Brasher State Forest

About 5 miles north of North Lawerence, on Saint Lawerence County Route 55 there is a sign for the Brasher State Forest and Walter Pratt Picnic (and Primitive Camping) Area, maintained CC Dam Association.

Brasher Falls Sign

As you enter the camping area, there is a sign for the picnic area along the lake, and camping on the other side of the road. Originally they allowed camping on both sides of the road, but concerns about run-off and other pollution from campers relocated the sites to the other side of the road.

Entering the Campground

If you want to camp, all you have to do is sign-in on a card, and stick it in the retrospective window. This so they can contact you during an emergency. You can stay for up to 3 nigths, or longer if you get up to a 2-week renewable permit from the DEC.

Campers Sign In Here

The campsites are quite nice. Not all of them are as separated as this one, but I wanted one that was a little farther away for some peace and quiet. Also I figured I could listen to music as loud as I wanted to here.

Campsite 21

One of the major features of the area is a beautiful dammed up section of the Red Brook, that creates an artificial lake. The Civilian Conservation Corps Dam, built in the 1930s, is where CC Dam Association name comes from.

C.C. Dam

There is a swimming beach where people can swim at their own risk. As you can see, it’s some pretty nice swimming, although the lake is a little muckier then it appears in the pictures, and is a natural reddish color from the minerals in the sand of the Saint Lawrence County.

Swimming Beach

They have a horseshoe pit.

Horseshoe Pit

They have a hand pump for one to get drinking water. It’s marked non-potable, probably because it draws from the same shallow aquifer of the lake. You can easily boil it on a stove to make it safe to drink.

Non-Potable Water

The outhouses are in quite nice shape and very clean as you can see from these inside and outside pictures.

Outhouse

The sites are just wonderful. Here is Campsite 21 after I had put away all my gear before heading out. The fire pit rings vary, but for a free place, are pretty darn awesome.

Firepit and Table

The CC Dam Association is made up of volunteers from the Tri-Town Region of Saint Lawerence County, the nick-name for the Brasher Falls/Brasher/North Lawerence hamlets that dot the country south of Malone.

They collect old beer cans and accept donations via the mail for fundraising. Since camping is free, and the place is so well up-kept, I’m sure they apprechiate the help. Not to mention, collecting beer cans probably reduces litter, because people can’t really burn them, and some can be lazy about packing out their trash.

Cans Only

There are a number of other marked campsites on other truck trails in Brasher State Forest, including down by the Tri-Town Horse Trail area near Brasher Falls. In addition, there are dozens of miles of truck trail to drive legally in a pickup, ride with a horse or mountain bike, or illegally on a quad.

Here is a map of Brasher Falls State Forest and it’s relationship to Massena. You can zoom in for more details. NYS DEC Land Mapper has a run down of the trails.


View Hikes of 2009 in a larger map

1 Comment

  • charles w huto says:

    checking in to find out who we contact to mow & clean up the camping spots at c dam ? if its ok to do so ?

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