Wilcox Lake Wild Forest

Wilcox Lake Wild Forest is located in the southeastern part of the Central Adirondacks and is made up of approximately 140,000 acres of State Forest Preserve lands in Warren, Hamilton, Saratoga and Fulton Counties. Nearby communities include Stony Creek, Thurman, Bakers Mills, Day, Wells, Hope Falls, and Northville.

Wilcox Lake Wild Forest is bounded on the north by NY 8, on the east by the Hudson River, on the south by the Adirondack Park Blue Line, and on the west by NY 30. This wild forest offers many recreational opportunities, including hiking to the fire tower on Hadley Mountain, camping on Wilcox Lake, and ice fishing on Garnet Lake. With over forty-five miles of marked trails available, there are countless opportunities for hiking, skiing, and snowmobiling in the unit.

The Wilcox Lake Wild Forest Unit Management Plan mentions the following about Roadside Camping in the area…

“The APSLMP also allows for small groupings of primitive tent sites in Wild Forest units that are designed to accommodate a maximum of 20 people under group camping conditions. Individual campsites within the small grouping do not need to meet the separation distance guidelines that primitive tent sites are generally subjected to. These small groupings of campsites must be widely dispersed (generally a minimum of 1 mile apart), and located in such a manner as to blend in to the surrounding environment and have a minimum impact on the wild character of the unit. Currently, no such small groupings have been designated in the WLWF.”

“Fireplaces have been provided at a number of the primitive tent sites in the WLWF. Inventory data indicate the presence of fireplaces at 17 designated campsites. The APSLMP allows the maintenance and rehabilitation of fireplaces to the extent essential to the administration and/or protection of state lands or to reasonable public use thereof but new construction will not be encouraged. Therefore, although fireplaces are currently present in the unit, no future efforts are anticipated to provide these structures at designated campsites.”

“Over the years, local forest rangers have made significant efforts to eliminate campsites not in compliance with the APSLMP separation distance guidelines. For example, Forest Ranger S. Ovitt has closed over half of the campsites along Route 8, concentrating use at the best and most environmentally resilient locations while simultaneously providing adequate spacing between the remaining sites. However, several areas in the unit still have designated campsites that do not meet the general APSLMP sight and sound separation requirements and have not been designated as small groupings of primitive tent sites. Locations where primitive tent sites are not currently meeting separation distance guidelines include Bakertown Road, Hope Falls Road, Middle Lake, Fox Lair, Kibby Pond, Crane Mountain Pond, Garnet Lake, Garnet Lake Road, Murphy Lake, Little Joe Pond, and Wilcox Lake.”

“Provide additional individual and group camping opportunities within the WLWF, and designate these camping areas as per criteria outlined in the APSLMP.”

— NYS DEC Wilcox Lake Wild Forest UMP.