Round Lake Campsite #3 (Round Lake Wilderness)
FREE backcountry primitive camping (WATER-ACCESS -- this is Round Lake canoe country: most designated sites line the Round Lake / Little Tupper shoreline and are reached by paddle from the Round Lake waterway access site into the Little Tupper Lake outlet, not drive-up). DEC-designated primitive tent site ('Round Lake Campsite #3') in the Round Lake Wilderness, part of New York's Adirondack Forest Preserve, in the central Adirondacks in Hamilton County (Town of Long Lake; DEC Region 5), the Round Lake / Little Tupper Lake canoe country. 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. Camping for more than 3 nights in one spot requires a FREE New York State Forest Ranger permit; the overnight group size may be up to nine people in the Round Lake Wilderness (the place page's stricter local cap; a free permit is otherwise the statewide rule for groups of 10 or more). Arrange any permit in advance through the local DEC Region 5 Forest Ranger at (518) 828-0236. 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 paddle-in shoreline site on Round Lake -- reached by canoe/kayak from the Round Lake waterway access site into the Little Tupper Lake outlet (not drive-up); confirm the launch, route and distance on the DEC unit page / DECinfo Locator. Rules and site status change -- confirm with the DEC unit page (dec.ny.gov/places/william-c-whitney-wilderness-and-round-lake-wilderness) or a regional DEC office before you go; we have not visited.
Everything you need — measured from Round Lake Campsite #3 (Round Lake Wilderness) · Round Lake Wilderness · NY
- FFuel10 mi
- OOutfitter10 mi
- GGrocery10 mi
- @Mail10 mi
- +Urgent care11 mi
- HHardware12 mi
- MMechanic12 mi
- RxPharmacy12 mi
- WWater18 mi
- ShShower18 mi
- DDump19 mi
- LLaundry24 mi
- EVEV fast charger25 mi
The read: water's a short hop out, fuel & food sit about 10 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 — Round Lake Campsite #3 (Round Lake Wilderness)
Nearby & resupply — around Round Lake Campsite #3 (Round Lake Wilderness) · Round Lake Wilderness · NY (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureRound Lake · under 0.1 mi · USGS: perennial lake or pond
- Nearest townHorseshoe · ~5.2 mi
- Nearest rail line~4.7 mi · main line
- Nearest highwayno interstate or US route within 10 mi
- Drinking waternone within 10 mi
- FuelKickerville Station · ~9.6 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- Dump station~18.7 mi
- GroceriesNorthen Borne · ~10.2 mi
- PharmacyKinney Drugs · ~12.5 mi
- Hospital / clinicCamp Massawepie Health Lodge · ~13.8 mi
- HardwareSturdy Supply & Rental · ~28.3 mi
EV charging — from Round Lake Campsite #3 (Round Lake Wilderness) · Round Lake Wilderness · NY — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger25.3 mi straight-line SE — Indian Lake - Welcome Center · VIALYNK · CCS · 4 fast ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reachnone within 25 mi · 17 within 50 · 201 within 100 · 425 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)28.1 mi — ChargeSmart EV - Saranac Lake, Saranac Lake
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO42.7 mi — EVolve NY North Hudson, North Hudson
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)10.5 mi — Long View Lodge, Long Lake, NY · EV Connect · J1772 · 2 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 405740 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Round Lake Campsite #3 (Round Lake Wilderness) · Round Lake Wilderness · NY — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- No mapped restroom within 30 miles — plan to pack it out.
Coming out here — Round Lake Campsite #3 (Round Lake Wilderness) · Round Lake Wilderness · NY
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Round Lake 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 9.4% — 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.
- Rail line mapped ~4.7 mi from the pin — the national rail atlas classes it as a main line. The atlas also records tourist, museum or scenic passenger service on it. That is the FRA/BTS North American Rail Network (data updated Jul 21, 2026), which records that a line is there and what class of track it is. Whether anything runs on it, how often, and at what hour, it does not say, and nobody has checked this one for you.
- No interstate or US route is mapped within 10 mi of the pin in the Census's TIGER/Line primary roads (TIGER/Line 2025, released Oct 2025). That file holds the divided, limited-access highways only — a state expressway or a two-lane US route near this camp would not be in 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 Round Lake Campsite #3 (Round Lake Wilderness) elsewhere
Other camps near Round Lake Campsite #3 (Round Lake Wilderness)
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Round Lake Campsite #2 (Round Lake Wilderness)~0.1 mi
- Round Lake Campsite #1 (Round Lake Wilderness)~0.7 mi
- Round Lake Campsite #8 (Round Lake Wilderness)~0.7 mi
- Round Lake Campsite #4 (Round Lake Wilderness)~0.8 mi
The unit that manages Round Lake Campsite #3 (Round Lake Wilderness)
Round Lake Campsite #3 is in Round 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 — Round Lake Campsite #3 (Round Lake Wilderness)
What we don’t know about Round Lake Campsite #3 (Round 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