Agency-listedNY DECFree

Round Pond Campsite (Siamese Ponds Wilderness)

Drive-up · New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation · NY · 43.67617, -74.24600

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 primitive camping in the 114,010-acre Siamese Ponds Wilderness, part of New York's Adirondack Forest Preserve, in the east-central Adirondacks between Indian Lake and North Creek -- Towns of Johnsburg and Thurman in Warren County and Towns of Indian Lake, Lake Pleasant and Wells in Hamilton County (DEC Region 5), reached from NY 8, NY 30 and the Thirteenth Lake / Old Farm Clearing roads off NY 28. DEC-designated primitive tent site ('Round Pond Campsite'). New York provides these designated primitive tent sites at NO CHARGE (the DEC unit page lists the fee as 'Free'); sites are first-come and cannot be reserved. This is a HIKE-IN backcountry site. DEC's page routes it from the Kunjamuk trailhead on Big Brook Road via the Kunjamuk Trail, which traverses the shore of Round Pond. For orientation, the nearest DEC-published trailhead or parking coordinate is the Kunjamuk trailhead parking area off Big Brook Road, about 2.0 miles away in a straight line -- trail mileage will be longer. PERMITS: 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 threshold, so the statewide rule governs). Arrange any permit in advance through the DEC Region 5 Warrensburg Office at 518-623-1200 (Mon-Fri, 8:30 to 4:45). Camp only at the marked site (look for the yellow 'Camp Here' disc) -- elsewhere on the Forest Preserve, camping is prohibited within 150 feet of any road, trail, spring, stream, pond or other water. These are primitive sites: typically just a fire ring, no hookups and no potable water, and designated TENT sites are for tents only. Pack out all trash, follow Leave No Trace and the DEC fire rules, and store food away from black bears. The unit is open year-round, but winter access is on ski or snowshoe and several stream crossings here have no bridge -- confirm current conditions, closures and this site's access with the DEC unit page (dec.ny.gov/places/siamese-ponds-wilderness) or the Warrensburg office before you go; we have not visited.

USGS topo — contours & terrain

USGS topographic map of Round Pond Campsite (Siamese Ponds Wilderness)

Aerial — USGS / NAIP

Aerial image of Round Pond Campsite (Siamese Ponds Wilderness)

Weather outlook

Loading the latest forecast…

Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 1,859 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

FFuel7 mi
GGrocery7 mi
LLaundry7 mi
MMechanic7 mi
@Mail7 mi
ShShower8 mi
+Urgent care13 mi
RxPharmacy13 mi
WWater14 mi
DDump15 mi
OOutfitter21 mi
HHardware26 mi
AAir-up41 mi

≤30 mi30–4545+water

The read: water's a short hop out, fuel & food sit about 7 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

1,859 ft

State

Coordinates

43.67617, -74.24600

Cost

Free

Nearby & resupply (OpenStreetMap)

Drinking waternone within 10 mi
FuelRoute 30 One Stop · ~7.1 mi
Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
Dump stationDump · ~14.9 mi
GroceriesRoute 30 One Stop · ~7.1 mi
PharmacyRite Aid Pharmacy · ~13.1 mi
Hospital / clinicNorth Creek Health Center · ~12.9 mi
HardwareBraley Noxon Hardware · ~25.9 mi

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

No mapped restroom within 30 miles — plan to pack it out.

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 17304, ASSET='PRIMITIVE TENT SITE', PUBLICUSE='Y', FACILITY='Siamese Ponds Wilderness'; coordinate is DEC's own point geometry (WGS84), pulled 2026-07-23 via the layer's /find endpoint (honours sr=4326; /query returns projected UTM). FREE confirmed by DEC's own place page (dec.ny.gov/places/siamese-ponds-wilderness, read 2026-07-23): Fee='Free', 'Open for recreation: Year-round', "There are 39 primitive tent sites and four lean-tos located in the Siamese Pond Wilderness", all first-come and not reservable; plus DEC State Land Camping Rules (dec.ny.gov/things-to-do/camping/state-land-rules, re-read 2026-07-23): primitive camping is allowed on the Adirondack Forest Preserve (Wilderness is a category where it is allowed), with a free permit only for stays over 3 nights or groups of 10+, arranged via the DEC Region 5 Warrensburg Office at 518-623-1200 (Mon-Fri, 8:30 to 4:45). COUNT: GIS returns 42 records vs the page's stated 39 tent sites -- no foreign unit is dragged in (all 42 carry this FACILITY and Siamese-Ponds-region names); one record covers four sites ('13Th Lake Campsite 1, 11, 12, 13') and the page's prose list is not exhaustive. EXCLUDED as PAID: the 20 Indian Lake shoreline sites, which the page says are part of the DEC Indian Lake Islands Campground and require a paid reservation in season -- they are absent from this GIS layer (no 'Indian Lake' facility) and no site here is on that shoreline. Access classified as 'hike'; nearest DEC-published access point the Kunjamuk trailhead parking area off Big Brook Road, 2.00 mi straight-line. Ingest 2026-07-23.

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

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 →