By:
Submission
From Adirondack Northway (I-87), Northbound: Take Exit 30, then take Route 73 north to Lake Placid. Take Route 86 through Lake Placid and Saranac Lake to Gabriels. In Gabriels, take Franklin County Road 60 6 miles to Buck Pond. From Adirondack Northway (1-87), Southbound: Take Exit 38, then take Route 374 west to the Route 3 junction. Take Route 3 and turn right on Franklin County Road 60. Follow the road 5.5 miles to Buck Pond. From Tupper Lake: Take Route 30 North to Paul Smiths. Turn right on Route 86 and drive about 4 miles. In Gabriels, turn left onto County Route 60.
Fantastic campground. Rustic but clean bathrooms and friendly staff. We stayed on a waterfront site and barely had any neighbors. First time camping in ADK and can't imagine a better experience.
I enjoyed my stay at the buck pond campground. I was only there for two nights but I feel like I got a fair amount of activities in. I had a reservation at campsite number 59 but when I arrived I noticed there was very little privacy to the next campsite. I jumped on my bike surveyed some of the neighboring campsites and asked the friendly staff if I could switch to campsite number 60, no problem. Most of the campsites seem quite large with ample privacy although quite a few sites are not flat. I would say 30% of the campsites were empty during my middle of the week stay at the end of June. I spent a lot of my time on my bike at buck pond. The campground is quite large and it was a pleasure to bike around. I don’t have kids but it looked to me like a safe place for them to be on bikes. On my one outing off the campground I took my hybrid bike on the hiking trail that went up to Kushaqua-Mud Pond rd, from there I took a right at the bridge and followed the rough dirt road for a few miles. Much of this road and trail skirts the Kushaqua Lake and Mud Pond. No time for lingering off the bike though, the deer flies were out in force. I turned around, crossed the bridge and followed the dirt road that eventually led back to the small town near the entrance to the campground. This route is only appropriate for mountain bikes and sturdy hybrid bikes with good tires. This would be a great trail and road to walk your well behaved dog off leash. In the afternoon I rented a kayak ($20 a day) and paddled around the pond. I got a nice view of an eagle and saw loons in the distance. All in all it was a great stay, I will return (and with any luck I will score one of those nice looking pond side campsites). FYI: I’m a Verizon customer and I was able to get one bar at the beach.
We loved camping at Buck Pond. We were on site 18 which was a nice spacious site with trees for our hammocks. When we go again we are hoping to reserve one of the sites that have water access. The kayaking here is amazing! $20 for 24 hours. So peaceful and lots of places to explore. Definitely recommend Buck Pond.
Very nice quiet park (at least early in the year, I have not been there during the high season) with nice sites, a beautiful lake for paddling, and a large sand beach. Nice long double track trail for gentle mountain biking.
As with any park out in the woods of the Adirondacks, bring your bug spray and nets.
No cell coverage to speak of, maybe enough for a text when near the pond or lake, but don't rely on it.
