Bear Wallow Pond Dispersed Campsite in Pharsalia Woods
Reviewed Jun. 16, 2024

Bear Wallow Pond

This is a primitive undeveloped campsite, there is a clearing for tenting but no potable water or amenities of any kind. The site is adjacent to a small parking area and fishing access on a really beautiful pond, which is unnamed on the map but is an impoundment of Bear Wallow Creek so it can be considered Bear Wallow Pond. I have been there in both summer, when the shoreline wildflowers are riotous, and in fall when the changing leaves are breathtaking. If you camp here, you can kayak or fish on the pond, go mountain biking on the network of state forest roads that are all part of the Pharsalia Woods Game Refuge, or access the Finger Lakes Trail or Canasawacta Creek Trail (see website for this listing for map of the refuge and more info at https://cnyhiking.com/FLT-PharsaliaWMA.htm)

You can get to the site from state highway 23 via the Benedict Hill Rd, or from the hamlet of Beaver Meadow going south and west of Cole Hill via Mud Lane. A peaceful pretty wooded spot not far from either Norwich or South Otselic for an easy overnight or weekend. I give it 4 stars not for amenities but for being an idyllic example of a dispersed primitive site

Month of VisitSeptember
  • Review photo of Bear Wallow Pond Dispersed Campsite in Pharsalia Woods by Janet R., June 16, 2024
  • Review photo of Bear Wallow Pond Dispersed Campsite in Pharsalia Woods by Janet R., June 16, 2024
  • Review photo of Bear Wallow Pond Dispersed Campsite in Pharsalia Woods by Janet R., June 16, 2024
  • Review photo of Bear Wallow Pond Dispersed Campsite in Pharsalia Woods by Janet R., June 16, 2024
  • Review photo of Bear Wallow Pond Dispersed Campsite in Pharsalia Woods by Janet R., June 16, 2024
  • Review photo of Bear Wallow Pond Dispersed Campsite in Pharsalia Woods by Janet R., June 16, 2024
  • Review photo of Bear Wallow Pond Dispersed Campsite in Pharsalia Woods by Janet R., June 16, 2024
  • Review photo of Bear Wallow Pond Dispersed Campsite in Pharsalia Woods by Janet R., June 16, 2024
  • Review photo of Bear Wallow Pond Dispersed Campsite in Pharsalia Woods by Janet R., June 16, 2024
  • Review photo of Bear Wallow Pond Dispersed Campsite in Pharsalia Woods by Janet R., June 16, 2024
  • Review photo of Bear Wallow Pond Dispersed Campsite in Pharsalia Woods by Janet R., June 16, 2024
  • Review photo of Bear Wallow Pond Dispersed Campsite in Pharsalia Woods by Janet R., June 16, 2024
  • Review photo of Bear Wallow Pond Dispersed Campsite in Pharsalia Woods by Janet R., June 16, 2024