Biking Hiking with Kids

My sons and I went for a three day car camping trip to Lake Harris in the Adirondack Park in New York State, just before the current heat wave hit the Northeast. Lake Harris State Campground is one of many campgrounds operated by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation across New York State. DEC operates 41 campgrounds in the Adirondack Park alone. The Lake Harris State Campground is located in the Town of Newcomb, off Route 28 in New York.

It rained off and on the first two days we were there, but it was not bad enough to prevent us from going hiking (Newcomb VIC, Goodnow Mountain), and mountain biking (Great Camp Santanoni). We booked three nights for Site No. 12. I didn’t know anything about the Lake Harris Campground or the site. The internet had the usual limited information and at the time of my booking, most sites that looked good to me were already taken. But site no. 12 turned out to be one of the more desirable ones at the campground – in my opinion. Most the sites in the campground are very good – especially the lower number sites located on the edge of Lake Harris. Some individual sites were very private with enough tress separating each site, while cluster of sites appear to be meant for small groups that want to camp close to each other.

Here is a picture of Site 12 at Lake Harris State Campground.

The only “improvements” I would make would be to clear four small trees at the edge of the lake just behind the fire pit. That would open up the view of the lake and the sky when sitting in front of the fire, which would be great for star glazing at night.

Here’s what it would look like if the trees were not in the way of the view.

Site No. 11 and No. 13 were nice too.

Site 13 allows for the lake view and sky view but the fire pit was placed to the side of that view, so sitting in front of the fire pit, you would be looking at Site 12 and not looking out toward the lake.

Site 13 was empty when we were there so we spend a few minutes one night on the site looking up in the sky for meteors. We didn’t see any meteors but we did manage to track a satellite for a little bit.

The campground sits on the Northern end of 275 acre Lake Harris and motor boats are allowed. There is a boat launch and a small field behind Site 15 (across from Site 13) for parking trailers.

There’s a trail from the campground (near Site 90) that leads to the front gate of the Adirondack Great Camp Santanoni. Hiking trails to Goodnow Mountain, Vanderwhacker Mountain, Mt. Adams, trail head to the High Peaks Wilderness Area, and the Visitor Interpretive Center are short drives from the campground.

Overall, we liked the Lake Harris State Campground. It is relatively inexpensive ($18), clean   and quite. The restrooms and shower rooms are clean and the hot showers are free. There is even a sink next to the shower house with hot water for washing pot and pans.

Go to Lake Harris State Campground official site for description and directions.

291 Campsite Road
Newcomb, NY   12852
518/582-2503

Adirondack Park Campground Map
Here is a list of NYS Campgrounds located in the Adirondack Park:

• Alger Island
• Ausable Point
• Brown Tract Pond
• Buck Pond
• Caroga Lake
• Cranberry Lake
• Crown Point
• Eagle Point
• Eighth Lake
• Fish Creek Pond
• Forked Lake
• Golden Beach
• Hearthstone Point
• Indian Lake Islands
• Lake Durant
• Lake Eaton
• Lake George Battleground
• Lake George Islands
• Lake Harris
• Lewey Lake
• Limekiln Lake
• Lincoln Pond
• Little Sand Point
• Luzerne
• Meacham Lake
• Meadowbrook
• Moffitt Beach
• Nicks Lake
• Northampton Beach
• Paradox Lake
• Point Comfort
• Poplar Point
• Putnam Pond
• Rogers Rock
• Rollins Pond
• Sacandaga
• Saranac Lake Islands
• Sharp Bridge
• Taylor Pond
• Tioga Point
• Wilmington Notch