- The fine print
- BLM's state-by-state table lists no acreage for this state (the listed states account for the bureau's full national total, so BLM surface land here is effectively zero, but no explicit figure is published). 150-foot rule from roads/trails/water except designated sites; no camping above 4,000 ft (ADK) or 3,500 ft (Catskills); prohibited on DEC Unique Areas and WMAs.
New York lists 71 federal recreation facilities: 46 by the Forest Service, 12 by the Park Service, 4 by the Army Corps of Engineers, and 9 across 5 other agencies.
Scale, not a free-camping count: this counts federal recreation facilities of every kind (trailheads, day-use sites, boat ramps, developed campgrounds), and most are not free dispersed camping. Source: Recreation.gov RIDB, retrieved 2026-07-18.
Named areas where free camping is currently allowed
- Adirondack Forest PreserveNYS Department of Environmental Conservation · Stay limit: 3 nights (longer or groups of 10+ need a free Forest Ranger permit)
- Catskill Forest PreserveNYS Department of Environmental Conservation · Stay limit: 3 nights (longer or groups of 10+ need a free permit)
- Degrasse State Forest (example of DEC at-large primitive camping)NYS Department of Environmental Conservation · Stay limit: 3 nights
- Finger Lakes National ForestUSDA Forest Service · Stay limit: 14 days in any 30-day period
Dispersed camping on public land is camping, and it is allowed by default on most BLM and forest land within the stay limit. Pulling off a highway to sleep in your vehicle overnight is a different act with different rules. Which one applies to you.
Stay limits are set by the local field office or ranger district and change with fire restrictions. The managing office's current guidance beats this page.
New York lets you camp free on state land for up to 3 nights, no permit and no fee, across the Adirondack Forest Preserve, the Catskill Forest Preserve, and State Forests statewide. That surprises people who assume free camping is a Western thing. By land open to a free tent, New York is one of the strongest states east of the Mississippi.
Where the free camping is
The Department of Environmental Conservation sets one rulebook for most of it. Backcountry or primitive camping is allowed on Forest Preserve lands in the Adirondacks and Catskills and on State Forest lands outside the Preserve. The core rules, straight from DEC:
You can stay up to 3 nights. Longer stays, or any group of 10 or more people, need a permit from a Forest Ranger. The permit is free; it just means a ranger knows you are out there.
Your site must be at least 150 feet from the nearest road, trail, or body of water, unless you are at a designated site. Designated sites are marked with a yellow-and-black camping disk in most units, and the 150-foot rule is the one DEC writes up most often, so take it seriously.
Elevation matters. No camping above 4,000 feet in the Adirondacks or above 3,500 feet in the Catskills. The summits take enough of a beating without tents on them.
Where it does not apply: DEC Unique Areas and Wildlife Management Areas prohibit camping. Land type matters more than land color on the map, and the posted sign at the trailhead beats this page every time.
Degrasse State Forest in St. Lawrence County is a working example of the pattern: at-large primitive camping allowed, 150-foot setback, 3 nights.
The one national forest
Finger Lakes National Forest, between Seneca and Cayuga lakes, is New York’s only national forest, and it allows dispersed camping under the standard Forest Service model: free camping outside developed campgrounds, limited to 14 days in any 30-day period. Our stay limits guide explains how that counting works.
There is essentially no BLM land in New York, so the state and federal forest systems above are the whole story.
How to check before you go
DEC’s state land rules page is the source for the preserve and State Forest rules, and each State Forest has its own DEC page showing whether at-large camping is allowed there. For Finger Lakes, the forest’s camping page and ranger station cover current conditions. If you are planning more than 3 nights, call the local Forest Ranger for the free permit before you go, not after you are set up.