Balsam Swamp is a sprawling state forest that stretches almost 5.5 miles east-west across 4 towns. The area is very rural, and the landscape surrounding the State Forest is predominantly forested. Balsam Swamp State Forest is comprised of a mix of native hardwood forests, hemlock swamps, and conifer plantations. There are no designated recreational trails on the forest, but there is ample opportunity for self-guided day hikes to explore the diversity of habitats represented on this State Forest. Additionally, the western section of Balsam Swamp State Forest is adjacent to Five Streams State Forest to the south.
The main attraction of this forest is Balsam Pond. The impoundment is approximately 152 acres and is a popular destination for fishing and paddle boat sports. Balsam Pond is a warm water fishery that contains a mix of largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, chain pickerel, yellow perch, brown bullhead and sunfish. Tiger muskellunge have been stocked in the past with the last stocking occurring in 1995. However, there have been very few reports of anglers catching any of the adult tiger muskies. A shallow gravel boat launch is suitable for launching small fishing boats.
A small rustic camp ground is also located at Balsam Pond. Camping spaces are available at no cost on a first-come, first-serve basis and there is no running water or electricity. A fire ring, outhouse, and picnic table are provided for each camping space. A sign on Balsam-Tyler Road in Pharsalia designates the entrance to the boat launch and camping facility. This is a carry-in carry-out facility. Please do not litter.
Balsam Swamp State Forest is a sprawling state forest in Chenango County, spread across the towns of Pharsalia, McDonough, German, and Pitcher. A mixture of native hardwoods and hemlock swamps, one of the key destinations is the dammed-up 152-acre Balsam Pond.
From Norwich, take County Route 10B to where it merges into County Route 10, then as you pass through East Pharsalia, you will climb a hill, bear left onto Balsam Tyler Road. Turn right to say on Balsam Tyler Road. It becomes dirt. Proceed to 340 Balsam Tyler Rd, McDonough, NY 13801. There is a sign to show you where the camping area is.
Free, Primitive Camping at Balsam Pond
Balsam Pond managed by the NYSDEC offers free, first-come, first-served primitive camping.
Balsam Pond Campground: A small, rustic area located right by the pond off Balsam-Tyler Road. It features about 10–15 sites, some suitable for trailers up to 25 feet. Each site typically includes a fire ring and picnic table.
Amenities: There is no running water or electricity. Portable toilets are available seasonally from May 1 to September 30.
Primitive/Dispersed Camping: You are also permitted to set up camp anywhere in the forest as long as you are at least 150 feet away from roads, trails, or water.
Permits: Stays longer than three nights or groups of 10+ people require a permit from a Forest Ranger.
Fishing: A Warm-Water Haven
Balsam Pond is the forest’s main attraction for anglers, known as a productive warm-water fishery. The road is often plowed in the winter for ice fishing, however call the DEC to confirm in any specific winter season.
Species: You’ll find largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, chain pickerel, yellow perch, and sunfish. While tiger muskies were stocked in the past, they are now rarely reported.
Accessibility: A well-built, handicapped-accessible fishing pier/viewing platform is available at the pond.
Pro-Tip: The northern and eastern shorelines are lined with stumps, providing excellent cover for bass.
Paddling & Boating
The 152-acre pond is a popular destination for non-motorized and small-motorized water sports.
Launch: Access the water via a shallow gravel/concrete boat launch suitable for small boats, kayaks, and canoes.
Regulations: Due to the pond’s shallow depth, the NYSDEC recommends motors under 25hp or electric trolling motors.
Paddling Experience: For a more secluded experience, there is a dedicated paddle-in campsite away from the main campground area.
Nearby Activities
If you have more time to explore, the area surrounding Balsam Swamp is rich with additional outdoor opportunities:
Five Streams State Forest: Directly adjacent to the south, this forest is largely undeveloped, a good place for hunting, trapping or exploring the back country.
Bowman Lake State Park: A short drive away, this park offers more developed camping facilities and additional hiking trails.
The Finger Lakes Trail: The 575-mile trail passes nearby, with access to many scenic locations.
Long Pond & Papish Pond: Other nearby water bodies popular for fishing and kayaking. Long Pond also offers free primitive camping opportunities.
While I’ve done this a dozen times before, it always amazes me that with my laptop, VPN connection and my phone as a hotspot I can grab a file off the work server and email it to a colleague in milliseconds, just like I was in the physical office – in the Adirondack wilderness five miles from the nearest electrical wire or ethernet.
Maybe if I wasn’t such a luddite who refuses to have television or home internet I might be less amazed about the technology. Or even a fancy phone or laptop. My equipment is decidedly inexpensive and outdated compared to what a lot of kids have nowadays.
The quarter mile separation between campsites in the Adirondack State Land Master Plan is something I often quiver about. It does reduce camping opportunities at highly desirable camping locations but it greatly reduces user conflict – be it noise, light or smoke. No quiet hours here! When campsites are more then a quarter mile apart it’s far more of a wilderness experience, as witnessed by comparing Mason Lake to the Moffitt Beach Campground.
“Chewing on a piece of grass
Walking down the road
Tell me, how long you gonna stay here Joe?
Some people say this town don’t look
Good in snow
You don’t care, I know. “
Like many people I’ve been following closely both the hype and reality of ChatGPT. At the same time, I’ve been learning a lot about different forms of machine learning, and how they can be used to enhance computing, especially as computers grow in power. I also have been using computers for more then a quarter century, so I have some ideas on where machine learning could be useful for every day uses, while other cases were not so useful.
Things I Don’t Think We’ll See in the Future
ChatGPT is not going to replace writers, artists, or secretaries except for the most basic tasks
ChatGPT will not ever write quality news articles, press releases, or publications.
Natural language searches will not become the norm, as it’s a lot of typing or speaking and prone to mistakes, however machine learning will continue to be applied to both search terms and results to get more useful results
Things I Think We’ll See in the Future
Machine learning will be applied to people’s personal computer file system to better flag mistakes in documents, like in Microsoft Word. If for example, you regularly type out a press release or a report a certain way in Word, and something is different format-wise or stylistically in your current version, your Word processor would flag if not automatically fix it.
Machine learning could automatically generate templates based on previously saved documents on your computer, allowing you just to update and fill in the details of the document.
Machine learning would be used for resizing and colorizing photos in Gimp and Adobe Photoshop, automatically tracing edges, vectorizing and detecting words.
Machine learning would make the creation of graphics more automated, by creating sensible styles, and anticipating your next move.
Command line code would be far better automated, with much better tab competition both based on the commands others have used, and what you have previously run
Basically, any process you run on your computer would have much more tab completion, with the computer automatically predicting your likely next move, helping to speed up processing, as the computer could start working on the likely next step
I don’t anticipate the centralized machine learning model, with vast databases getting that much play. Internet access can be funky, and people are often hesitant to share data. It’s risky to be too reliant on other people’s servers. But I do think machine learning is going to only grow in importance on desktop computers, with more and more predictions made locally to assist users in getting tasks done quicker on their computers.
Lyrics written before flue gas desulfurization when there used to be more pretty blue smoke from coal plants.
“Sitting in an English garden
Waiting for the sun
If the sun don’t come you get a tan
From standing in the English rain”
To be fair to the Beatles, Great Britain adopted FGD as early as the mid 1930s on a few power plants due to high sulfur content of British coal but it wasn’t widespread until decades later. But they still have a lot of problems with acid rain in Great Britain.
