Camping in New York

Camping rules worth knowing in New York

Camping: 150 feet, three nights, ten people

Camping is prohibited within 150 feet of any road, trail or body of water except at camping areas designated by the department. Camping for more than three consecutive nights, or in a group of ten or more, requires a permit from a forest ranger. Groups of more than twenty people, and activities such as weddings, filming and research, need a temporary revocable permit. Backcountry camping is otherwise permitted on most department land, including the Forest Preserve and the state forests. Source 13

Fire: a fixed spring prohibition, not a stage ladder

New York runs a statewide residential brush burning prohibition from 16 March to 14 May rather than a stage system, because open burning of debris is the single largest cause of spring wildfires in the state. Backyard fire pits and campfires under three feet high and four feet across are allowed during it, as are small cooking fires. A first offence carries a minimum five hundred dollar fine. Source 29

Eight campgrounds carry the Catskills

The Catskill Park holds more than a quarter million acres of forest and over 300 miles of trail, and eight state-operated campgrounds provide more than 700 individual sites between them. That is the whole developed supply on a weekend when the city empties north, and it books out first. Backcountry camping remains permitted on most land the department manages, including Forest Preserve in both parks and the State Forests outside them, which is the release valve when the campgrounds are full. Source 12

On the national forest, camping has its own setbacks

The Finger Lakes National Forest is not Forest Preserve and its rules are the Forest Service’s: campsites at least 50 feet from trails, roads, developed recreation sites or water bodies, a maximum stay of 14 days in any 30-day period, and no camping in the pastures from 15 May to 31 October while the grazing season runs. The state’s 150-foot setback and three-night limit do not apply here, and neither do the forest’s rules anywhere else in New York. Source 32

Driving Fire Island is a residents’ permit, not a visitor’s

Motorised off-road vehicle use at Fire Island National Seashore is designated within limited Park Service areas, and only year-round residents and island contractors or businesses may apply. The seashore defines a year-round resident as someone legally domiciled on the island who physically resides there continuously except for brief and occasional absences for twelve months of the year. Summer residents and renters are excluded outright. Permits are limited in number by category, the application fee is fifty dollars, resident applications are postmarked by 31 January and contractors by 1 December, and driving is progressively restricted as ferry service increases through the spring. Source 34

The federal campground near the city takes no RV

Camp Gateway at Sandy Hook is open May to September and every reservation goes through Recreation.gov. Sites for up to six people are thirty dollars a night, fifteen with a Senior or Access pass, sites for up to ten are fifty, and group sites for ten to thirty are a hundred and fifty. The Park Service states plainly that Sandy Hook cannot accommodate RVs, which rules out most of what this guide is written for. Source 35

The full guide to overlanding New York