Found · unverifiedNY DECFree

Pikes Beach Campsite 4 (Lake George Wild Forest)

Drive-up · New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation · NY · 43.34634, -73.86311

We haven't personally camped here. Everything below is pulled from public land data, USGS maps and OpenStreetMap — a real place on New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation land, but not field-checked by us. Confirm road conditions, current access, stay limits and fire restrictions before you go.

FREE backcountry primitive camping. DEC-designated primitive tent site ('Pikes Beach Campsite 4') in the Lake George Wild Forest, part of New York's Adirondack Forest Preserve, in the southeastern Adirondacks around Lake George and the upper Hudson River -- the Towns of Bolton, Chester, Hague, Horicon, Lake George, Lake Luzerne, Queensbury and Warrensburg in Warren County, the Towns of Dresden, Fort Ann and Putnam in Washington County, and the Towns of Ticonderoga and Schroon in Essex County. New York's Forest Preserve allows backcountry camping at these designated sites at NO CHARGE (the DEC unit page lists the fee as 'Free' -- 63 designated tent sites free for overnight use), first-come/first-served -- these backcountry sites cannot be reserved. NOTE ON ACCESS: this unit is a MIX -- some sites are drive-up along the Hudson River road corridor (Buttermilk, Gay Pond, Bear Slide and River Roads), some are short hikes in the Shelving Rock area on Lake George's eastern shore, and many are hike-in sites on small backcountry ponds. THIS particular site is a backcountry site most likely reached ON FOOT by trail -- confirm THIS site's trailhead, route and distance on the DEC unit page / DECinfo Locator. DON'T CONFUSE THESE FREE SITES WITH THE PAID LAKE GEORGE ISLANDS: the Lake George Islands Campgrounds & Day Use Areas -- the Glen Island, Long Island and Narrow Island groups of reservable, fee-based island tent sites reached by boat are separate developed facilities that charge a fee and take reservations -- these designated Wild-Forest 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 unit page sets no stricter local group threshold). Arrange any permit in advance through the DEC Region 5 Warrensburg Office (Mon-Fri 8:30 AM-4:45 PM) at (518) 623-1200 -- they name the local Forest Ranger for the permit. Camp only at the marked site (look for the yellow 'Camp Here' disc), and keep camp 150 feet from water, roads and trails unless the site is otherwise designated. This is a primitive site: no hookups, no potable water, pack out all trash, follow Leave No Trace and the DEC fire rules. Rules and site status change -- confirm with the DEC unit page (dec.ny.gov/places/lake-george-wild-forest) or the Region 5 Warrensburg office before you go; we have not visited.

USGS topo — contours & terrain

USGS topographic map of Pikes Beach Campsite 4 (Lake George Wild Forest)

Aerial — USGS / NAIP

Aerial image of Pikes Beach Campsite 4 (Lake George Wild Forest)

Weather outlook

Loading the latest forecast…

Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 589 ft.

Fire & smokeNIFC · 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 camp

Straight-line miles · bearings approx · roads run longer

Nearest of each

@Mail2 mi
GGrocery2 mi
RxPharmacy2 mi
MMechanic2 mi
FFuel3 mi
HHardware7 mi
OOutfitter8 mi
+Urgent care9 mi
DDump11 mi
LLaundry11 mi
ShShower11 mi
AAir-up12 mi
WWater23 mi

≤30 mi30–4545+water

The read: water is a real 23-mi drive, fuel & food sit about 2 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). Open in Google Maps ↗

The site

Access

Drive-up

Land

New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation

Elevation

589 ft

State

Coordinates

43.34634, -73.86311

Cost

Free

Nearby & resupply (OpenStreetMap)

Water featureHudson River (river) · nearby
Nearest townFourth Lake · ~1.8 mi
Drinking waternone within 10 mi
FuelFuel · ~2.7 mi
Propane / LPGPropane · ~12.4 mi
Dump stationDump station · ~11.0 mi
GroceriesLuzerne Market · ~2.3 mi
PharmacyWalgreens · ~8.9 mi
Hospital / clinicWellNow Urgent Care · ~9.3 mi
HardwareCurtis Lumber Co., Inc. · ~9.8 mi

Nearby restrooms — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)

Highway rest areaGlens Falls (South) · ~10.6 mi SE
Highway rest areaAdirondacks Welcome Center · ~10.8 mi SE
RestroomComfort Station at Saratoga Monument · ~21.8 mi SE · NPS
RestroomRestrooms, Schuyler House · ~22.4 mi SE · NPS

Open this spot elsewhere

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

Other camps nearby

If this one is full, gated or washed out.

How we know this

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 3034, ASSET='PRIMITIVE TENT SITE', PUBLICUSE='Y', FACILITY='Lake George Wild Forest'; coordinate is DEC's own point geometry (WGS84), pulled 2026-07-23 via the layer's /find endpoint (the /query path is WAF-blocked). FREE confirmed by DEC's own place page (dec.ny.gov/places/lake-george-wild-forest, read 2026-07-23): Fee='Free', 63 designated primitive tent sites and 8 lean-tos free for overnight use, first-come/first-served; and DEC State Land Camping Rules (dec.ny.gov/things-to-do/camping/state-land-rules): backcountry/primitive camping allowed on Adirondack Forest Preserve Wild Forest, a free permit only for >3 nights or groups of 10+, arranged via the DEC Region 5 Warrensburg Office (Mon-Fri 8:30 AM-4:45 PM) at (518) 623-1200 -- they name the local Forest Ranger for the permit. PAID-CAMPGROUND TRAP CLEARED: all 59 GIS records carry FACILITY='Lake George Wild Forest' -- the fee-based the Lake George Islands Campgrounds & Day Use Areas -- the Glen Island, Long Island and Narrow Island groups of reservable, fee-based island tent sites reached by boat are a separate DEC FACILITY and return 0 records here. COUNT: the GIS /find returns 59 records (59 distinct ASSET_UIDs); UID 15727 'Palmer Pond' sits at the identical coordinate as UID 668 'Palmer Pond Tent Site 1' and is collapsed as an exact-coordinate duplicate, leaving 58 distinct sites. The page states 63, so the GIS is an incomplete subset (all ingest, none held, no pin invented). Ingest 2026-07-23.

Field check

Not verified on the ground. Nobody from here has camped it. It stays at Researched until someone does.

What we don’t know

A land record can put you within a few metres 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

Before you go

Your first dispersed night →Fire rules & restrictions →Getting unstuck →Power off-grid →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 →