American Adventurer
Found · unverifiedNY DECFree

South Creek Lake Campsite (Aldrich Pond Wild Forest)

Drive-up · New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation · NY · 44.11951, -75.21758
We haven't personally camped here. Everything below is pulled from public land data, USGS maps and OpenStreetMap — a real place on New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation land, but not field-checked by us. Confirm road conditions, current access, stay limits and fire restrictions before you go.

FREE primitive camping in Aldrich Pond Wild Forest, part of New York's Adirondack Forest Preserve (DEC Region 6, the Streeter Lake / South Creek Lake country of St. Lawrence County, southwest of Star Lake). This is a DEC-designated primitive tent site ('South Creek Lake Campsite', near South Creek Lake), and New York provides it at NO CHARGE: the DEC page lists the fee as 'Free' and the unit as open year-round. DRIVE-UP (seasonal road): this is a roadside site about 338 feet from a woods road in off Powell Road, about 202 feet from South Creek Lake. Note: a near-lakeside site about 200 feet from South Creek Lake, reached via Powell Road (DEC's live report warns Powell Road often floods from beaver activity, so confirm it is passable). DEC's own note describes a roughly 100-yard trail from the site to a canoe launch on the lake and a box privy installed in summer 2020 -- so it doubles as a paddle-access spot for South Creek Lake. This is interior Adirondack Forest Preserve, not a developed campground -- there is no campground office, fee booth, hookups, showers or potable water; do not confuse it with the developed fee campground the DEC page points amenity-seekers to (Cranberry Lake Campground & Day Use Area, about 11 miles east). SEASON / ROAD ACCESS: DEC lists Aldrich Pond Wild Forest as open YEAR-ROUND, but Streeter Lake Road is a SEASONAL unpaved forest road -- local guides report it is gated near the Streeter Lake outlet and that everything past the DEC sign is closed during mud season and winter, so it is drivable mainly in good summer/fall weather. As of DEC's live backcountry report (week of 7/23/2026): Powell Road in to South Creek Lake often floods from beaver activity, the Little River canoe launch on Youngs Road is temporarily closed for culvert work, and a culvert is out on Tyler Road past the county line. None of these closes a campsite, but confirm current road and gate status with the Potsdam office before you go. RULES: this is a designated, first-come first-served free site -- no reservation and no fee. Look for the yellow 'Camp Here' disc that marks each designated site. Standard Adirondack Forest Preserve rules apply: camp only at the designated site, keep 150 feet from water/trails/roads unless the site itself is marked closer, and a free Forest Ranger permit is required only if you stay more than 3 nights or camp with a group of 10 or more (arrange it through the DEC Region 6 Potsdam Office at (315) 265-3090 (Forest Rangers via 911 or DEC dispatch)). DEC prints no other night limit for these sites, so plan around that statewide 3-night default and confirm on site. This is a primitive site: expect at most a fire ring and (at some sites) a box privy -- no hookups, no showers and no potable water, so bring water or treat what you take from a stream or lake. Pack out all trash, follow Leave No Trace and the DEC fire rules, and store food from bears (this is black-bear country). Confirm current rules, road status and this site's status on the DEC page (dec.ny.gov/places/aldrich-pond-wild-forest) or with the Potsdam office (315-265-3090) before you go; we have not visited.

USGS topo — contours & terrain
USGS topographic map of South Creek Lake Campsite (Aldrich Pond Wild Forest)
Aerial — USGS / NAIP
Aerial image of South Creek Lake Campsite (Aldrich Pond Wild Forest)
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Weather outlook
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 1,156 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

15 MI30 MI60 MIYOUR CAMPN ↑Water · 33 miWDump · 26 miDStewart's · Fuel · 5 miFStewart's Shops · Grocery · 6 miGKinney Drugs · Pharmacy · 19 miRxBuckingham Hardware · Hardware · 18 miHWolff's Body Shop Inc · Mechanic · 18 miMDashmnam' Laundromat · Laundry · 19 miLShower · 31 miShWomen's Way To Wellness · Urgent care · 22 mi+Stillwater Shop · Outfitter · 18 miOHarrisville Post Office · Mail · 5 mi@
Straight-line miles · bearings approx · roads run longer
Nearest of each
  • @Mail5 mi
  • FFuel5 mi
  • GGrocery6 mi
  • HHardware18 mi
  • OOutfitter18 mi
  • MMechanic18 mi
  • RxPharmacy19 mi
  • LLaundry19 mi
  • +Urgent care22 mi
  • DDump26 mi
  • ShShower31 mi
  • WWater33 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water

The read: water is a real 33-mi drive, fuel & food sit about 5 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
1,156 ft
State
NY
Coordinates
44.11951, -75.21758
Cost
Free

Nearby & resupply (OpenStreetMap)

  • Water featureSouth Creek Lake (water) · nearby
  • Nearest townKalurah · ~2.8 mi
  • Drinking waternone within 10 mi
  • FuelStewart's · ~5.4 mi
  • Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
  • Dump stationDump station · ~26.2 mi
  • GroceriesStewart's Shops · ~5.5 mi
  • PharmacyKinney Drugs · ~19.3 mi
  • Hospital / clinicClifton Fine Hospital · ~8.5 mi
  • HardwareHardware · ~19.5 mi

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

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 3395, NAME verbatim 'South Creek Lake Campsite', ASSET='PRIMITIVE TENT SITE', PUBLICUSE='Y', FACILITY='Aldrich Pond Wild Forest', REGION 6 (Potsdam office). DEC GIS DESC='Primitive Campsite. Not Universally Accessible' NOTES='100 Yd Trail To Canoe Launch On Lake. Box Privy Installed Summer 2020.'. Coordinate is DEC's own point geometry (WGS84), pulled 2026-07-24 via the layer's /query endpoint (outSR=4326). FREE confirmed on dec.ny.gov/places/aldrich-pond-wild-forest (Aldrich Pond Wild Forest, read 2026-07-24): Fee='Free', open year-round; DEC Potsdam 315-265-3090. COUNT DISCLOSURE: GIS shows 13 designated PTS (12 Streeter Lake Road #3-#15 with gaps + South Creek Lake); the page PROSE says 'eleven ... along Streeter Lake Road' and 'twelve ... and one lean-to' -- the GIS designated-site inventory is authoritative and the +1 prose/GIS gap is disclosed, not hidden. The Streeter Lake LEAN-TO is a separate ASSET and is NOT in this pull. DESCRIP/NOTES check (outFields='*'): no site flags 'Day Use Only'/'unofficial'/APSLMP-closure. ACCESS-COST CHECK (guardrail 2): no entry/day-use/parking/launch fee stated; only the standard FREE Forest-Ranger permit for >3 nights or 10+ groups. PAID-NEIGHBOUR GUARD (Debar rule): the page points amenity-seekers to Cranberry Lake Campground & Day Use Area (fee, ~11 mi E); this site passes its bbox abort-guard. LIVE-CONDITIONS CHECK (DEC Backcountry Information for the Adirondack Park, read 2026-07-24, 'New this week 7/23/2026'): Aldrich Pond WF section warns Powell Road (to South Creek Lake) floods from beavers, the Youngs Road/Little River canoe launch is temporarily closed for culvert work, and a Tyler Road culvert is out past the county line -- access caveats, none closing a campsite. MEASURED GEOMETRY (OpenStreetMap via maps.mail.ru Overpass, 2026-07-24, point-to-segment): ~202 ft to South Creek Lake (OSM natural=water), 338 ft to the roadbed (a woods road in off Powell Road); access class 'drive-up' (roadside on a seasonal forest road; OSM tags the roadbed a track/unpaved-residential, DEC + cnyhiking/Campendium describe it as a drivable seasonal gravel road). Backcountry roads are unplowed/closed in mud season and winter. No OSM camp_site nodes in the unit bbox, so DEC point geometry is the sole coordinate source. Plus DEC State Land Camping Rules (dec.ny.gov/things-to-do/camping/state-land-rules): designated-site + 150-foot rule, free Forest Ranger permit for stays over 3 nights or 10+ people. Ingest 2026-07-24.
Field check
Not verified on the ground. Nobody from here has camped it. It stays at Researched until someone does.

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.

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 →