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A dirt road winding through a hardwood forest carpeted in fallen leaves, birches along its edge.

The Overland Directory

Training in New York

Driver training, recovery courses, field repair and wilderness first aid, taught by people who do it for a living.

Training in New York

2 listings

  1. Northeast Off-Road Adventures, Inc. Ellenville, NY Off road driving school on a private mountain top site in Ellenville running 4WD and overland training classes, guided driving tours, team outings and adaptive recreation programs.
  2. Leonard Motorsports Glenville, NY Off road driving school in Glenville running 4x4 courses for stock and equipped vehicles, winch and rigging instruction and 4x4 EVOC programs for fire and police crews, operating since 2002.

New York by the numbers

of New York is federal land 1
0.7%
210,819 of 30,680,960 acres, and none of it BLM
acres inside the Adirondack Park 11
6M
The largest protected region in the contiguous United States, 44 percent of it state owned
acres of Forest Preserve, forever wild 9
3M
61 percent of all the land the state conservation department manages
Mount Marcy, the state high point 2
5,344 ft
Our own reading of the elevation surface at its map point gives 5,333 ft
state campgrounds in the two parks 15
51
Booked through ReserveAmerica up to nine months ahead
federal campgrounds a vehicle can reach 4
9
6 Park Service and 3 Forest Service; our build of the federal recreation database
acres of State Forest outside the two parks 14
800K+
Where the motor vehicle rules are looser than in the Forest Preserve
acres of conservation easement open to the public 16
900K+
Working private forest; access can be suspended while logging is under way

What is worth learning here

Winch work against trees, mud recovery, and reading a unit management plan. The last one is not a joke: in New York the document decides where you may drive, and the ability to read a classification map is a practical skill.

Sand driving is a separate discipline and the beach permit requires it, down to airing to half the rated pressure before the checkpoint.

The full guide to overlanding New York

What training covers

Training is the cheapest upgrade there is. It costs less than a bumper, weighs nothing, and works on every vehicle you will ever own.

Common courses

  1. 01Driving: line choice, throttle and brake control, airing down, spotting
  2. 02Recovery: safe rigging, winching and kinetic recovery
  3. 03Field repair: tires, fluids, electrical faults and improvised fixes
  4. 04Navigation and communication
  5. 05Wilderness first aid

How to choose a course

Small classes and real terrain.

  1. 01Ask about class size and how much time you spend driving rather than watching.
  2. 02Ask whether you train in your own vehicle. You should.
  3. 03Ask about the instructors' certification and how long they have been teaching.
  4. 04Ask what terrain the course uses, and what to bring.

Why it is worth it

A trained driver breaks less, gets stuck less and recovers more safely. Most vehicle damage on the trail comes from speed and poor line choice, and most recovery injuries come from rigging that someone guessed at.

Questions people ask

I have driven dirt roads for years. Is a course worth it?

Most experienced drivers say the recovery day alone was worth it. Rigging a winch pull safely is not something to work out for the first time when you are stuck.

Do I need a built vehicle to attend?

No. Most introductory courses are designed for stock four-wheel-drive vehicles, and learning what a stock vehicle can do is the point.

How high is New York?

From Patchogue at 21 feet to Mount Marcy at 5,344. Altitude decides what your engine, your brakes and your lungs have to work with, and how late in the year the passes open.

Towns

  1. Tannersville The Kaaterskill and North-South Lake approach 1,901 ft
  2. Lake Placid Services and fuel before the Whiteface highway and the High Peaks 1,795 ft
  3. Indian Lake The eastern gate of the Moose River Plains road, by way of Cedar River Road 1,747 ft
  4. Old Forge The western gateway, and the road in to the Moose River Plains by way of Inlet 1,740 ft
  5. Long Lake Mid-Park fuel on Route 30, between the Perkins tracts and the north 1,674 ft
  6. Tupper Lake Last full services heading west across the Park 1,592 ft
  7. Newcomb The Blue Ridge Road approach to the Boreas Ponds tract 1,559 ft
  8. Saranac Lake The largest village in the north-central Park, and the Floodwood Road approach 1,544 ft
  9. Cranberry Lake Remote northwest Park, near the Five Ponds country 1,495 ft
  10. Salamanca The gateway to Allegany State Park, the largest in the state system 1,379 ft
  11. North Creek Upper Hudson services on the Park’s eastern edge 1,033 ft
  12. Phoenicia Central Catskills services below Stony Clove Notch 826 ft
  13. Watkins Glen The town for the Finger Lakes National Forest, the only one in the state 459 ft
  14. Lake George The Prospect Mountain highway and the Lake George Wild Forest roads 352 ft
  15. Montauk The eastern end of the beach fishing permit, open around the year 31 ft
  16. Patchogue The mainland side of Fire Island, where the ferries leave 21 ft

Passes, high roads and summits

  1. Mount Marcy The state high point, in Essex County. The published USGS figure; our own reading of the elevation surface at its map point gives 5,333 ft 5,344 ft
  2. Whiteface Mountain Our own reading of the elevation surface at its map point. No agency publishes a summit figure on a page that opened 4,858 ft
  3. Slide Mountain The highest of the Catskills. The Catskill master plan gives 4,180 ft and our own reading agrees exactly 4,180 ft
  4. Hunter Mountain Our own reading of the elevation surface at its map point, in Greene County 4,030 ft
  5. Blue Mountain Our own reading of the elevation surface at its map point, in Hamilton County 3,760 ft
  6. Indian Pass Our own reading of the elevation surface at its map point, in the High Peaks 2,852 ft
  7. Stony Clove Notch Our own reading of the elevation surface at its map point, on the Catskill road between Phoenicia and Hunter 2,103 ft
  8. Prospect Mountain Prospect Mountain Veterans Memorial Highway 2,030 ft

Pass, road and summit elevations are the figures published by the agency that manages them. Town elevations are the town’s or county’s own figure where it publishes an exact one; the rest are from the U.S. Geological Survey (3D Elevation Program at the place’s official coordinates), retrieved September 18, 2026. Every source is listed at the foot of the page.

Sources for this page

45
  1. Congressional Research Service. Federal Land Ownership: Overview and Data (R42346), Tables 1 and 2, data as of September 30, 2024. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  2. U.S. Geological Survey. Elevations and Distances in the United States, online edition. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  3. U.S. Geological Survey. Geographic Names Information System and 3D Elevation Program point query. Elevation of the 3DEP surface at the GNIS coordinates of the named place, rounded to the nearest foot. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  4. Recreation.gov. Recreation Information Database (RIDB) full export, the site’s own build of it. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  5. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. CP-38, Forest Preserve Roads, issued March 31, 2006. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  6. Adirondack Park Agency. Adirondack Park State Land Master Plan, November 2025. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  7. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Catskill Park State Land Master Plan, August 2008. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  8. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Motorized Access Program for People with Disabilities: policy. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  9. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. New York’s Forest Preserve. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  10. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Welcome to the Adirondacks. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  11. Adirondack Park Agency. About the Adirondack Park. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  12. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Welcome to the Catskills. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  13. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Rules for Using State Forests and Forest Preserve. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  14. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. State Forests. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  15. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Camping, and Camping Reservations. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  16. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Conservation Easements. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  17. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Moose River Plains Complex. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  18. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Ferris Lake Wild Forest. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  19. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Black River Wild Forest. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  20. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Independence River Wild Forest. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  21. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Saranac Lakes Wild Forest. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  22. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Lake George Wild Forest. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  23. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Boreas Ponds Tract. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  24. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Perkins Clearing and Speculator Tree Farm Conservation Easement Tracts. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  25. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Sundown Wild Forest. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  26. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Peekamoose Blue Hole. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  27. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Prospect Mountain Veterans Memorial Highway Day Use Area. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  28. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. North-South Lake Campground and Day Use Area. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  29. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Open Burning, and the March 2026 reminder that the statewide residential brush burning prohibition runs March 16 to May 14. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  30. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Snowmobiling. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  31. USDA Forest Service. Green Mountain and Finger Lakes National Forests: About the Area. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  32. USDA Forest Service. Camping and Cabins, Green Mountain and Finger Lakes National Forests. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  33. USDA Forest Service. Blueberry Patch Campground. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  34. National Park Service. Fire Island National Seashore, and Off Road Vehicle Operation. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  35. National Park Service. Camping at Gateway. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  36. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  37. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Corps Lakes Gateway: New York. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  38. New York State Department of Motor Vehicles. ATVs: Information for Owners and Operators, and Register an ATV. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  39. New York State Department of Motor Vehicles. Chapter 10: Special Driving Conditions, New York State Driver’s Manual. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  40. New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. 4-Wheel Drive Beach Access Fishing Guide, Long Island Region, citing 9 NYCRR 372.1 to 372.6 and 415.4. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  41. New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Allegany State Park. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  42. State of New York. State news release describing the Whiteface Mountain Veterans’ Memorial Highway as an eight-mile scenic highway. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  43. New York State Department of Transportation. Current New York State Scenic Byways, and the Adirondack Trail. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  44. New York State Department of Transportation. Central Adirondack Trail. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  45. New York State Department of Transportation. Olympic Trail. Retrieved September 19, 2026.

Reviewed September 19, 2026. Conditions, closures and rules change; check with the managing agency before you travel.

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