drive-in camping - Andy Arthur.org

Camping at Mountain Pond, Aug 14

Andy | August 14, 2010

Mountain Pond is located about 2 miles North of Paul Smiths College on an old routing of NY 30. It is in Debar Mountain Wild Forest, with 2 large campsites on the pond, 3 smaller ones on or near the pond, and 10 other along Mountain Pond Road. It’s little used due to it’s remote location, and easy to even get one of the large sites on the lake on the weekends.

Old NY 30 Signs. Along Mountain Pond Road/Old NY 30, you can see the road signs dating back to the 1960s or maybe even earlier, prior to modern alignment of NY 30.

Campsite 4. Here is the view of Campsite 4 from Old NY 30/Mountain View Road and down by the lake. A nice campsite, big, roomy, and private, although the much smaller Campsites 5 is fairly close.

Making Up Blueberry Cake Mix. Here I’m the Blueberry Cake Mix, and getting ready to add the Blueberries I picked up at Moose River Plains. Should be real good.

Baking in Dutch Oven. That sure smells good, doesn’t it. I put the pan that the mix was in dutch oven up on rocks, so it didn’t burn the bottom of the cake, and made sure to add adequate coals to the top to keep things cooking evenly.

Mountain Pond in the Evening.

First Rays of Sunshine. I purposefully picked this campsite, and parked my truck so that the first rays of the sun, would come through the truck cap, and wake me up around the crack of down (around 6:35 AM this time of year).

Getting Out and Stretch. That’s my rig with all the messy camping gear and sleeping stuff around, as I first awake in the morning.

Sunshine. Sparkling on the pond, first thing in the morning. Real purty.

Ropes. These are the ropes and bungee cords I use to secure the kayak on the roof. Seems to work well on the kayak blocks.

Gear All Packed Up. Now just to get the kayak up on the roof.

Here is a map of the camping area.

View Larger Map

Camping at Cedar River Flow, August 12

Andy | August 12, 2010

Buying Firewood. There is this great place for campfire wood on Cedar River Plains Road, about 8 miles in. You get a lot of wood for $5.

Cab Full of Firewood. The seat and floor boards where stacked with firewood. It kept me going for the next 4 days, although I really didn’t have big fires until the last day when I was up at Mountain Pond. That may have violated DEC firewood regulations, at moving the wood 60 miles, but too bad. It’s my wood.

View Larger Map

Wild Blueberry Fields. I decided I wanted to drive up there from Cedar River Flow, to eat some, because I knew they would be in peak. This is an hour away (or 15 miles away at 15 MPH), up in the sandy plains of Moose River Plains from Cedar River Flow. These are some of the best blueberry fields in the Adirondacks, and despite being in season for three weeks and very popular, still have many berries to pick.

Blueberries. All I can say is delicious. And so numerous, as you look around all you see is blueberries.

Helldiver Pond in Evening . Watching the sun set over Mitchell Ponds Mountain.

View Larger Map

Moose River Plains Road After Dark. It’s an interesting road to drive after dark, being so narrow, twisty, and rough, especially after drinking all day.

Camping at Site 8. This is down by the Wakely Dam. The prior day I spent paddling around Cedar River Flow and up the river a ways.

Picnic Table. I have yet to pick up my gear. It took a while to figure out which trees to use to set up the site, but ultimately with the steel poles, I got it set up.

Kayak Tying Down Tarp. I couldn’t quite figure out how to keep the tarp tied down. I tried to use a wood stake, but it kept pulling out of the ground. The kayak worked well for this purpose.

Packed Up and Ready To Go. See I’m all packed up and ready to go. Kayak is on the roof, and the site is all cleaned up. I don’t leave a mess or do ny kind of damage to site. Anything unburnt in the fire pit, I haul out.

Heading Across Wakely Dam. It certainly is not a real pretty morning out there. So be it.

Cedar River Flow Campsite No 8. It’s a pretty descent basic little campsite. Now off to Owls Head Mountain Firetower.

View Larger Map

Camping at Horseshoe Lake, Aug 12

Andy | August 11, 2010

Horseshoe Lake is located on South Eastern Saint Lawrence County, on a dead end state highway, NY 421, a spur from NY 30 South of Tupper Lake. It offers 6 campsites scattered along the lake, with 6 others on nearby roads. It is also near the Bog River Flow Canoe/Kayak Area. Don’t expect to get a campsite on the lake in the afternoon, but the sites along the truck trail are rarely used.

Six Miles to Horseshoe Lake. This is the turn off for NY 421, one of the strangest state highways in the state. It is a dead ended highway, that leads to gravel roads around Horseshoe Lake and Bog River Flow. It is very twisty and narrow, and portions have not been resurfaced in over 50 years.

After The Pavement Runs Out. About a two miles from the paved end of NY 421, I camped. This is first thing in the morning, with the sun shining down from the wetlands near where I camped.

Campsite No 9. This is Campsite No 9 at Horseshoe Lake, on an Unnamed Adirondack Park Road, about two miles from the end of NY 421/Paved. I could not get site on the lake, arriving at 5 PM at night, but it’s still a nice campsite. This area of Saint Lawrence County is so remote, only 2 big pickup trucks, and logging truck passed by in the 12 or so hours I was there.

Not Fancy Campsite. By no means was Campsite No 9 on the Unnamed Road, particularly fancy. But it provided a place to camp, and was a three minute drive down to the lake. I could have gotten a spot on Horseshoe Lake most likely had I arrived in the morning, as it seemed like campsites tended to clear out in the morning.

Road Crosses Railroad Tracks. This is where the weird hair-pin turn appears on maps at the end of NY 421. I’m not sure why it follows this route, as the terrain is flat, but maybe at one time there was an inholding or private home located in here.

Horseshoe Lake in Morning. Heading swimming in a couple of minutes. The water was real nice.

Cowboy Hat, Swimming Trunks, Work Boots. Not that you could get the total picture from this image. But the cowboy hat and work boots came off before the dip. A real country boy thing.

Unnamed Dirt Road. This is the road that goes from Horseshoe Lake to Mount Arab / Piercefield.

Wetlands Along Horseshoe Lake. This is about a mile after the pavement runs out on NY 421, just after the Bog River Flow / Lower Lows Dam Road turn-off

Here is a map of where I camped, on the truck trail, west of Horseshoe Lake.

View Larger Map

Camping at Mason Lake

Andy | July 31, 2010

There are 12 primitive campsites on or around Mason Lake, right south of the intersection of NY 30 and Jessup Lake Road, along with a scattering of designated sites in International Paper Easement. I camped there on the night of July 31st of this year. There is no firewood locally, you’ll have to buy some and haul it on the site.

Click to download high resolution map for printing. Be aware I added these campsites, and the Unit Plan calls for changes in the layout of campsites, so the site locations may have changed.

The campsites on Mason Lake are fairly popular, and if you want one lake, you will have to get there early.

Otherwise, the sites off the lake and nearby lake are often open, and the scattered designated sites throughout Perkins Clearing are rarely used. I hiked Pillsbury Mountain in the morning, and didn’t arrive until evening, so I had this site across Jessup River Road, a short walk to the lake.

Mason Lake in afternoon has some amazing reflections, of Floodwood Mountain. It’s not perfectly quiet, due to several campsites around, and the noise from NY 30’s traffic, but it is the closest free camping area on NY 30, just being North of Spectulator.

Mason Lake in the first light of the morning.

Mason Lake Map.

View Larger Map

A Rainy Day at Cedar River Flow, July 23

Andy | July 23, 2010

I had originally planned on exploring Moose River Plains, on Friday July 23 during my vacation. It however rained and rain, and I had to hide out under the tarp the whole time. So I spent most of the day camping out and reading.

Getting Breakfast Ready. Yes, I have lots of cheap trashy plastic crap that I use for camping. And I use styrofoam bowls and plastic silverware as much as possible, because clean up only involves using some matches and a fire.

Cearel in Plastic Box. I stored all of my food in these 10 plastic boxes that I got at Walmart for $10. It helped things from getting all smashed up, and made organization much easier.

It just poured and poured. It was a real rainy Friday. I ended up driving down to Indian Lake to buy some more ice and food, and to check the internet.

I spent a lot of time listening to radio in the rain and reading books.

After a while, all the rain started to make the tarp sinks due to the wet. Eventually, even the Christmas lights shorted out.

But by evening, things started to clear out at the Cedar River Flow. It was refreshing after Friday’s long day of rain.

That was Day 3 at Cedar River Plains. It was wet, but nice to take a quiet break for a while.

View Larger Map

Cedar River Flow, July 21

Andy | July 21, 2010

The Cedar River Flow at Moose River Plains has 10 roadside campsites along with an Assembly-area. It is popular for kayaking, camping, and exploring nearby mountains and trails such as Wakely Mountain. There are also about 20 campsites that you can paddle in along the lake, and over 150 campsites located up in Moose River Plains, a 30-60 minute drive up a rough dirt road from here.

You enter via Cedar River Road.

Half of the campsites at Cedar River Flow are located across the Wakley Dam.

Wakley Dam Bridge. It looks fairly secure. Heck, people drag their big fifth-wheel RVs across this bridge all the time, so it has to be pretty sturdy.

I camped out at Campsite No 9.

At Cedar River Flow is the Entrance to Moose River Plains, where you have to register your vehicle in case you get lost or your car or truck is otherwise found abandoned.

Sitting back and having a beer at Moose River Plains in the afternoon.

A big ass Campfire. Sigh!

One of the neat things is walking out on Wakely dam at night and looking up at the stars. Here is moonlight on Cedar River Flow.

Here is a map of the Cedar River Flow. The camping area is located on the Northern End by the dam.

View Larger Map