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Siamese Ponds Site 3 (Siamese Ponds Wilderness)

Drive-up · New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation · NY · 43.62025, -74.18077
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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.

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 ('Siamese Ponds Site 3'). 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 Eleventh Mountain trailhead on NY 8 via the East Branch Trail and the Siamese Ponds Trail -- roughly 4 to 6 miles in, so this is a real backcountry walk. For orientation, the nearest DEC-published trailhead or parking coordinate is the East Branch Gorge trailhead parking area on NY 8, about 4.9 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.

Can I go now? — Siamese Ponds Site 3 (Siamese Ponds 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 2026-09-17; with JavaScript your browser re-checks it against today.
USGS topo — contours & terrain
USGS topographic map of Siamese Ponds Site 3 (Siamese Ponds Wilderness)
Aerial — USGS / NAIP
Aerial image of Siamese Ponds Site 3 (Siamese Ponds Wilderness)
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Weather outlook — at Siamese Ponds Site 3 (Siamese Ponds Wilderness)
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 2,134 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Siamese Ponds Site 3 (Siamese Ponds 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 Siamese Ponds Site 3 (Siamese Ponds Wilderness) · New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation · NY

15 MI30 MI60 MIYOUR CAMPN ↑Water · 13 miWDump · 14 miDNice n' Easy · Fuel · 11 miFStewart's Shops · Grocery · 11 miGRite Aid Pharmacy · Pharmacy · 11 miRxBraley Noxon Hardware · Hardware · 21 miHThe Shop · Mechanic · 12 miMNorth Creek Laundromat · Laundry · 11 miLShower · 11 miShAir-up · 36 miANorth Creek Health Center · Urgent care · 11 mi+Cloud-Splitter Outfitters · Outfitter · 24 miONorth River PO 12856 · Mail · 10 mi@Indian Lake - Welcome Center · EV fast charger · 12 miEV
Straight-line miles · bearings approx · roads run longer
Nearest of each
  • @Mail10 mi
  • ShShower11 mi
  • GGrocery11 mi
  • +Urgent care11 mi
  • RxPharmacy11 mi
  • LLaundry11 mi
  • FFuel11 mi
  • MMechanic12 mi
  • EVEV fast charger12 mi
  • WWater13 mi
  • DDump14 mi
  • HHardware21 mi
  • OOutfitter24 mi
  • AAir-up36 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water

The read: water's a short hop out, fuel & food sit about 11 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 — Siamese Ponds Site 3 (Siamese Ponds Wilderness)

Access
Drive-up
Land
New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation
Elevation
2,134 ft
State
NY
Coordinates
43.62025, -74.18077
Cost
Free

Nearby & resupply — around Siamese Ponds Site 3 (Siamese Ponds Wilderness) · New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation · NY (OpenStreetMap)

  • Water featureSiamese Ponds (water) · nearby
  • Nearest townOregon · ~5.3 mi
  • Drinking waternone within 10 mi
  • FuelStewart's Shop · ~11.3 mi
  • Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
  • Dump station~14.1 mi
  • GroceriesStewart's Shops · ~11.0 mi
  • PharmacyRite Aid Pharmacy · ~11.2 mi
  • Hospital / clinicNorth Creek Health Center · ~11.0 mi
  • HardwareBraley Noxon Hardware · ~21.3 mi

EV charging — from Siamese Ponds Site 3 (Siamese Ponds Wilderness) · New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation · NY — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)

Nearby restrooms — around Siamese Ponds Site 3 (Siamese Ponds Wilderness) · New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation · NY — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)

Open Siamese Ponds Site 3 (Siamese Ponds Wilderness) elsewhere

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Other camps near Siamese Ponds Site 3 (Siamese Ponds Wilderness)

If this one is full, gated or washed out.

How we know this — Siamese Ponds Site 3 (Siamese Ponds Wilderness)

Open season
Year-round
Permit
Free permit needed only for stays over 3 nights or groups of 10 or more
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 5516, 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 East Branch Gorge trailhead parking area on NY 8, 4.87 mi straight-line. Ingest 2026-07-23.
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 Siamese Ponds Site 3 (Siamese Ponds 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.

Before you go — Siamese Ponds Site 3 (Siamese Ponds Wilderness)

Camping near a reservoir →Finding water out here →Cold-weather camping →Off-grid communication →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 →