![]() In addition to whatever map you have, always look at the DEC maps. There are also links to downloadable and printable PDF maps. Each has a dedicated page on the DEC website, which tells you whether camping is allowed. These lands include "thousands of miles of recreational trails" and at least hundreds of designated and non-designated primitive campsites, according to the DEC website.Ī list of state forests can be found here. There are now more than 780,000 acres of State Forests in New York, managed by the Department of Environmental Conservation. If you drive, park in a nearby public place and hike in. ![]() Avoid a ticket and tow fee by taking public transportation and, if you have to, a cab. Some state parks restrict the hours during which parking is allowed. Essentially a linear, 2,175 mile-long, 1/4 mile wide national park, camping is generally allowed anywhere along the Appalachian Trail. Ernest Fahnestock, to honor his soldier-doctor brother who died treating Spanish Flu patients near the front line in France during World War I.īoth the 14,086-acre Fahnestock and the 21,935-acre Sterling Forest are, like Harriman, bi-sected by the 2,175 mile-long Appalachian Trail and its accompanying federally-protected forest corridor. Other nearby state parks with primitive camping opportunities are Sterling Forest and the Clarence Fahnestock Memorial State Park-created in 1929 by Dr. You can find a stealth campsite apart from the crowds if you are not afraid of rattlesnakes, the remote possibility of a fine, and can traverse a trail-less section of forest. ![]() These are technically illegal, "stealth" campsites. ![]() More primitive campsites abound in Harriman away from its lean-to sites. You’re allowed to camp within 300 feet of any of its 9 lean-tos.īecause Harriman is so close to New York City (roughly a 90 minute drive), its primitive camp sites have been heavily used since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. One that allows primitive camping without a permit is Harriman State Park. Generally, state parks allow camping by permit only. These include 180 state parks and a slew of historic sites, golf courses, swimming pools, cabins, and more than 8,000 camp sites. The New York State park system has a total of 250 public facilities occupying nearly 350,000 acres. Those will be yours to find, and keep secret. What follows is a primer on public lands and primitive camping opportunities in New York. But short of hiring a professional guide, how do you find these wild places? To answer that question, it helps to know how New York classifies its public land. The best primitive campsites are near a swimming hole or mountain top view. Some primitive campsites have a spring or brook for water and a pit privy to relieve yourself in. It means a three-sided wooden shelter called a "lean-to” or a flat spot to pitch a tent. While the relatively few state parks that allow camping mostly allow it only by permit at designated locations, New York allows what it calls "primitive camping" on its other public lands. These include state parks, state forests, the forest preserve and public easements that guarantee access to select private lands. ![]() Thanks to the foresight of earlier New Yorkers, the Empire State holds about five million acres of public lands. But all the official campgrounds you found on the internet are crowded with people, like yourself, seeking respite from the pandemic. You thought you had the perfect idea for a quick getaway: camping out in the Catskills with your cutiepie for some peak leaf-peeping. ![]()
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