State Lands

Is Three Nights Too Long?

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When I go camping, I rarely stay at a campsite more then 2 or 3 nights. After a while, staying at a single campsite tends to become boring, and uninteresting, after you’ve explored all of the land around the campsite. Camping should be a break from the routine, not a repetition of the same experience over and over again.

You need a camping permit if you plan to stay at the same site more then 3 nights in a row in NY State. Which is fine, especially because I never really reach that level. I am always traveling and going to new places, because frankly staying in the same campsite more then a couple of nights is real boring.

Untitled [Expires August 14 2024]

I would much rather travel and go place to place, rather then spend all night in same old campsite, night after night. New vistas and new experiences are more important, then the temporary inconvience of breaking camp, the reassembling camp, in the next state forest or wild forest I am camping in.

Maybe I’m just young and like to ramble. But I also get tired of same repetition, and are always seeking new vistas and places to explore, and not the same old boring experience.

Ranking the Size of State Parks, Wild Forests, Wilderness, Other Lands

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For the sake of comparison, I made up maps ranking Wilderness, Wild Forests, other DEC Lands (State Forests/WMAs, etc), and State Parks. The largest parcels to smallest parcels are pink, then red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple — colored based on comparison to other parcels of the same class. Click on them to see acreages, or click on the link below to see on Google Maps, which includes each parcel sorted by acreage.

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Wilderness Areas Ranked.


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Wild Forests Areas Ranked.


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Other DEC Lands Ranked.


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State Parks Areas Ranked.


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State Land Acreage By Classification

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All figures are in acres except where noted. Table updated April 2011. Reprinted from the DEC Website.

Inspiration Point

Land Classification Region
1		 Region
2		 Region
3		 Region
4		 Region
5		 Region
6		 Region
7		 Region
8		 Region
9		 Catskill
Park Total		 Adirondack
Park Total		 State
Total		 Percent of Total
State Land and
Conservation
Easements
State Forest 16,056 758 31,763 102,248 58,354 221,924 200,419 55,581 99,121 – 16,264 ** 786,224 17%
Forest
Preserve 		Wilderness – – 89,352 53,482 954,601 206,151 – – – 142,834 1,160,752 1,303,586 28%
Wild Forest – – 75,588 60,368 938,664 ** 367,123 – – – 135,956 1,305,787 1,441,743 31%
Primitive – – – – 31,309 15,704 – – – – 47,013 47,013 1%
Primitive Bicycle
Corridor		 – – 15 283 – – – – – 298 – 298 0.006%
Canoe – – – – 18,989 – – – – – 18,989 18,989 0.4%
Intensive Use – – 4,104 1,542 21,591 1,828 – – – 5,646 23,419 29,065 0.6%
Administrative – – 392 0 *** 384 7 – – – 392 391 783 0.02%
Historic – – – – 531 – – – – – 531 531 0.01%
Pending
Classification		 – – – – 259 111 – – – – 370 370 0.007%
Under Water*
(Unclassified)		 – – – – 17,395 6,534 – – – – 23,929 23,929 0.5%
Detached
Parcel		 – – 1,382 4,141 1,441 4,318 – – – – – 11,282 0.2%
Total Forest Preserve – – 170,833 119,816 2,001,313 601,776 – – – 285,126 2,597,267 2,893,738 61%
Wildlife Management Area 6,007 – 12,021 18,518 6,524 ** 46,371 49,562 41,462 17,178 407 *** 2,755 ** 197,643 4%
Conservation Easement 108 21 7,264 7,286 488,463 336,783 436 – 10 9,437 769,579 840,371 18%
TOTALS: 22,171 779 221,881 247,868 2,554,654 1,206,854 250,417 97,043 116,309 294,970 3,385,865 4,717,976 100%

Blue Ridge and Blue Mountain

Notes from the DEC.

* Certain lake beds are considered Forest Preserve, despite some level of private ownership adjacent to the lakes. These underwater lands are not classified. For the purposes of this table, however, lakes and ponds that are completely surrounded by Forest Preserve have been classified the same as the adjacent land.

** Where State Forests and Wildlife Management Areas exist within the Adirondack Park, the Adirondack Park State Land Master Plan also classifies these lands as Wild Forest. However, since these lands are not Forest Preserve, State Forest and Wildlife Management Area acreages within the Adirondack Park were NOT included in the Wild Forest category.

*** Where Wildlife Management Areas exist within the Catskill Park, the Catskill Park State Land Master Plan also classifies these lands as Administrative. For calculation purposes in this table, however, Wildlife Management Area acreage within the Catskill Park was NOT also included in the Administrative category.

Adirondack Wild Forests I Camped in 2011

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This past year, I got up to nine different Adirondack Wild Forests as part of my explorations of the Adirondack Park. Did a lot of hiking, kayaking, and camping. The map below shows the Adirondack Park’s various units.

Change in Price Since March 2020

I camped in Aldrich Pond (1 night), Black River (4), Debar Mountain (3), Ferris Lake (5), Independence River (2), Moose River Plains (3), Taylor Pond (2), Vandwhacker Mountain (1), and Wilcox Lake (4). My preference for certain Wild Forests over others, is not just based on scenic beauty or activities to do, as much as closeness to Albany and compatability with weekend plans.

I saw quite a bit of Adirondack Park for sure.

Aldrich Pond (1 night)

Camped one night on Streeter Lake Road in Aldrich Pond Wild Forest near the hamlet of Oswagatchie. Paddled part of Little River and Streeter Lake.

Field

Campsite 3 on Streeter Lake Road

Black River (4 nights)

Camped two nights at Wolf Lake Landing Road. Paddled around Woodhull Lake, hiked over to Remsen Falls.

Adirondack Lakes

Roadside Camping at Site 5

Camped two nights at North Lake. Sat down by the lake, enjoyed the moonlight. Explored Atwell and part of South Lake.

Total Greenhouse Gas Equalivent, by Country

View of Lake from Campsite

Debar Mountain (3 nights)

I camped for two nights at Mountain Pond near Paul Smiths, NY, while visiting the Saint Regis Canoe Area.

Damp

Then coming back from North Country, I decided to spend a night at Jones Pond, which is between Rainbow Lake and Paul Smiths.

Ferris Lake (5 nights)

I did two weekend trips up to Ferris Lake Wild Forest. The first was during Memorial Day Weekend, which was pretty wet and rainy for most of the weekend. The second was during the mid-summer on a super oppressive, hot and humid day out. While I explored Edick Roadside Camping, and also Good Luck Lake, both times I roadside camped on Piseco-Powley Road, three nights at PR 9, one night at PR 4, and one night at 11.

Renters vs Population Density - NY Census Tracts

Strawberry Moon

Cascade Lake

Gwen Wright (D) vs. Steven F. McLaughlin (R) Rensselaer County Executive (2021)

Independence River (2 nights)

Camped two nights at Independence River Wild Forest on Smith Road, at field Campsite 1. There are ten campsites on this road, including one with an outhouse. Several of them are located in old logging load pads, that are now mowed as fields for camping. Nothing particularly fancy here.

Rainy Morning

Moose River Plains (3 nights)

Planned to spend a week at Moose River Plains, brakes failed on third day up there. Still got three days of fall camping in along Cedar River – Limekiln Lake Road. Camped one night at Campsite 24, and two at Campsite 57 this year.

Almost To Bus Stop

Summer Evening

Greene County, NY - Change in Grasslands and Pasture, 2001 to 2021

Taylor Pond (2 nights)

Camped up at Union Falls for two nights in the fall, while hiking and exploring several locations in Clinton County and eastern portion of the North Country.

All Packed Up at Union Falls Campsite

Vandwhacker Mountain (1 nights)

Camped one night at Cheney Pond at the Vanderwhacker Wild Forest.

Abortion Providers Operating by State, 2017

Road Campsite at Cheney Pond

Wilcox Lake (4 nights)

Camped three nights up off of NY 8 — one at an old Gravel Pit along the East Sacandaga River in April when the snow was still there, two nights at Fox Lair Campsite, and one night at Hope Falls Road, which is off of NY 30, near Northville.

Oil Exports

North-South Lake Campground

Lookout State Forest

Hammond Pond Wild Forest - Green Hill Parcel

Campsite I Stayed At

Camping Back at Fox Lair

Gulls on the breakwater

Large NY State Forests Tend to Be Located In Rural Areas

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There are many state lands across New York State.

Paddling Cayuta Lake Inlet

The problem is, for many New Yorkers, the largest and most interesting parcels — the Catskill Forest Preserve, the Adirondack Forest Preserve, larger state forests like Brookfield Horse Camp, Brashier Falls, Tug Hill State Forest, Sugar Hill, are all a long drive from where they live.

This map shows the town population versus the location of state forest and forest preserve lands that are popular for hiking, camping, fishing and hunting. I did not include state parks. Note how unpopulated most areas are with large state forests.

Down By Long Pond

To demostrate how dramatic this is, take a look at a map of urbanized or otherwise developed areas of New York State based on Landstat data. Yellows are suburban areas, while reds are urbanized downtowns with few trees or forest — the kind of people you would think would most likely want to spend time in the woods.

Craziness at the Early Vote place

Maybe we don’t want lots of urban folks coming to the state forests. Maybe there remoteness keeps people away. Yet, it shows the large disconnect from large public lands and the population centers across our state.

State Should Require Companies to Remove Logging Trash from Trails

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One of my pet peeves is state lands is where there has been a recent clear-cut timber harvest and hiking trails are not cleared of logging trash. Logging is important part of managed forests, but it’s one of many uses.

Along the Long Path

Unsalable tree tops and other brush or so-called “logging trash” has an important role as wildlife habitat. The logging trash will rot away and leave valuable soil for trees and forest to grow up and around. Leaving logging trash on steep slopes will help prevent erosion.

Following the Long Path Thru a Clear Cut

If a hiking trail, a campsite, a road, or other public access-way exists in a forest, the DEC should preserve access to it. Hunters, hikers, campers, and outdoorsmen need access. Trees marked previous for trail crossings, camping, or other signs, and then timbered should be replaced with other signs or markers.

White Birch and White Pine Logged

… it’s just good practice for lands that are supposed to be multi-use lands.