essays

Campsites and Lean-Tos in DEC Region 7 (Central NY)

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Today we look at Campsites and Lean-tos and other “developed” camping opporunties in DEC Region 7, which consists of lands in Central NY Counties of Broome, Cayuga, Chenango, Cortland, Madison, Onondaga, Oswego, Tompkins and Tioga, and is based on data in Region 7 Recreation Master Plan.

Rhododendrons

Current 85 Designated Campsites/Lean-Tos.

  • Balsam Pond State Forest (Chenango 17) – 1 campsite at Baker’s pond
  • Balsam Pond State Forest (Chenango 34) – 9 campsites 3
  • Beaver Creek State Forest (Madison 12) – 2 campsites at the assembly area 4
  • Charles E. Baker State Forest (Madison 1) – 14 campsites at Moscow Hill 4
  • Charles E. Baker State Forest (Madison 1) – 2 lean-tos
  • Charles E. Baker State Forest (Madison 1) – 8 campsites at Cherry Ridge 3
  • Danby State Forest (Tompkins 1) – 2 lean-tos (Finger Lakes Trail)
  • Gee Brook State Forest (Cortland 17) – 6 campsites at Calico Pond
  • Long Pond State Forest (Chenango 35) – 8 campsites
  • Ludlow Creek State Forest (Chenango 6) – 1 lean-to (Finger Lakes Trail)
  • Mariposa State Forest (Chenango-Madison 1) – 1 lean-to (Finger Lakes Trail)
  • McDonough State Forest (Chenango 1) – 3 campsites at Whaley Pond
  • Morgan Hill State Forest (Cortland 4) – 1 lean-to
  • Morgan Hill State Forest (Onondaga 1) – 9 campsites at Spruce Pond 1
  • New Michigan State Forest (Chenango 5) – 1 lean-to (Finger Lakes Trail)
  • Robinson Hollow State Forest (Tioga 3) – 1 lean-to
  • Shindagin Hollow State Forest (Tompkins 3) – 1 lean-to (Finger Lakes Trail)
  • Stoney Pond State Forest (Madison 13) – 12 campsites 2
  • Taylor Valley State Forest (Cortland 2) – 12 campsites 5
  • Tuller Hill State Forest (Cortland 9) – 1 lean-to
  • Whaupaunaucau State Forest (Chenango 31) – 1 lean-to
  • Wiley Brook State Forest (Chenango 7) – 1 campsite

1 DEC Camping permit required. Call (607) 674-4036 to have a permit mailed to you.

2DEC Camping permit required from April 15-October 15th. Call (607) 674-4036 to have a permit mailed to you.

3 Vehicle accessible.

4Horse Assembly and Camping-area.

5 Currently undesignated sites (lacks “Camp Here Markers”) on an old loop road that was part of CCC Camp in Taylor Valley.

Related Maps.

Reed Hill

Pavilion

Morning shadows

Waterfall on the Long Path

Shoreline

DEC’s Future Plans for Region 7

1. Develop 31 additional campsites in Region 7. Twenty-eight of these will be open campsites and three will be lean-tos. A portion of the new campsite development will occur on Hall Island State Forest (Oswego 10), as noted in items b and c. The Department will consider the option of permanently closing any or all of the Island campsites if patrol or enforcement problems become an issue. Fiscal constraints and public demand will determine if any additional campsites are to be developed within the Region.

a. Development of the new campsites will be in compliance with the guidelines for access by people with disabilities.

b. Develop 12 to 15 open campsites on Hall Island State Forest (Oswego10). These campsites will be located on the south side of the Salmon River Reservoir and will only be accessible by water. A permit will be required to occupy these sites. Three of these sites will be developed for people with disabilities . c. On Hall Island State Forest (Oswego 10), upgrade two designated campsites on Burdick Island and two campsites on Huckleberry Island in the Salmon River Reservoir. A permit will be required to occupy these sites. Two of these sites will be developed for people with disabilities.

Households That Make Less then $30k

d. Develop one lean-to campsite along the Finger Lakes Trail on Perkins Pond State Forest (Chenango 22) in the Town of Otselic.

e. Develop two open campsites on the Marsh Pond State Forest (Broome 4) near the pond. One of these sites will be developed for people with disabilities.

f. Develop three campsites on Robinson Hill State Forest (Tioga 3) near Tricounty Pond. The exact number of sites will be determined from local demand. One or two of these sites will be developed for people with disabilities. Install kiosk and develop area brochure.

g. Develop one lean-to on the Genegantslet State Forest with access from Creek Road. The access trail to the lean-to will be approximately 0.7 miles of hiking trail.

h. Develop an open campsite in stand C-7 on Long Pond State Forest (Chenango 35) designed for access by canoe or boat.

i. Develop three open campsites on Oakley Corners State Forest (Tioga 2). One of these sites will be developed for people with disabilities. Use of these sites will be by permit only.

j. Upgrade and designate three formal sites on the Salmon River State Forest (Oswego 8). A permit will be required to occupy these sites.

k. Rebuild the lean-to along the trail on Chateaugay State Forest (Oswego 4 & 5).

Cherry Ridge Camping Area Sign

l. Build one lean-to on Cuyler Hill State Forest (Cortland 6).

m. Inspect and, if necessary, repair or replace lean-tos on the Finger Lakes Trail.

2. Propose a change to the current regulations to address the conflicts encountered with camping within 150 feet of a road.

a. Propose a change to the current regulation that prohibits camping within 150′ of any road. The intent of this proposal is to accommodate the style of camping that is common during hunting season.

Number 1

3. Provide camping opportunities on State Forests for people with disabilities. These ADA compliant facilities will be distributed throughout the Region. Most of the designated campsites will have fire rings and several of the sites will have picnic tables. Fire rings, picnic tables and benches will be of Universal Design. Accessible latrines will be located at areas with several campsites, such as Long Pond, Stoney Pond and Charles E. Baker State Forests. All camping areas that can be driven to will have at least one accessible parking space. a. Make alterations to the Moscow Hill campsites on the Charles E. Baker State Forest (Madison 1 & 4) so that at least four of the sites are accessible by people with disabilities.

Hunting Camps Along Reservoir

4. Designate 14 campsites at Moscow Hill, Madison 1, camping area.

5. Maintain 85 existing campsites.

6. Propose a regulation to prohibit camping at Nanticoke Lake Multiple-Use Area and Redfield Island Day-Use Area

Campsite 8

7. Remove the lean-to on New Michigan State Forest (Chenango 5) This lean-to is structurally poor and is no longer located on an active trail. The lean-to proposed in 1. d will replace this lean-to.

Adirondack Park State Land Acquistion Policy

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Today’s fodder is based on the text of as Adirondack Park Land Acqusition Policy, as described in the Adirondack Park State Land Master Plan. I added the headings and pictures to make it more readable. — Andy

The Agency has an important interest inr future state land acquisitions since they can vitally affect both private and public land within the Adirondack Park. As a result the Agency recommends that the following guidelines should govern future acquisitions of state lands within the Park…

Heading Up the Quiet, And Sometimes Narrow Kunjamunk

State Should Only Acquire
Adirondack Park Land for Forest Preseve.

1. Future state acquisitions within the Adirondack Park should generally be restricted to the acquisition of forest preserve lands. Where special state purposes are such that non-forest preserve land might be acquired (if such acquisitions are constitutionally permissible) the amount acquired for other than forest preserve purposes should be kept to the minimum necessary. Thus, should the state acquire a 100-acre tract on which it wished to place a hospital, a prison, an office building or another facility only that part of the tract, say twenty-five acres, that is actually necessary for the facility should be classified as non-forest preserve.

Reasons Not To Acquire Land.

2. As a general guideline, the state should avoid acquiring lands for non-forest preserve purposes (if such acquisitions are constitutionally permissible) within the Park where:

— the tract is not contiguous to a public highway; or,

— the tract is of a native forest character, i.e., stocked with any size, native tree species with twenty-five percent crown cover (plantations are not considered to be native forest land); or,

— the tract involved consists of more than 150 acres; or,

— the tract is contiguous to existing forest preserve land; or,

— the tract is within one-half mile of a block of forest preserve land of over 1,000 acres; or,

— the tract lies at an elevation greater than 2,500 feet; or,

— the proposed use of the tract will materially alter the surrounding environment; or,

— the tract is of significant scenic, ecological or geologic value or interest.

After The Fire

New Intensive Uses Should Be Restricted
to Private Companies and Individuals.

3. Save for (i) the two existing alpine skiing centers at Whiteface and Gore mountains and the Mt. Van Hoevenberg area; (ii) rustic state campsites, a long accepted intensive use of the forest preserve; (iii) visitor information centers, memorial highways, beaches and boat launching sites; and (iv) historic areas (guidelines for which are provided elsewhere in this master plan), the state should rely on private enterprise to develop intensive recreational facilities on private lands within the Park, to the extent that the character of these lands permits this type of development, and should not acquire lands for these purposes.

Trees Along the West Branch

Lands Most Desirable to Add to Forest Preserve.

4. Highest priority should be given to acquiring fee title to, fee title subject to a term of life tenancy, or conservation easements providing public use or value or rights of first refusal over,

(i) key parcels of private land, the use or development of which could adversely affect the integrity of vital tracts of state land, particularly wilderness, primitive and canoe areas and

(ii) key parcels which would permit the upgrading of primitive areas to wilderness areas.

Preference for Consolidation of State Parcels of Land.

5. High priority should also be given to acquisitions of fee title which permit the consolidation of scattered tracts of state land.

Protection of Deer Wintering Habitats.

6. Fee title or appropriate conservation easements should also be acquired to protect critical wildlife areas such as deer wintering areas, wetlands, habitats of rare or endangered species or other areas of unique value, such as lands bordering or providing access to classified or proposed wild, scenic and recreational rivers.

Moose Plains Road in Plains

Protection of Scenic Vistas.

7. Efforts should be made, by conservation easement or fee acquisition, to protect the major scenic resources of the Park along travel corridors, with particular attention to the Adirondack Northway and those scenic vistas specifically identified on the Private Land Use and Development Plan Map and listed in Chapter III of this document.

Obtaining Right-of-Ways to Public Lands.

8. The acquisition of fee title to or rights-of-way across private lands that effectively prevent access to important blocks of state land should be pursued, except where such acquisition would exacerbate or cause problems of overuse or inappropriate use of state lands.

Obtaining Canoe water Right-of-Ways.

9. Canoe route easements should be purchased to reopen Adirondack canoe routes for non-motorized access in appropriate areas of the Park.

Vanderwhacker Firetower Trail Sign

Obtaining Fishing Right Easements.

10. The highly successful fishing rights easement purchase program of the Department of Environmental Conservation should be continued and expanded on appropriate streams.

Tug Hill Valley

Avoid Purchases of Highly Productive Timber Stands,
Consider Conservation Easements for Timber Stands.

11. Due to the importance of the forest products industry to the economy of the Adirondack region, bulk acreage purchases in fee should not normally be made where highly productive forest land is involved, unless such land is threatened with development that would curtail its use for forestry purposes or its value for the preservation of open space or of wildlife habitat. However, conservation easements permitting the continuation of sound forest management and other land uses compatible with the open space character of the Park should be acquired wherever possible to protect and buffer state lands.

Relaxed

Adirondack Park Agency Prohibited from Reviewing Land Purchases Prior to Purchase.

While the Agency has not been given authority to review proposed acquisitions before title has vested in the state, once new lands have been acquired the Act requires the master plan to be revised by classifying the lands and setting guidelines for their management and use pursuant to the statutory procedures (consultation with the Department of Environmental Conservation and submission to the Governor for approval). The following procedures for revisions of the master plan will be followed in connection with new acquisitions:

— land acquisitions should be classified as promptly as possible following acquisition and in any case classification of new acquisitions will be done annually; and,

— prior to classification by the Agency, lands acquired by the Department of Environmental Conservation or any other state agency will be administered on an interim basis in a manner consistent with the character of the land and its capacity to withstand use and which will not foreclose options for eventual classification.

One Lane Bridge

Adirondack Wild, Scenic and Recreational Rivers System

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Today’s fodder is based on the text of the Adirondack Park State Land Master Plan that explains the Adirondack Scenic, Wild and Recreational Rivers System and the policies surrounding it quite well. — Andy

The Adirondack Park contains many rivers which, with their immediate environs, constitute an important and unusual resource. Classification of those portions of rivers that flow through state land is vital to the protection of existing free flowing streams. The classification system and the recommended guidelines specified below are designed to be consistent with and complementary to both the basic intent and structure of the legislation passed by the legislature in 1972 creating a wild, scenic and recreational rivers system on both state and private lands.

LED Driver built on perfboard as Arduino shield

Definitions

A wild river is a river or section of river that is free of diversions and impoundments, inaccessible to the general public except by water, foot or horse trail, and with a river area primitive in nature and free of any man-made development except foot bridges.

A scenic river is a river or section of river that is free of diversions or impoundments except for log dams, with limited road access and with a river area largely primitive and undeveloped, or that is partially or predominantly used for agriculture, forest management and other dispersed human activities that do not substantially interfere with public use and enjoyment of the river and its shore. A recreational river is a river or section of river that is readily accessible by road or railroad, that may have development in the river area and that may have undergone some diversion or impoundment in the past.

River Picks Up Speed As You End the Flow

Guidelines for Management and Use

Basic guidelines

1. No river or river area will be managed or used in a way that would be less restrictive in nature than the statutory requirements of the Wild, Scenic and Recreational Rivers Act, Article l5, title 27 of the Environmental Conservation Law, or than the guidelines for the management and use of the land classification within which the river area lies, but the river or river area may be administered in a more restrictive manner.

2. Rivers will be kept free of pollution and the water quality thereof kept sufficiently high to meet other management guidelines contained in this section.

3. No dam or other structure impeding the natural flow of a river will be constructed on a wild, scenic or recreational river, except for stream improvement structures for fisheries management purposes which are permissible on recreational and scenic rivers only.

4. The precise boundaries of the river area will be determined by the Department of Environmental Conservation, will be specified in the individual unit management plans for the river area or the areas, where the more restrictive guidelines of the particular area will apply) and with the following additional guidelines.

2. Access points to the river shore or crossings of the river by roads, fire truck trails or other trails open to motor vehicle use by the public or administrative personnel will normally be located at least two miles apart.

3. Other motor vehicle roads or trails in the river area will not be encouraged and, where permitted, will normally be kept at least 500 feet from the river shore and will be screened by vegetation or topography from view from the river itself.

4. The natural character of the river and its immediate shoreline will be preserved.

5. The following structures and improvements may be located so as to be visible from the river itself:

== fishing and waterway access sites;

== foot and horse trails and foot and horse trail bridges crossing the river; and,

== motor vehicle bridges crossing the river.

6. All other new, reconstructed or relocated conforming structures and improvements (other than individual lean-tos, primitive tent sites and pit privies which are governed by the regular guidelines of the master plan) will be located a minimum of 250 feet from the mean high water mark of the river and will in all cases be reasonably screened by vegetation or topography from view from the river itself.

7. Motorboat usage of scenic rivers will not normally be permitted but may be allowed by the Department of Environmental Conservation, where such use is already established, is consistent with the character of the river and river area, and will not result in any undue adverse impacts upon the natural resource quality of the area.

Recreational rivers

1. Recreational rivers and their river areas will be administered in accordance with the guidelines for management of wild forest areas (except where such rivers flow through wilderness, primitive or canoe areas, where the more restrictive guidelines of the particular area will apply) and with the following additional guidelines:

2. Where a recreational river flows through an intensive use area, structures, improvements and uses permitted in intensive use areas will be permitted, provided the scale and intensity of these intensive uses do not adversely affect the recreational character of the river and the river area.

3. The natural character of the river and its immediate shoreline will be preserved and enhanced.

4. The following structures and improvements may be located so as to be visible from the river itself:

== fishing and waterway access sites;

== docks;

== foot and horse trails and foot and horse trail bridges crossing the river;

== snowmobile trails, roads, and truck trails; and,

== motor vehicle bridges crossing the river.

5. All other new, reconstructed or relocated conforming structures and improvements (other than individual lean-tos and primitive tent sites which are governed by the regular guidelines of the master plan) will be located a minimum of 150 feet from the mean high water mark of the river and will in all cases be reasonably screened by vegetation or topography from view from the river itself.

6. Motorboat use of recreational rivers may be permitted, as determined by the Department of Environmental Conservation.

Cheney Pond Outlet

Designation of Wild, Scenic and Recreational Rivers

The application of the above definitions and criteria to rivers on state lands in the Park results in the current designation under this master plan of 155.1 miles of wild rivers, 511.3 miles of scenic rivers, and 539.5 miles of recreational rivers. A significant amount of private lands not covered by this master plan are included in these mileage figures. A brief description of these rivers and their classification is set forth in Chapter III.

River Wild Scenic Recreational
Ampersand Brook 8.6
Ausable — Main Branch 21.7
Ausable — East Branch 8.8 25.2
Ausable — West Branch 31.8
Black 6.8 5.8
Bog 6.2
Boreas 11.4
Bouquet 42.7
Bouquet — North Fork 5.9
Bouquet — South Fork 5.0
Blue Mountain Stream (Trib. of Middle Branch, Grasse River) 7.9
Cedar 13.5 13.0 10.4
Cold 14.5
Deer 5.7
East Canada Creek 19.3
Grasse — Middle Branch 12.9
Grasse — North Branch 25.4
Grasse — South Branch 36.1 4.2
Hudson 11.2 11.8 55.1
Independence 24.5
Indian (Trib. of Hudson River) 7.5
Indian (Trib. of Moose River — South Branch) 15.1
Jordan 15.7
Kunjamuk 7.1 9.1
Long Pond Outlet 16.3
Marion 4.4
Moose — Main Branch 15.0 11.0
Moose – North Branch 5.3 11.6
Moose — South Branch 33.6
Opalescent 10.4
Oswegatchie — Main Branch 14.9
Oswegatchie — Middle Branch 13.0 22.7
Oswegatchie — West Branch 7.2 6.3
Otter River 8.8
Ouluska Pass Brook 2.3
Piseco Outlet 3.8
Raquette 36.0 51.6
Red 8.0
Rock 6.4 1.3
Round Lake Outlet 2.4
St. Regis — East Branch 15.4 6.3
St. Regis — Main Branch 15.6 23.9
St. Regis — West Branch 31.5 5.5
Sacandaga — East Branch 11.3 12.6
Sacandaga — Main Branch 28.5
Sacandaga — West Branch 18.1 16.6
Salmon 11.6
Saranac 62.7
Schroon 63.9
West Canada Creek 7.4 17.1 9.1
West Canada Creek — South Branch 5.7 9.1
West Stony Creek 7.4 7.7
Total 148.4 487.2 545.6

The New Albany Pine Bush Trail System

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Recently, the Albany Pine Bush underwent several controversial changes to trail system that included closing off most interior trails, with a preference to route trails on the outskirts of the property along other right-of-aways.


View Larger Map

While this decreases the user experience, the argument presented by commission was to reduce hiker use and increase the virtue of wildlife habitat. Sportsmen with licenses are free to continue to traverse the land freely, however the general public is restricted to these trails.

Mount Hayden State Forest

One of the biggest changes was the over milage of trails at the preserve has increased greatly, with better connections to many of the nearby communities, at least to the extent that public right aways allowed such connections. While trails in the western portion of the Albany Pine Bush are not yet built, connections from Schenectady all the way to Rennselear Lake are planned.

Betty Brook

For the sake of the current map, I only included parcels that the Pine Bush Commission owns or are public Right-of-Ways or public Roadways. Some private parcels, such as the Albany Rapp Road Landfill Trail, are a long way off into the future, so the connection to Rennselear Lake from more westerly portions of the Pine Bush are further off.

Now let’s take a look at specific areas…

East Barriens / Commission Headquarters.

The trail along Vista Dune remains (Blue Trail), as do parts of the perimeter trail, but along the easterly portion of this area, the new trail runs much closer to the closed Greater Albany Landfill, and will eventually include a connection over the landfill to Rensselear Lake.

Old Trails …

Stairs

New Trails …

Tinker Falls

The White “Shortcut” Trails are removed, replaced by a major loop consisting of the Red and Yellow Trails, with a portion moved closer to landfill to avoid Karner Blue Habitat.


View Larger Map

Blueberry Hill.

Removed are several of the loops in favor of bigger loops and more mileage in other parts of the preserve.


View Larger Map

Old Trails …

Stairs

New Trails …

Syracuse

West Barriens and Kiakout Kill.

Some of smaller trails were closed, but for the most part a large expansion to trails in this area.


View Larger Map

Old Trails …

The start of the day

New Trails …

Mount Hayden State Forest

Liberty as Wilderness

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I have written many times in the past on how much I dislike State Parks and State Campgrounds. I dislike the high degree of enforcement, the rules and regulations, and the number of people that are crowded into a small area. I much prefer to be alone and make my own rules, limited only by a basic respect for the natural world around me.

Deer

I have never viewed wilderness as a fixed or pure landscape. There is no pure wilderness for me, no set of clear definations, except for the need to be fairly remote, fairly private, fairly free from the big government enforcement precence. Certainly, a scenic view is nice, and quiet from passing traffic is great, but it’s not everything.

Fulton Chain of Lakes

Liberty should be the primary goal in wilderness. Wilderness is a place with the fewest regulations and rules possible, the farthest place possible from an enforcement precence. I just like to be myself, spend time in the woods, observing nature, and doing things on my own pace, without the regulations or control of the government.

Urban-Rural Interface for State Boundaries?

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Would government be effective if urban areas and those areas in the urban sphere of influence such as the suburbs where separate from truly rural areas, where residents rarely go to city? By definition, the urban-rural interface is the border between the lands within a practical commuting distance for the productive non-farming rural resident and the rural resident who rarely interacts with the city.

As I’ve written many times in the past, urban policies being applied to rural areas rarely make sense, as do rural policies applied to urban areas. The conflict between the rural and the urban is best mitigated by creating and having two separate and sovereign governments, while allowing them to come together for questions of national and international policy, for things like nation defense, transportation infrastructure, and large-source emitters’ pollution control.

Juneteenth 2022 Weekend

Political districts currently are based on haphazards of history or attempts at gaming the political system and not geographic reality. Large regional governments in urbanized areas and their spheres of influence would be far more effective at addressing the large problems of day from transportation to materials recovery or disposal. Moreover, the linkages between two urban regions of similar size (such as Syracuse Urbanized-area and Albany Urbanized-area), are far closer in many ways then a single county (Albany County’s Urban Sphere of Influence versus those areas in extreme western-portion of Albany County outside of Urban Sphere of Influence).

Urban areas really like their new found power since the awful 1964 ruling in Reynolds vs Simms, that mandated both houses of a legislature be equally proportioned, and banned the upper house (ie. Senate) from being based on geography, giving rural areas limited voice in the process. Urban and more liberal constituencies are unlikely to give up their dominance in the process, or allow more rural areas to have sovereignty, because it’s fun to boss around people you disagree with.

While maybe politically impractical, giving urban and rural areas complete sovereignty in their own matters would solve a lot of problems, and create policies more appropriate for their constituencies.