Sugar Hill Fire Tower

I’m so shocked that this place is free! It’s quiet, spacious, and beautiful. Our family of 4 plus our kitty stayed here for a few days the first week of October. It wasn’t busy so we had the option of so many beautiful spots. Campsites are mostly level, grassy, have picnic tables, nice fire rings, and trash cans. The fire tower was really cool. My young boys loved climbing up during the day and again in the evening to watch the sunset. There are water spigots throughout if you need to fill up and very clean restrooms if needed. No showers. Hiking trails around the campsites and only about 15 minutes from Watkins Glen State Park! Highly recommend this place! Beautiful foliage in the fall!

The amenities at this free campsite are probably the best that we’ve seen. Grassy campsites with fire rings nice picnic tables, clean bathrooms with flush toilets, trash cans available throughout the sites, water available that they request that you not hook up to the spigot. Climb the fire tower for beautiful view of the area. Hiking trails nearby. 15 minutes to Watkins Glen State Park. Verizon reception slow but usable for basic web surfing.

This is one of the quietest campgrounds Ive ever had the pleasure of staying at. The drive in was amazing, less than 20 minutes from Watkins Glen State Park. I will definitely be returning!!
My only complaint would be the restrooms, which were not very clean. But for a free campground, I didnt expect awesome amenities. A coin shower could be added here easily enough as well.

We were surprised when pulling in to see all the open space available. It is a large grassy area with 26 spots. We found a level site big enough to fit our 31foot class C RV. It is first come first serve dry camping. There were lots of horses and trailers along the back where they are designated to park. Good vibes all around and the fire tower was cool to climb up on and check out the views from up High! Watkins Glen SP is 15 minutes away and we highly recommend checking out that place! We never seen anything like it before. So beautiful! Overall this boondocking location was up there (5 stars) and we would definitely come back here if we visit the Fingerlakes again!

Starting May 17, 2021 the Sugar Hill Fire Tower Recreation Area has been re-opened for camping and day use. In an effort to limit the spread of COVID-19 camping is limited to 26 designated sites. A self-issued permit must be filled out when you arrive.

There is no reservation system, if you arrive and all campsites are full you will have to find another location to camp.

https://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/120286.html

Per the Department of Environmental Conservation Sugar Hill Fire Tower is closed to overnight camping. It is only open for day use.

Region 8- Rochester/ Western Finger Lakes
Sugar Hill Recreation Area - The fire tower, the gate off Tower Hill Road, and facilities (bathroom, water, campsites) at the Sugar Hill Rec area remain closed. Day use is allowed, but visitors will need to walk from the gate off Tower Hill Road. (Sugar Hill State Forest, Town of Orange, Schuyler County)

As other reviewers have stated, it's hard to believe this place is free. It was maintained better than many of the paid campsites we've stayed at and was quiet as can be, Even with a fair amount of campers over the weekend there with their horses.
The bathrooms were very clean and there was water spigots throughout the camp area. Is it a little confusing at first trying to figure out where to park, but we found a nice spot right up against the woods that had a fire pit and picnic table. There are also a couple other pull outs down the road if you want to be a little more isolated.

Do be aware, however, that route 23, which you will likely be on to get here if coming from Watkins Glen, is posted as being restricted to a 5-ton weight limit. I'm not sure if this applies to commercial vehicles only or not, but it was definitely something that gave us a bit of pause while taking our motorhome there. However, there were no narrow roads or bridges and it was fairly easy to access the fire tower road.

FYai - We also noticed on the sign that the season begins in May and ends on the third Thursday in October.