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.
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
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
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
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.
Across New York State, bigger and meaner children are stealing the lunch money from smaller and weaker children. It happens every school day, and while it may not be fair or right, it’s likely to continue for the forseeable future. As it would be almost impossible to stop — we should do next best thing — license schoolyard bullies.
Licensing schoolyard bullies could bring in a sizable portion of revenue to the state. Nobody knows how much lunch money is stolen every year, but figuring there are millions of kids in Public Schools, there is the potential for millions of untapped revenue. Licensing schoolyard bullies could be a potential goldmine to tap to reduce the state’s yearly deficit.
Understanding the problem of bulling in schools, the state could dedicate a portion of funds coming from licensing and taxing bullies go to bullying prevention. A 50% tax on profits by school bullies could do a lot for all children. It would make the bullying business theoretically less profitable, and discourage bullying. It also would provide funds to monitor the actions of bullies to ensure that actions are appropiate — extracting funds from weaker children — while making sure their actions aren’t too abusive or harmful.
The fact is we are never going to get away from bigger and mean kids bullying weaker kids, and stealing their lunch money. It’s just part of growing up for the most unlucky of children. Yet, if this insitution is to exist, then at least their should be a kind of public function to schoolyard thief of lunch money, specifically funding of government.
… and remember, school yard bullies are not organized, and are too young to vote.
Today we look at land use in the Mohawk Valley. Here a series of maps along the Mohawk River, showing land use as a quad color image, based on NASS/Landstat data from the region. The images below use the following colors:
Red – Developed areas such as cities, highways, and other industrialized or otherwise developed parts.
Yellow – Agricultural areas, including all farm crops such as corn, hay, alfalpha, and other truck crops
Green – Woodland, brush, and barren lands
Blue – Water bodies
These images should pick up detail up to about 300 feet in any particular direction.
Overwhelmingly, the Mohawk Valley is about agriculture, although as elevation increases and farming is no longer profitable, then farm fields revert to tree cover. And while their are certainly single family homes and other rural residents under the tree cover, by no means is development the overwhelming use of the land.
Utica Area.
Most of the farming in the Utica-area, occurs south of the city, due to the sandy soils, short growing season, and elevation making farming unprofitable north of city. This map may actually distort how much land north of city is actually farmed, as many of farm fields shown on this map have been abandoned and are slowly reverting to brush and ultimately tree cover.
Canajoharie Area.
As you get around Canajoharie the amount of farming activity picks up dramatically, and except for a small section right next to the Mohawk Valley, most of this area is not developed.
Albany-Schenectady Area.
Heading towards Albany-Schenectady, you see more development, but notice how you don’t have to get far from the city for forest cover to be dominant feature, and not agriculture. A lot of this is rural residents, with acreage, and hobby farms around here. Farming stops when you get up on the Rensselear Plateau, although the farm lands right around Brunswick are quite profitable, until you start heading towards Grafton where almost all farming stops.
How much of the Mohawk Valley is developed, how much is farmed, and how much is forested? These images give you a clear overview, with all agricultural cropland and pasture colored yellow, all forest lands colored green, waterways colored blue, and developed areas are red. This is based on LANDSTAT and USDA NASS Croplayer data.
Overwhelmingly, the Mohawk Valley is about agriculture, although as elevation increases and farming is no longer profitable, then farm fields revert to tree cover. And while their are certainly single family homes and other rural residents under the tree cover, by no means is development the overwhelming use of the land.
Most of the farming in the Utica-area, occurs south of the city, due to the sandy soils, short growing season, and elevation making farming unprofitable north of city. This map may actually distort how much land north of city is actually farmed, as many of farm fields shown on this map have been abandoned and are slowly reverting to brush and ultimately tree cover.
As you get around Canajoharie the amount of farming activity picks up dramatically, and except for a small section right next to the Mohawk Valley, most of this area is not developed.
Heading towards Albany-Schenectady, you see more development, but notice how you don’t have to get far from the city for forest cover to be dominant feature, and not agriculture. A lot of this is rural residents, with acreage, and hobby farms around here. Farming stops when you get up on the Rensselear Plateau, although the farm lands right around Brunswick are quite profitable, until you start heading towards Grafton where almost all farming stops.
From the east, probably the best way to get to Grout Pond is via Kelley Stand Road, a twisty one lane dirt road that heads east out of East Arlington in Vermont. Pay careful attention to this map, it’s easy to get lost in East Arlington or East Kansas. I know I ended up at Covered Bridge in Chiselville the first time I got there.
Grout pond isn’t the biggest in the world. If you want lots of open water, check out the Somerset Reservoir. This area, however offers either backpack-in camping along the east shore, or 25 drive-in campsites, in a primitive campground nearby. There is no charge to use this National Recreation Area. Other roadside campsites along Kelly Strand Road, FR 71, and FR 70. Forest Road 70’s campsites are particularly nice, and it’s a 1/4 mile portage down to Branch Pond (bring wheels).
The lake is very shallow and marshy in one. Supposedly good fishing if you have a Vermont State Fishing License.
