Streeter Lake is a smaller pond, but offers some interesting fishing and kayaking opportunities when camping along Streeter Lake Road.
campsites
Kayaking Woodhull Lake
To get to Woodhull Lake, you have to take McKeever Road from NY 28 in McKeever (1/2 mile before it crosses the Moose River, then drive back about 6 miles on a dirt truck trail known as Wolf Lake Landing Road. You put in at Wolf Lakes Landing, which is named after one of the lakes that Woodhull Lake covered when it was dammed up to form a larger lake to provide water supply to the Erie Canal.
While the road is fairly well maintained one-lane gravel truck trail, one creek crossing is a bit eroded from the rains of 2011. There are roughly 6 designated roadside campsites along the road, with minimal to no facilities that you can camp at. You can drive all but an 1/8th of a mile up to Woodhull Lake, where the road is gated off, from there you have to carry your kayak or canoe to the lake on the gravel road. Consider using wheels on your kayak to assist on this portage.
Here is a map of Woodhull Lake. Consider clicking on it, for a high-resolution map that you can print up, put in a plastic bag and use on the trip like I did. It works really well like this, and I think this map prints out to be nice and high resolution, especially if you have a color printer.
Brasher Falls State Forest
There are two camping areas in Brasher Falls: The Tri-Town Equestrian Assembly-area (field camping) off Truck Trail 901, north of DEC Maintenance Garage, and a 21-site Drive-in Camping Area known as the CC Dam Association / Walter F Pratt Memorial Forest at Redbrook River Dam. The CC Dam Association area is maintained by a group of local volunteers, and offers many amenities not found at most primitive camping areas. It also staffed by volunteers on weekends.
Like Moose River Plains, all of the sites are hardened with gravel, have picnic tables, and outhouses. They are a short walk from a man-made lake, consisting of the Redwater Brook (red from iron in water), which was damned up by the Civilian Conservation Corps. Swimming is allowed. There is a horseshoe pit. There is a hand pump for water, although it says “Non-Potable Water”, so boil first. Many of the sites are pretty close together (25 sites on 1/2 mile of road, only one side), with somewhat limited screening. On weekdays in summer, when I camped there, it was little used.
Nearby there are dozens of miles of truck trail, hiking, and horse trail to explore, and while not-officially sanctioned by the DEC are also used for riding ATVs. ATV use on roads were allowed prior to Court-case prohibiting on-road use of ATVs except to access trails.
“The Walter Pratt Memorial Park features two accessible camp sites [ed note: and 19 other sites that can accommodate trailers/RV/trucks] designed for use with camper trailers. Each site has an accessible picnic table and a shared privy. There are also two accessible picnic sites and a privy located in the day use section of the park, the picnic tables overlook the impoundment at Redwater Dam. The park is open from mid-May to October, for camping and picnicking.”
— NYSDEC Brasher/Bombay State Forest
Roadside Campsites.
| Road | Number of Sites |
|---|---|
| Walter Pratt Memorial Forest At the Redwater River Dam |
21 |
| Tri-town Horse Camp | (Field Camping) |
Walter Pratt Memorial Forest.
Tri-Town Horse Camp Assembly Area (Truck Trail No. 901)
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Moose River Plains
Moose River Plains is the largest roadside camping area in the Adirondacks. It has also been called the largest roadside camping area in the United States, at least with entire road system, considered as a single consolidated unit of 175 campsites. In recent years, a number of sites have been abandoned or closed to protect environmental resources, however the supply of campsites usually exceeds even peak usage on holidays, so finding a good spot is never hard.
In Fall 2010, a new Unit Management Plan was adopted in Moose River Plains. It made the following major changes to the area:
- Reduced Drive-in Campsites At Wakley Dam to 5. A couple additional tent sites will remain. The Wakely Dam will prohibit motor vehicles crossing it except snowmobiles.
- New “Intensive Use” Area Was Created to Allow for Up to 150 drive-in campsites (tent or RV or truck camper) to remain along Moose River Plains Road, Helldiver Road, Lost Ponds Foad, Loop Road, Red Dam Road, and other Camping Spurs with spacing less then 1/4 mile. There is no charge to use these sites, you just need a permit if you stay more then 3 days.
- Campsites Along Otter Brook and Indian Lake Roads will be spaced a 1/4 mile apart, and avoid sensetive areas, such as closing the sites right along the Moose River. These sites will be primarily tent sites during the summer, but during Big Game Season, RVs and truck campers will be allowed.
The recently adopted Moose River Plains Unit Management Plan discusses some of the chnages to Roadside Camping in the area…
“The creation of the MRPCA will create some challenges in educating the public as to what to expect within the area. As the area will not charge fees, nor will reservations be taken, users will be arriving at the area without the benefit of knowing what site they may be camping at. Users will need to drive through the area and locate a site that is suitable for their needs. In the unlikely case that no sites are available, users will need to be educated as to what alternatives exist in the general area. Providing information at the two entrance points, Cedar River Flow and Limekiln Lake, will be an important part of informing users of the type of opportunity available in the MRPCA. It will also provide an opportunity to provide information on alternative locations should the MRPCA not meet their expectations.”
“Unlike other intensive use area campgrounds in the Park, amenities such as bath houses, playgrounds, and paved drives are not ever going to be considered for the MRPCA. Pursuant to APSLMP guidelines for newly created intensive use areas, the MRPCA will only contain up to 150 roadside campsites along approximately 20 miles of roads. These sites will have fire rings, pit privies and picnic tables as their only amenities. Some of these sites will remain relatively close to the road, while others will remain several hundred feet back, accessed by short driveways. A majority of these sites will be comprised of existing sites, some fairly well separated from other sites and some clustered in small groups. This will provide for a variety of camping opportunities depending on what users are seeking. Existing sites that are very close to the road may be relocated to a location that provides better screening or may be converted to parking areas with a walk‐in site located a short distance from the parking area. Any newly constructed sites will be located in a manner to provide vegetative screening between the site and the road.”
— NYSDEC Moose River Plains UMP.
Map of Moose River Plains.
There are no campsites shown on the map, and as listed below both the Intensive Use Area and other portions of Moose River Plains will continue to allow camping as listed below.
Roadside Campsites, Post UMP Changes.
These are based on the UMP proposal not implemented yet. This is considered the minimum number of sites under the new plan, the Moose River Plains Camping Area, may increase form 112 to 150 sites in the future, depending on the demand. The DEC plans to limit Otter Brook/Indian Lake Roads to tent only sites during summer season has not be finalized.
| Road | Number of Sites | Site Types |
|---|---|---|
| At Wakley Dam: Cedar River Road |
5 | Tent (plus others) or Vehicle |
| Moose River Plains Camping Area Roads: Moose River Plain Road Campsite Loop Helldiver Pond Road Lost Ponds Road Loop Road Rock Dam Road |
112 | Tent or Vehicle |
| Otter Brook Road | 14 | Tent, Vehicles Allowed During Big Game Season |
| Indian Lake Road | 5 | Tent, Vehicles Allowed During Big Game Season |
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Ferris Lake Designated Roadside Campsites
The most popular area in Ferris Lake Wild Forest is to camp along the 20-mile long Piseco-Powley, a spectacular seasonally-gated, state truck trail. Other roads in area provide more remote roadside camping opporunities and are listed below.
The Ferris Lake Wild Forest Unit Management Plan mentions the following about Roadside Camping in the area…
“The FLWF provides a variety of different camping opportunities. The interior portion of the unit contains numerous primitive tent sites that are located along the shores of the more popular lakes. These sites are designated with a yellow camping disk and often contain a fire ring. There are also a number of car accessible sites located along secondary access roads, such as the Powley-Piseco Road, G Lake Road, Mountain Home Road Extension and Edick Road. Most of these sites can accommodate small camper trailers. There are no lean-tos within the unit.”
— NYSDEC Ferris Lake Wild Forest UMP.
Roadside Campsites Designated in UMP.
| Road | Number of Campsites |
|---|---|
| Edick Road | 2 |
| G-Lake Road | 3 |
| Jerseyfield Road | 2 |
| Mountain Home Road Extension (Rough Truck Trail Past the Floe) | 6 |
| Powley-Piesco Road (Open Late Spring-December) Northern Hardwoods Section Near Mud Pond Central Section Near Marshlands of Powley Place Southern Section Near Potholers |
Total: 22 5 10 7 |
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Location of Roads with Camping in Ferris Lake UMP.
Designated Campsites Along Edick Road.
This map is from the Ferris Lake Wild Forest UMP.
Designated Campsites Along G Lake Road.
Please note that the roadside campsites are noted by “GLR”. The “GL” sites are traditional primative tent sites, beyond the gated end of G Lake Road, that you have to backpack into. This map is from the Ferris Lake Wild Forest UMP.
Designated Campsites Along Piseco-Powley Road.
These maps are from the Ferris Lake Wild Forest UMP.
Designated Campsites Along Mountain Home.
This map is from the Ferris Lake Wild Forest UMP.
Aldrich Pond Wild Forest
The Aldrich Pond Wild Forest Wild Forest Unit Management Plan mentions the following about Roadside Camping in the area…
“Most of the camping on this area occurs during the hunting season and much of this is along the Streeter Lake Road. Sixteen campsites have been designated along this corridor and two pit privies established to accommodate this use.”
— NYSDEC Aldrich Pond Wild Forest UMP.
Roadside Campsite.
| Road | Number of Sites |
|---|---|
| Streeter Lake Rd. | 16 |
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View Street Lake Campsites in a larger map
Jessup River Wild Forest
Jessup River Wild Forest is a parcel of lands surrounding the International Paper’s Perkins Clearing Timberlands and Speculator Tree Farm. There are about a dozen informal campsites along Mason Pond on Perkins Clearing Road that are popular, with about 6 of them with direct road access for a small vehicle like a pop-up trailer or a pickup truck with a cap. Only a few of the sites are clearly designated as such, but they all are very well used.
Significant noise pollution from NY 30 can be heard at some of the sites. There are no outhouses, although there are five gallon buckets people use for toilets. Besides the sites on Perkins Clearing Road in Jessup River Wild Forest, there are also eight designated road-side sites in International Paper Timberlands known as Perkins Clearing, just south of Jessup River Wild Forest.
The following changes are proposed in the Jessup River Wild Forest Unit Managemen Plan.
“Close Undesignated Campsites and /or Restrict Type of Camping. This alternative would propose the removal of user created primitive tent sites within 150 of water or road for environmental or social reasons. Camping structures would be restricted by regulation to “tents, tarps and lean-to’s as required by the APSLMP, thereby eliminating use of travel trailers, “pop-up” style campers, tent trailers, or structures of similar fashion. This option would eliminate opportunities for individuals seeking an easily accessible camping site close to a lake or road. Current regulations allow for camping anywhere in the JRWF as long as the 150 foot set back requirement is met. People would probably still park by the road and camp further in without any controls. This alternative would also restrict opportunities for mobility impaired individuals to access the lake and/or camp on JRWF lands. Therefore, this alternative will not be supported by this UMP.”
“The preferred alternative is to designate sites taking into consideration day use of the area, appropriate existing sites, APSLMP spacing guidelines, and terrain constraints. Because of their anticipated popularity, permits to stay for more than three nights will not be issued for sites in heavy demand during the core camping season. The camping areas at the northwest end of the lake will be closed due to conflicts with day users and environmental constraints. Other sites that are unsuitable or too close to the water will be closed and revegetated.”
“The closure of fourteen sites along with official designation of 10 suitable sites will reduce the amount of camping the area is currently experiencing. When all sites have been occupied, users will be directed to camp elsewhere. The opening of the adjacent IP lands to camping under the conservation easement will accommodate overflow camping. Use levels and site impacts will be closely monitored on the designated sites. If LAC standards are exceeded, the individual site will be closed and/or rehabilitated.”
— NYSDEC Jessup River Wild Forest UMP.
Confirmed Roadside Campsites.
| Road | Number of Campsites |
|---|---|
| Perkins Clearing Road at Mason Lake |
6 drive-in sites 4 tent sites |
Maps.
Map of Jessup River Wild Forest. Inset is Perkins Clearing and Speculator Tree Farm Easements. Campsites do not appear on these maps, but they give a general overview of the area.
Map of Perkins Clearing and Speculator Tree Farm. There are 10 campsites designated on these parcels, drive around to find them. Campsites do not appear on this map.
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