Primitive Tent Site (Pharaoh Lake Wilderness)
FREE backcountry primitive camping (HIKE-IN -- these designated sites are reached on foot by trail, not drive-up; Pharaoh Lake itself has no road or boat access). DEC-designated primitive tent site ('unnamed site') in the Pharaoh Lake Wilderness, part of New York's Adirondack Forest Preserve, in the eastern Adirondacks in Essex and Warren Counties (DEC Region 5, with trailheads off NY Route 74 between Ticonderoga and Schroon Lake). New York's Forest Preserve allows backcountry camping at these designated sites at NO CHARGE (the DEC unit page lists the fee as 'Free'), first-come/first-served -- these backcountry sites cannot be reserved. A FREE New York State Forest Ranger permit is required ONLY if you stay more than 3 nights in one spot; a free permit is also required for a group of 10 or more people (statewide Forest Preserve rule). Arrange any permit in advance through the DEC Region 5 Forest Rangers at (518) 897-1303. Camp only at the marked site (look for the yellow 'Camp Here' disc). This is a primitive site: no hookups, no potable water, pack out all trash, follow Leave No Trace and the DEC fire rules. This particular site is a backcountry site reached on foot by trail (not drive-up); check the DEC unit page / DECinfo Locator for its trailhead and hiking distance. Rules and site status change -- confirm with the DEC unit page (dec.ny.gov/places/pharaoh-lake-wilderness) or a regional DEC office before you go; we have not visited.
Everything you need — measured from Primitive Tent Site (Pharaoh Lake Wilderness) · Pharaoh Lake Wilderness · NY
- FFuel3 mi
- GGrocery3 mi
- LLaundry3 mi
- @Mail3 mi
- HHardware4 mi
- DDump5 mi
- WWater7 mi
- ShShower7 mi
- EVEV fast charger10 mi
- +Urgent care13 mi
- MMechanic14 mi
- RxPharmacy16 mi
- OOutfitter20 mi
- AAir-up36 mi
The read: water's a short hop out, 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 — Primitive Tent Site (Pharaoh Lake Wilderness)
Nearby & resupply — around Primitive Tent Site (Pharaoh Lake Wilderness) · Pharaoh Lake Wilderness · NY (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureSpectacle Pond · under 0.1 mi · USGS: perennial lake or pond
- Nearest townSchroon Lake · ~3.3 mi
- Nearest rail linenone mapped within 10 mi
- Nearest highway~3.6 mi · Interstate 87
- Drinking waterDrinking water · ~7.0 mi
- FuelSunoco · ~8.6 mi
- Propane / LPGAmeriGas · ~15.2 mi
- Dump station~5.2 mi
- GroceriesTops · ~3.3 mi
- PharmacyRite Aid Pharmacy · ~16.0 mi
- Hospital / clinicElizabethtown Community Hospital - Ticonderoga · ~13.6 mi
- HardwareCurtis Lumber Co., Inc. · ~3.8 mi
EV charging — from Primitive Tent Site (Pharaoh Lake Wilderness) · Pharaoh Lake Wilderness · NY — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger9.7 mi straight-line N — EVolve NY North Hudson · Electrify America · CHAdeMO, CCS · 8 fast ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reach4 within 25 mi · 46 within 50 · 271 within 100 · 664 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)9.7 mi — North Hudson, NY - Tesla Supercharger, North Hudson
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)9.3 mi — Paradox Brewery, North Hudson, NY · VIALYNK · J1772 · 10 Level 2 ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · 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 316283 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Primitive Tent Site (Pharaoh Lake Wilderness) · Pharaoh Lake Wilderness · NY — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Highway rest areaHigh Peaks (North) · ~13.9 mi N
- Highway rest areaHigh Peaks (South) · ~14.1 mi N
- Highway rest areaFair Haven Welcome Center · ~25.9 mi SE
Coming out here — Primitive Tent Site (Pharaoh Lake Wilderness) · Pharaoh Lake Wilderness · NY
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Spectacle Pond 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% — 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.
- No rail line is mapped within 10 mi of the pin in the FRA/BTS North American Rail Network (data updated Jul 21, 2026) — abandoned, lifted and out-of-service track excluded, so a rail-trail does not count as one.
- Interstate 87 is mapped ~3.6 mi from the pin. Straight-line, from the Census's TIGER/Line primary roads (TIGER/Line 2025, released Oct 2025) — the divided, limited-access highways, which is why a state expressway or a two-lane US route near this camp would not appear here.
- 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 Tent Site (Pharaoh Lake Wilderness) elsewhere
Other camps near Primitive Tent Site (Pharaoh Lake Wilderness)
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Primitive Tent Site (Pharaoh Lake Wilderness)~1.5 mi
- SUCKER BROOK PRIMITIVE TENT SITE (Pharaoh Lake Wilderness)~1.5 mi
- Pharaoh Mountain Primitive Tent Site (Pharaoh Lake Wilderness)~2.4 mi
- GOOSE POND PRIMITIVE TENT SITE 3 (Pharaoh Lake Wilderness)~2.4 mi
The unit that manages Primitive Tent Site (Pharaoh Lake Wilderness)
Primitive Tent Site is in Pharaoh Lake Wilderness, a wilderness 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 — Primitive Tent Site (Pharaoh Lake Wilderness)
What we don’t know about Primitive Tent Site (Pharaoh Lake 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
- Seasonal & winter access
- 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