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Primitive Campsite [DEC #16154] (Hunter-West Kill Wilderness)

Drive-up · New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation · NY · 42.16845, -74.25743

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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.

HIKE-IN backcountry site: this is a FREE, first-come DEC-designated primitive tent site in the 19,250-acre Hunter-West Kill Wilderness, a high Catskill Forest Preserve ridge (Towns of Lexington/Hunter/Shandaken, Greene & Ulster Counties, DEC Region 4). This site (Primitive Campsite) sits near Diamond Notch on the Diamond Notch Trail (about a mile from Diamond Notch Falls), in the southwestern part of the wilderness, at about 2,676 feet -- well below the Catskill high-elevation limit, so it has no seasonal closure. New York provides it at NO CHARGE: the DEC page lists the wilderness as 'Fee: Free' and open year-round, and says primitive camping is allowed. It is a backcountry tent site (no potable water, no hookups, no privy guaranteed -- bring or treat all water); the nearby Diamond Notch Lean-To is a separate free first-come shelter. RULES: camp only at the designated site or 150+ feet from any road, trail or water; a free Forest Ranger permit is required only for stays over 3 nights or groups of 10 or more; pack out all trash, follow Leave No Trace and DEC fire rules, and store food from bears. IMPORTANT CATSKILL RULE: camping is PROHIBITED above 3,500 feet elevation between March 21 and December 21 -- this site is below that, but several other DEC tent points on this ridge sit right at the 3,500-ft line and are off-limits most of the year, so mind your elevation. Rules and site status can change -- confirm current conditions on the DEC page (dec.ny.gov/places/hunter-west-kill-wilderness) or with the DEC Region 4 Stamford Office (M-F 8:30 AM-4:30 PM) at (607) 652-7365; Forest Rangers via 1-833-NYS-RANGERS / 1-833-697-7264 or 911 before you go; we have not visited.

Can I go now? — Primitive Campsite [DEC #16154] (Hunter-West Kill 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 2026-09-18; with JavaScript your browser re-checks it against today.

USGS topo — contours & terrain

USGS topographic map of Primitive Campsite [DEC #16154] (Hunter-West Kill Wilderness)

Aerial — USGS / NAIP

Aerial image of Primitive Campsite [DEC #16154] (Hunter-West Kill Wilderness)

Weather outlook — at Primitive Campsite [DEC #16154] (Hunter-West Kill Wilderness)

Loading the latest forecast…

Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 2,676 ft.

Fire & smoke — around Primitive Campsite [DEC #16154] (Hunter-West Kill 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 Primitive Campsite [DEC #16154] (Hunter-West Kill Wilderness) · New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation · NY

Straight-line miles · bearings approx · roads run longer

Nearest of each

WWater3 mi
@Mail3 mi
MMechanic4 mi
FFuel4 mi
HHardware4 mi
GGrocery4 mi
AAir-up6 mi
+Urgent care6 mi
RxPharmacy7 mi
LLaundry7 mi
OOutfitter7 mi
EVEV fast charger7 mi
ShShower10 mi
DDump11 mi

≤30 mi30–4545+water

The read: water is basically at camp, fuel & food sit about 4 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 — Primitive Campsite [DEC #16154] (Hunter-West Kill Wilderness)

Access

Drive-up

Land

New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation

Elevation

2,676 ft

State

Coordinates

42.16845, -74.25743

Cost

Free

Nearby & resupply — around Primitive Campsite [DEC #16154] (Hunter-West Kill Wilderness) · New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation · NY (OpenStreetMap)

Nearest townHunter · ~3.6 mi
Drinking waterWater · ~2.8 mi
FuelValero · ~3.7 mi
Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
Dump station~10.6 mi
GroceriesHunter Country Store · ~3.8 mi
PharmacyWellness Rx · ~6.6 mi
Hospital / clinicMedical Associates of the Hudson Valley · ~6.5 mi
HardwareVillage Hardware · ~3.7 mi

EV charging — from Primitive Campsite [DEC #16154] (Hunter-West Kill Wilderness) · New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation · NY — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)

Nearest public DC fast charger6.7 mi straight-line E — Thorpe's GMC, TANNERSVILLE, NY · EV Connect · CCS · 1 fast port listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily · directions
Public DC fast stations within reach27 within 25 mi · 126 within 50 · 705 within 100 · 1472 within 150
Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)15.9 mi — Malden Service Plaza, Malden-on-Hudson
Nearest listing CHAdeMO18.6 mi — NYC FLEET DEP_ARKVLE_1_L3, Arkville
Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)3.3 mi — Kaatskill Mountain Club, Hunter, NY (at an apartment building) · QUICKCHARGE · J1772 · 4 Level 2 ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-08-11 · 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 254289 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center

Nearby restrooms — around Primitive Campsite [DEC #16154] (Hunter-West Kill Wilderness) · New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation · NY — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)

Highway rest areaParking/Rest Area · ~15.9 mi E
Highway rest areaMalden Travel Plaza · ~16.0 mi E
Highway rest areaParking/Rest Area · ~16.1 mi SE
Highway rest areaUlster Travel Plaza · ~16.9 mi SE

Coming out here — Primitive Campsite [DEC #16154] (Hunter-West Kill Wilderness) · New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation · NY

No surface water within about a mile and a half in our records — which is not proof there is none, only that we found none. Plan to carry washing water as well as drinking water.
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 Primitive Campsite [DEC #16154] (Hunter-West Kill Wilderness) elsewhere

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Other camps near Primitive Campsite [DEC #16154] (Hunter-West Kill Wilderness)

If this one is full, gated or washed out.

How we know this — Primitive Campsite [DEC #16154] (Hunter-West Kill Wilderness)

Open season

Year-round

Source

NY Dept. of Environmental Conservation

Confidence

Likely — The record is good enough to put a pin on, but thin in places. Treat the details as a starting point, not gospel.

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 16154, GIS NAME verbatim 'Primitive Campsite', ASSET='PRIMITIVE TENT SITE', PUBLICUSE='Y', ACCESSIBLE='N', FACILITY='Hunter-West Kill Wilderness', DEC Region 4, WMU 3A. DESCRIP=''; NOTES=''. Coordinate is DEC's own point geometry (WGS84), pulled 2026-07-26 via the layer's /query endpoint (outSR=4326, one paced curl -- the DEC GIS host rate-blocks bursts). FREE + year-round confirmed on the DEC page dec.ny.gov/places/hunter-west-kill-wilderness (Hunter-West Kill Wilderness, read 2026-07-26): 'Fee: Free', 'Open for recreation: Year-round'. The page states 'primitive camping is allowed. Campsites must be at least 150 feet away from the nearest road, trail, or body of water,' and enumerates the unit's three lean-tos (Diamond Notch, Devil's Acre, John Robb) but does NOT individually count/locate the primitive tent sites. CONFIDENCE (MED): the DEC page confirms primitive camping is allowed in this Forest Preserve wilderness and this is a DEC-designated 'primitive tent site' GIS asset with its own point geometry, corroborated by the OSM Diamond Notch Lean-To 422 ft away; but the page enumerates only the unit's three lean-tos, not the individual tent sites, so the specific site is not page-enumerated -- MED, not HIGH. LOCATION CORROBORATION: OSM node 2955316647 shelter_type=lean_to 'Diamond Notch Lean-To' 422 ft away (Overpass, maps.mail.ru mirror, 2026-07-26; overpass-api.de/kumi/private.coffee returned 406/000 this fire). ELEVATION ~2676 ft (USGS EPQS, 2026-07-26) -- 824 ft below the 3,500-ft Catskill high-elevation camping ban (the page: 'Camping is prohibited above an elevation of 3,500 feet in the Catskills, between March 21 and December 21'), so no seasonal restriction here. ELEVATION KILLS (same GIS facility, NOT ingested): sibling cluster [16158] 3,488 ft, [16159] 3,477 ft, [16160] 3,504 ft (~1.66 mi NE, a ~100-ft-wide knot by the John Robb Lean-To) sits ON the 3,500-ft ban line -- one reads over, the others within DEM noise -- so it cannot be honestly listed as free year-round camping and was killed. ACCESS/FEE (guardrail 2): Forest Preserve wilderness (19,250 ac), free trailheads (Diamond Notch Rd / Spruceton Rd), no entry/day-use fee; Overpass sweep found no fee campground nearby (only the three free lean-tos). LEGALITY (guardrail 1): DEC-designated primitive tent site, camping allowed, per DEC State Land Camping Rules (dec.ny.gov/things-to-do/camping/state-land-rules). Ingest 2026-07-26.

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 Primitive Campsite [DEC #16154] (Hunter-West Kill 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.

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

Before you go — Primitive Campsite [DEC #16154] (Hunter-West Kill Wilderness)

Cold-weather camping →Fire rules & restrictions →Picking a spot →Leave no trace →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 →