Spy Lake #3 (Silver Lake Wilderness)
FREE primitive camping in the Silver Lake Wilderness, part of New York's Adirondack Forest Preserve, in the southern Adirondacks west of the Sacandaga River -- Hamilton County (Towns of Arietta, Lake Pleasant, Wells and Benson) in DEC Region 5, reached from NY 8 on the north, NY 30 on the east and the Benson / Godfrey Road side roads on the south. This is a DEC-designated primitive tent site ('Spy Lake #3'). New York provides these designated sites at NO CHARGE -- the DEC unit page lists the fee as 'Free' -- and they are first-come, first-served and cannot be reserved. This one is WATER ACCESS ONLY, and it is a genuine effort to reach. DEC's page is blunt about it: "Spy Lake has seven sites along its shore, all accessible by boat only. The only legal access is a 2.0-mile carry via a trail from Route 8." That means carrying a canoe or kayak two miles in before you ever get on the water -- there is no drive-up boat launch on this lake. Our own measurement backs DEC's number up: this site is about 3.0 miles in a straight line from the Route 8 parking area. DEC also notes a designated snowmobile trail running from the Route 8 parking lot to Spy Lake. 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 Northville Office at 518-863-4545 (Mon-Fri, 7:30 AM to 3:30 PM). 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, no potable water and no dump station, and designated TENT sites are for tents only. If you want amenities, DEC points you at its own Sacandaga Campground nearby, but that one CHARGES -- the sites listed here are the free ones. 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 travel here is on ski or snowshoe -- confirm current conditions, road status, closures and this site's access with the DEC unit page (dec.ny.gov/places/silver-lake-wilderness) or the Northville office before you go; we have not visited.
Everything you need — measured from Spy Lake #3 (Silver Lake Wilderness) · Silver Lake Wilderness · NY
- ShShower8 mi
- DDump9 mi
- WWater10 mi
- LLaundry11 mi
- +Urgent care11 mi
- FFuel11 mi
- GGrocery11 mi
- @Mail11 mi
- RxPharmacy21 mi
- HHardware21 mi
- MMechanic21 mi
- OOutfitter24 mi
- EVEV fast charger27 mi
- AAir-up28 mi
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 — Spy Lake #3 (Silver Lake Wilderness)
Nearby & resupply — around Spy Lake #3 (Silver Lake Wilderness) · Silver Lake Wilderness · NY (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureSpy Lake · under 0.1 mi · USGS: perennial lake or pond
- Drinking waternone within 10 mi
- FuelSpeculator Gas Station · ~11.1 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- Dump station~9.3 mi
- GroceriesSpeculator Gas Staion · ~11.1 mi
- PharmacyWalgreens · ~20.9 mi
- Hospital / clinicInfirmary · ~11.0 mi
- HardwareAllen & Palmer True Value · ~21.0 mi
- Rail & highwaynone mapped within 10 mi
EV charging — from Spy Lake #3 (Silver Lake Wilderness) · Silver Lake Wilderness · NY — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger27.0 mi straight-line S — Aldi Johnstown TUL 110 (at a public site) · RED_E · CCS, NACS (Tesla) · 8 fast ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: not listed · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reachnone within 25 mi · 55 within 50 · 269 within 100 · 684 within 150
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO29.4 mi — Iroquois Travel Plaza, Little Falls
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)11.0 mi — Lemon Tree Brewery - Tesla Destination, Speculator, NY · Tesla Destination · J1772, NACS (Tesla) · 6 Level 2 ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-08-27 · hours: 24 hours daily. Open to all vehicles.
- 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 451463 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Spy Lake #3 (Silver Lake Wilderness) · Silver Lake Wilderness · NY — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Highway rest areaIroquois Travel Plaza WB · ~29.4 mi SW
- Highway rest areaIndian Castle Travel Plaza EB · ~29.5 mi SW
Coming out here — Spy Lake #3 (Silver Lake Wilderness) · Silver Lake Wilderness · NY
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Spy 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 1.3% — flat. 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 and no interstate or US route is mapped within 10 mi of the pin. Checked against the FRA/BTS North American Rail Network (data updated Jul 21, 2026) and the Census's TIGER/Line primary roads (TIGER/Line 2025, released Oct 2025). Both are national files and both are maps of what is built, not counts of what moves on 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 Spy Lake #3 (Silver Lake Wilderness) elsewhere
Other camps near Spy Lake #3 (Silver Lake Wilderness)
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Spy Lake #2 (Silver Lake Wilderness)~0.6 mi
- Spy Lake #1 (Silver Lake Wilderness)~1.1 mi
- Big Bay #3 (Ferris Lake Wild Forest)~1.6 mi
- Big Bay #2 (Ferris Lake Wild Forest)~1.9 mi
The unit that manages Spy Lake #3 (Silver Lake Wilderness)
Spy Lake #3 is in Silver 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 — Spy Lake #3 (Silver Lake Wilderness)
What we don’t know about Spy Lake #3 (Silver 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
- 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