 miOUnited States Postal Service · Mail · 5 mi@GRANDVIEW HOTEL OLYMPIC 01 · EV fast charger · 5 miEV
Straight-line miles · bearings approx · roads run longer
Nearest of each
  • WWater3 mi
  • ShShower3 mi
  • DDump3 mi
  • OOutfitter4 mi
  • @Mail5 mi
  • FFuel5 mi
  • GGrocery5 mi
  • MMechanic5 mi
  • EVEV fast charger5 mi
  • RxPharmacy5 mi
  • HHardware5 mi
  • +Urgent care6 mi
  • LLaundry26 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water

The read: water is basically at camp, fuel & food sit about 5 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 — Owen Pond Campsite [DEC #4785] (Sentinel Range Wilderness)

Access
Drive-up
Land
New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation
Elevation
1,726 ft
State
NY
Coordinates
44.32316, -73.90139
Cost
Free

Nearby & resupply — around Owen Pond Campsite [DEC #4785] (Sentinel Range Wilderness) · New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation · NY (OpenStreetMap)

  • Nearest townLake Placid · ~5.0 mi
  • Drinking waterWater · ~2.7 mi
  • FuelMobil · ~4.9 mi
  • Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
  • Dump station~2.9 mi
  • GroceriesStewart's Shops · ~4.9 mi
  • PharmacyWalgreens · ~5.1 mi
  • Hospital / clinicLake Placid Health and Medical Fitness Center · ~5.7 mi
  • HardwareAubuchon Hardware · ~5.4 mi

EV charging — from Owen Pond Campsite [DEC #4785] (Sentinel Range Wilderness) · New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation · NY — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)

Nearby restrooms — around Owen Pond Campsite [DEC #4785] (Sentinel Range Wilderness) · New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation · NY — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)

Open Owen Pond Campsite [DEC #4785] (Sentinel Range Wilderness) elsewhere

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Other camps near Owen Pond Campsite [DEC #4785] (Sentinel Range Wilderness)

If this one is full, gated or washed out.

How we know this — Owen Pond Campsite [DEC #4785] (Sentinel Range Wilderness)

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
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 4785, NAME verbatim 'Owen Pond Campsite', ASSET='PRIMITIVE TENT SITE', PUBLICUSE='Y', ACCESSIBLE='N', FACILITY='Sentinel Range Wilderness', DEC Region 5. DESCRIP=''; NOTES=''. 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/sentinel-range-wilderness (Sentinel Range Wilderness, read 2026-07-25): 'Fee: Free', open year-round, Essex County, DEC Region 5 (518) 897-1200. CONFIDENCE (HIGH): the page enumerates exactly -- 'There are four designated primitive tent sites and one lean-to', 'one ... on the shore of Owens Pond and two ... on the shore of Copperas Pond ... A designated tent site is also located off the Jackrabbit Ski Trail' -- count 4 = GIS 4 and the per-location split (Owen 1 / Copperas 2 / Jackrabbit 1) matches the GIS points location-for-location, 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 108 feet from Owen Pond; LOCATION: on the Owen/Owens Pond shore (the page's 'one designated tent site ... on the shore of Owens Pond'). ELEVATION ~1726 ft (USGS EPQS, 2026-07-25) -- Sentinel Range is NOT the High Peaks Wilderness; far below the Adirondack 4,000-ft camping restriction, no elevation kills. PAID-NEIGHBOUR (guardrail 2): the DEC Wilmington Notch Campground is a separate developed FEE campground on NY 86, OSM-measured 2.28 mi away -- not adjacent, not required for access; the sites are reached free from the Copperas Pond / Owen Pond trailheads (or the Jackrabbit Ski Trail for Barkeater Cliffs), no parking/day-use/permit fee. LEGALITY (guardrail 1): DEC-designated, publicly-usable tent 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.
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 Owen Pond Campsite [DEC #4785] (Sentinel Range Wilderness)

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.

Before you go — Owen Pond Campsite [DEC #4785] (Sentinel Range Wilderness)

Camping near a reservoir →Cold-weather camping →Fire rules & restrictions →Dispersed camping tips →All field notes →
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