Jones Pond Designated Dispersed Campsites

Stayed here one night and the roughest part of the two track is at the beginning. Must have 4WD to get through. Our campsite was along the pond, and just absolutely gorgeous. Plenty of dead wood you can find for yourself throughout the site.

Jones pond is a small shallow lake with a dirt boat launch area right off a paved road in the Adirondacks in New York State. There is one site right across from the boat launch area that is RV accessible, the rest are down a rutted dirt road only suitable for pickup trucks. Beware that the boat launch area is right at the apex of a curve in the road - backing in could put you at risk of being hit by traffic coming around the bend unless you put a spotter down the road to flag traffic.

Site 1 is beautiful, surrounded by a coniferous forest and with water access at the boat launch. The base is pine needles over dirt, some tree roots but relatively level and not too bumpy. We had some trees to drive around but were just barely able to U-turn through it with our minivan/small trailer combo. It could be tricky for larger rigs. We were able to stay 3 nights without registering or getting a permit but you can stay longer if you get a permit. We stayed here twice: both times the spot was available, in August and September 2015.

People do come and go for launching small boats/canoes/kayaks and to access the sites farther back down the rutted dirt road. Also it is adjacent to a paved road so there is some traffic noise as well. Cell signal was weak for us on our Canadian plans. The Paul Smith College Visitor Information Centre is just 7 miles away north up Hwy 30 with bathrooms, small garbage and recycling bins, free wifi, a butterfly house and many miles of beautiful hiking trails. We also got out on Jones Pond in a canoe and spotted bald eagles soaring overhead and a pair of loons.

Jones Pond is a pretty area and makes a decent base camp to explore this area of the Adirondacks. After looking around a bit this seemed to be a good free spot to camp. Access was not the easiest with our 28 foot RV. The only spot we could fit with out scratching our RV was site 1. There were other, nicer camp sites, but more made for tents or smaller vehicles. It would be really hard to impossible to get a RV to these other sites.

Jones Pond itself was pretty and takes about a hour and a half to paddle around the whole thing. There were several people everyday that came to paddle and fish the pond. Otherwise it was quiet there at night. There was decent cell service here as well which is rear for the area. The town of Saranac Lake is about 20 minutes away and Lake Placid is about 35 minutes.

The only things we didn't like about this spot is there is very little solar here due to the tree cover, and it could get muddy if it were to rain. There is also some noise from the road which is right there, but it isn't very busy.

Good location. We had private beach. Nice hiking trail across road leading to rainbow Lake. We only saw 3 sites and only 2 had vehicle access. Road is rough but any vehicle can make it.

I have seen lots of reviews for site 1 in this area, the site that you first see when you drive in, but not very many reviews for the further-back sites that are not accessible with RV's or trailers. After turning into the location and driving past site 1 (and the boat dock) you can keep driving down a fairly rough road that has 2 sites directly off to the right, at least 2 that I saw. After that, you reach a crossroads where there is a sign that says vehicles are not allowed past this mark, but if you turn right you can reach the final site accessible by vehicle. There is another site if you park and keep walking straight at this crossroads, but it is A. not vehicle accessible and B. close to some private property where there are children (if that bothers you).

Turning right, however, leads you to one of the prettiest campsites I have ever stayed at. There is a gorgeous lake view, a fire ring and plenty of logs to sit on. The ground is sandy and not the most even, and there is no picnic table, but the scenery more than makes up for this. There is even a path down to the water that you can use to dip your toes in. The bugs can get pretty bad at night, but one thing I discovered (one of my favorite parts of the site) is that there are little frogs that come out and eat the bugs for you! They were so cute!

In terms of noise, it was relatively quiet except for a few instances. There is logging going on across the pond that slightly disrupted the surroundings, but it did not go all day and was over by early evening most nights. The private property with the children is also nearby enough to hear, but they also quieted down in the evening. There were also a few kayakers that were curious enough to get close, but nobody bothered me.

Overall this site was amazing, no permit needed if you are staying less than 3 nights. Some Verizon service too, it was enough for me to power all my devices.