The Dyrt – find campgrounds for tents, RVs, cabins, glamping and more.
Open in App

Best Tent Camping near Lake Placid, NY

633 Reviews

The Adirondack region surrounding Lake Placid, New York offers numerous tent camping options ranging from established campgrounds to remote backcountry sites. Wilderness Campground at Heart Lake provides tent campsites with amenities including showers and toilets, while Marcy Dam Backcountry Campsites offer more primitive tent camping experiences. The Saranac Lake Islands Adirondack Preserve Campground features boat-in tent sites on secluded islands, providing a unique wilderness experience within the Adirondack Park.

Many tent campgrounds in the Lake Placid area require specific access methods, with some sites accessible only by hiking, boating, or walking in from parking areas. Heart Lake provides drive-in tent sites with amenities including drinking water, showers, and flush toilets, while backcountry locations like Marcy Dam and Feldspar offer primitive tent camping with minimal facilities. Bear canisters are required at backcountry tent sites. The camping season varies, with many tent campgrounds open from May through October, though some backcountry tent sites remain accessible year-round, weather permitting.

The tent camping experience near Lake Placid provides direct access to numerous hiking trails and natural attractions. Walk-in tent sites at Heart Lake serve as a popular base camp for hikers accessing High Peaks trails, including Mount Marcy. Island tent sites on Saranac Lake offer exceptional privacy and separation from neighboring campers. Many backcountry tent campsites have fire restrictions, so campers should bring camp stoves instead. A camper at Saranac Lake Islands noted, "Huge sites, a lot of privacy - nearest campsite in most cases is not even visible." For tent sites at Heart Lake, a reviewer mentioned, "The campground is quiet and beautiful to stroll around and see the lake and nearby mountains."

Map showing campgrounds near Lake Placid, New YorkExplore the Map

Best Tent Sites Near Lake Placid, New York (31)

    1. Saranac Lake Islands Adirondack Preserve Campground

    15 Reviews
    Saranac Lake, NY
    10 miles
    Website
    +1 (518) 891-2841

    $22 - $40 / night

    "You'll need a boat or canoe (rentals available in Saranac Lake). Sites have tables, fire rings, and outhouses. You'll need a tent, bag, pad, cooking equipment, etc."

    "All campsites have picnic tables, firepits/grills, and privies. Saranac Lake Marina has great rental boats. I even think the dogs look forward to these camping trips."

    2. Wilderness Campground at Heart Lake

    9 Reviews
    Lake Placid, NY
    7 miles
    Website
    +1 (518) 523-3441

    $25 - $55 / night

    "I was absolutely impressed with the restrooms, dishwashing station, and beach area."

    "There’s no explaining the views around here. The mountains are beautiful, Lake Placid is beautiful, and this campsite is amazing."

    3. Marcy Dam Backcountry Campsites

    2 Reviews
    Keene Valley, NY
    9 miles
    Website

    "This campground is conveniently located near the trails for Mt. Marcy, Mt. Colden, and Avalanche Pass. Everything is first come first serve."

    "The scenery was gorgeous and there were lots of nice hikes around."

    4. Feldspar Lean-to

    3 Reviews
    Keene Valley, NY
    12 miles

    "One lean-to and 3 campsites.

    2 near the lean-to across the bridge.

    1 on the other side.

    There's also a privy.

    It's far out and the only way to access is by hiking."

    "If you’re coming from Marcy Dam by way of Lake Colden, this campsite is a great spot to stop for the night on the way to Mt. Marcy."

    5. Flowed Lands

    3 Reviews
    Keene Valley, NY
    12 miles
    Website

    "The view of the lake is stunning, and there's a quick walk down to the edge of the lake."

    "The lake is gorgeous, although it wasn't as big as I thought it was going to be. I went late August, so I beat the initial summer rush, but there was still a good amount of people there."

    6. MacIntyre Brook Falls campground

    1 Review
    Lake Placid, NY
    8 miles
    Website
    +1 (518) 897-1200

    "It's on a side trail (left side).

    Bear canisters required."

    7. Lake Colden

    2 Reviews
    Keene Valley, NY
    11 miles

    $30 - $60 / night

    "First and foremost, I had a black bear encounter at this location. Make sure that you remain bear aware and are taking the appropriate safety measures. "

    "Lake Colden camping area is a spread out collection of campsites lean-tos surrounding the south side of Lake Colden in the High Peaks Wildnerness in Adirondack Park."

    8. Ward Brook Campsite

    1 Review
    Ray Brook, NY
    12 miles
    Website
    +1 (518) 897-1200

    "Fire pit, picnic table, and a privy. 

    A bit further you will find some tent spots too. 

    Plenty of water around."

    9. Blueberry lean-to campground

    1 Review
    Ray Brook, NY
    12 miles

    "On the Blueberry trail not far from the Ward lean-to.

    Very close to the trail to Seward, Donaldson and Emmons.

    Lean-to, privy, fire pit, table, and water around."

    10. Jones Pond NYSDEC Primitive Campsites

    3 Reviews
    Rainbow Lake, NY
    16 miles
    Website
    +1 (518) 897-1200

    "It was over the July 4th week, so very busy and found people would just walk through your campsite. Which of course would make our dogs bark at them."

    "Jones Pond has five primitive campsites along its northeastern shore accessible by a two track service road. The sites are on a first come basis and are free to use."

Show More
Showing results 1-10 of 31 campgrounds

2025 Detourist Giveaway

Presented byToyota Trucks

Review Campgrounds. Win Prizes.

Enter to Win

Lake Placid Contest

Enter to Win

Recent Tent Camping Photos near Lake Placid, NY

49 Photos of 31 Lake Placid Campgrounds

Tent Camping Reviews near Lake Placid, NY

633 Reviews of 31 Lake Placid Campgrounds

  • Amber A.
    Jul. 25, 2016

    Ausable Point Campground

    Ranger Review: Crazy Creek Air Chair Plus at Ausable Point Campground

    Campground Review: Lakeshore camping! Beautiful little peninsula where you can watch the sunrise/set. Lovely in autumn. Good birding, water activities, sunsets, geology/gorge, short easy forest hikes, beach walking, all the good stuff you expect from this part of New York. Most of the site is off limits because of wildlife preserve, still a lot to explore. Good as base camp for a few days in the area. Get the tents sites near the lake! Popular for day use area (picnics, birthday parties, etc). Stay here and you can say you camped in Peru! (Lots of upstate NY towns are named for countries.)

    Gear Review: As a The Dyrt Ranger I receive products to test and review. I won the Crazy Creek Air Chair Plus in a campground review contest in June 2016. I had been thinking of purchasing both a camp chair (for camping) and an air mattress (for camping & backpacking), as on my last few trips I got pretty sick of sitting on my closed-cell foam mat and a recent knee injury was making me rethink my open-cell foam ultralight sleeping pad. Well, this Crazy Creek Air Chair Plus does both and does them both well. It starts out as a camp chair (adjustable angle, typical back height) and flips open to a full size air pad made by Klymit. Sounds great right? I flew to NY for a whirlwind family/business/camping trip soon after receiving the chair and had ample opportunities to try it sleeping on friends’ floors and in tents. The chair portion was super comfortable, way better than any simple camp chairs I’d used. I was nervous about sitting on more rugged surfaces (I’m just paranoid about inflatables!) but so far so good. You can also flip open the bed part while you're sitting and have an extended leg rest to protect against hot sand or dirt. The conversion to the sleeping pad was simple. It inflates fairly easily, but at high altitude after a long day of hiking you might be a little annoyed puffing it all up. Sleeping on it was great: my knee and back were happier than with my open-cell foam mats (similar to the typical Thermarest). The one issue I had was that there’s a big dip/joint where the mattress flips out in the conversion from chair to bed---it’s not really that intrusive but I guess my side-sleeping and height (5’4”) conspired to annoy me a bit. Also the R value is very low (it’s not insulting) just like every other air pad but in the summer that’s fine with me. All the other aspects of sleeping on it were similar to other pads I’ve used (it’s kind of narrow, your bag will slide around a bit, etc). Doesn’t pack down too small & isn’t ultralight, but you could remove the chair aspect to help with that. In sleeping mode it’s 20” wide, 70” long, 2.5” thick, 2 lb 13 oz (according to packaging). So while this is my very first camp chair and air mattress, I’m really happy with it after 7 nights sleeping on it and many hours in the chair. It’s not gimmicky at all!

    PS: Can you tell I’m way more picky about gear than campsites? :)

  • Tigan W.
    Aug. 1, 2018

    Wilderness Campground at Heart Lake

    Newly improved, off grid, amenity central!

    I was tagging along on a family camping trip arranged at this campground. I was absolutely impressed with the restrooms, dishwashing station, and beach area. I didn’t spend any time inside the Loj by the lake because I was camping with my dog and intentionally stayed off the Wi-Fi the whole trip, but family made use of the connection option. Despite a rainy week we made the most of the easily accessible mountains and the onsite convenience shop was helpful! Perfect distance from Lake Placid proper for an enforced retreat with the option to reconnect. Despite rather high density of sites they are well designed and the campground is quiet and dark at night for good rest!

    Loved it!

  • Linsey S.
    Sep. 6, 2021

    Lake Placid/Whiteface Mountain KOA Holiday

    Great Campground, Full Amenities

    Spent 3 days, 2 nights here from a Wednesday-Friday. Very large and busy campground, close to Lake Placid and other cool activities to take in. Pros- hot showers, convenient laundromat, you are guided to your site by staff on golf carts. Cons- tent sites aren’t given much privacy, on the days we stayed we were put very close to the main building when we requested a spot near the back away from the busy area, kids allowed to run and yelling and screaming WELL after quiet hours.

  • Michelle K.
    Jul. 18, 2018

    Buck Pond Campground

    Secluded with a breathtaking view.

    It is without a doubt the best campsite I have ever been to. It’s perfectly secluded, but still not far from Lake Placid. You do have to travel a little ways (6-10 miles) for a grocery store, but the view is worth it. I highly recommend this beautiful place.

  • A
    Apr. 4, 2022

    Draper’s Acres

    Okay

    The campground itself isn’t great; there is not much in it. The sites have water and electricity; which is certainly a treat in the high peaks, but that’s really all that’s great about the campground itself. However, it is centrally located and is really only 15 minutes from Lake Placid. There isn’t much there but there is a lot around that makes it worth while to stay there.

  • John E.
    Jun. 19, 2018

    Brown Tract Pond Campground

    I fell in love with this place

    As I sat having by my coffee, watching steam rise from the pond, I listened to the distant calls of Loons.

    I’d describe this campground as a hidden gem, but it’s not for everyone. To get here you leave the paved road and take a gravel road a little ways. On our way we spotted a group of Turkeys wandering about. This campground is for the adventurous. No electric or water hook ups (for RVs) and no shower facilities, but there are restrooms.

    Staff was friendly and helpful. Helped me pick out a site and made sure I was good once I set up. Bring or rent a Canoe and you can travel out to an island in the middle of the pond from which families jump from a large rock into the lake.

    As the sun sets and the stars come out, you’ll look up and suddenly realize just how small you are as you stare at the heavens and see the Milky Way.

    Nothing but peace and quiet. When it’s quiet hours, the only thing you here is nature and the occasional crackle of someone’s fire.

    Would I go here again? Brown Tract is one of those places that after you go once, you find yourself going again and again. Our tripped was booked as soon as we could.

  • Craig F.
    Jul. 23, 2018

    North Beach Campground

    Amazing Location!

    We thoroughly enjoyed our stay at North Beach Campground.

    We spent 4 days in a full hookup site. The site was spacious, tree covered, and hard packed grass/dirt. Overall the site was very level with good water pressure. The water/electric sites in the middle of the campground were a bit snug. The campground is a city operated campground and we were impressed with the upkeep, maintenance and friendly service during our stay. The camp office is small, but has information on area attractions, Ice, and fire wood. The bathhouse/restrooms were well kept during our stay even with the volume of campers at the site.

    Location, Location, Location is the main reason to stay at North Beach. The campground is literally along the Island Line bike/walking trail and had direct access to the beach on Lake Champlain (life guards, snack bar, and patio bar). The city center of Burlington is only 1.5 miles along the bike path from the campground. Most days we either walked or biked into town (which has ample bike racks to park your bike).

    While we stayed in our camper, as a former die-hard tent camper, I was impressed with the number of tent friendly sites, because most campgrounds see tenters as “second class”. The tent sites were spacious, level, and not located in some obscure location.  

    We loved North Beach and plan to camp here in the future!

  • Shari G.The Dyrt PRO User
    Jun. 28, 2018

    Meadowbrook Campground

    Conveniently Located, but a bit Noisy

    This is a very basic campground situated in a small village in the Adirondacks – situated between Saranac Lake and Lake Placid. Every site has a picnic table and an open fire grill and most of the sites on the outer ring have a lot of privacy as they are lined with trees and shrubs. Lots of spaces for larger RV’s, but we saw mostly tent campers.

    Bathrooms are mostly clean and the showers are nice. There is a quality dishwashing sink by the bathrooms. Overall, the campground is ok, but needs a bit of a facelift, repainting, etc. Also, you can hear the sounds of the city (cars, leaf blowers, and other things that remind you that you are not truly in the woods).

    The best part about this campground is that it is conveniently located between two awesome places and is relatively inexpensive, so if you don’t plan to spend much time in the campground itself, it’s perfect.

    We used this campground as a basecamp to mountain bike on an awesome trail just outside of Saranac Lake, the Bloomingdale Bog trail. The following day, we did a quadrathlon that involved kayaking the length of Lake Placid, hiking to the summit of Whiteface Mountain, kayaking back, and then finished the day at Lake Placid Pub and Brewery for dinner. Highly recommended, but plan on a 9-10 hour day on the lake/trail!

    With its central location, this campground is close to everything you may need, most even within walking distance.

  • Matthew D.
    Oct. 10, 2018

    Cedar River Entrance Camping

    Cedar River Campground

    Stayed at site number 5, I think. It was by the water in the woods just a little bit. Picnic table, fire ring and several outhouses nearby. Beautiful surroundings. There is a small landing to launch kayaks or canoes. A dam with some additional sites on the other side. Town is about 20-30 minutes away. Several trails nearby. Would recommend.  

    Also would recommend traveling further in if you are looking for more sites.

Guide to Lake Placid

Backcountry tent camping near Lake Placid, New York offers diverse options within the Adirondack Park's 6 million acres. Most campgrounds sit at elevations between 1,600-2,100 feet, with temperatures that can drop 30°F from day to night even in summer months. Water sources are plentiful throughout the region, with most backcountry sites requiring proper filtration equipment.

What to do

Paddle island campsites: At Saranac Lake Islands Adirondack Preserve Campground, camping requires boat transportation to your site. "We rented a motorboat to get to our own private little peninsula on the middle saranac. One of the coolest experiences I've ever had in my life - surrounded by nature - water, woods, birds and fishing for pike, bass and sunfish!" explains Sambath T.

Hike to remote mountain campsites: Set up camp at Feldspar Lean-to for access to Mt. Marcy trails. "Great campsite on the way to Mt. Marcy. If you're coming from Marcy Dam by way of Lake Colden, this campsite is a great spot to stop for the night," notes Seth K. "There's a good water flow for water that is safe to drink (suggest bringing iodine just in case)."

Fish mountain lakes: Jones Pond NYSDEC Primitive Campsites offers free shoreline tent camping with fishing access. "Jones Pond has five primitive campsites along its northeastern shore accessible by a two track service road. The sites are on a first come basis and are free to use. You can stay a maximum of three nights without a permit," reports Dylan J.

What campers like

Secluded island experiences: Tent campers appreciate the isolation at Saranac Lake Islands. "I camped at Saranac Lake Islands for two summers in a row. The first time, my children and I had an island and the second time we had a spot on a little peninsula. It's such a gorgeous place! The campsites were well maintained and nicely isolated," shares Joanna H.

Wilderness lean-tos: Traditional Adirondack shelters are popular for tent campers seeking partial protection. "Lean to camping at it's best! The lean to I had was right on the lake and on the edge of the campground. It's a bit of a trek to a bathroom but well worth it. You can sit and chill by the lake, hike a mountain or hike around the lake," explains cj J. about Wilderness Campground at Heart Lake.

Seasonal variations: Lake Placid tent camping experiences change dramatically by season. "My boyfriend and I visited in late March when there was still a decent amount of snow on the site. Despite the lake being frozen over, the views just steps away from our lean to were gorgeous. The bathrooms are really nice and warm, especially during the cold off season," writes Kayla M.

What you should know

Bear safety requirements: Bear canisters are mandatory for backcountry tent camping in Lake Placid's High Peaks region. A camper at Lake Colden warns: "A quick note: I had a black bear encounter at this location. Make sure that you remain bear aware and are taking the appropriate safety measures. You're required to have a bear-proof container when camping in this area and you can find some for rent on your drive in."

Frequently Asked Questions

Where are the best tent camping sites near Lake Placid, NY?

Lake Placid offers exceptional tent camping options for all experience levels. Wilderness Campground at Heart Lake provides secluded sites with stunning mountain views and lakefront lean-tos, making it ideal for both beginners and experienced campers. For a more backcountry experience, Marcy Dam Backcountry Campsites offer first-come, first-served tent sites and lean-tos with convenient access to popular hiking trails for Mt. Marcy and Mt. Colden. These sites fill quickly on summer weekends, so arrive early. Both locations provide the perfect base for exploring the Adirondack High Peaks region while enjoying the natural beauty of Lake Placid.

What amenities are available at Lake Placid tent campgrounds?

Tent campgrounds around Lake Placid offer varying levels of amenities. Cedar River Entrance Camping provides basic facilities including picnic tables, fire rings, and nearby outhouses. Sites are situated near water with small kayak/canoe launch areas. For more amenities, Jones Pond NYSDEC Primitive Campsites offers five primitive sites along the northeastern shore with hand launches for small boats and kayaks. These free sites can accommodate multiple tents and vehicles but have limited facilities. Most backcountry sites in the region provide outhouses, fire rings, and access to natural water sources, though filtration is recommended. The more developed campgrounds may offer additional amenities like dishwashing stations and beach areas.

When is the best season for tent camping in Lake Placid?

The prime tent camping season in Lake Placid runs from late May through early October, with July and August being the busiest months. Lake Colden is open year-round but experiences peak visitation from June through September when weather conditions are most favorable. Early fall (September to mid-October) offers spectacular foliage viewing with fewer crowds. Flowed Lands provides stunning lake views and is particularly beautiful in early fall. Be prepared for potential black bear activity throughout the warm season by using proper food storage. Winter camping is possible for experienced adventurers but requires specialized gear and knowledge of cold-weather survival techniques.

Keep Exploring