Alger Island Campground and Fourth Lake Day Use Area

• Dates of Operation:
  • Opening Date: May 17
  • Closing Date: September 2
• Camping Fee: $18 per night (out of state residents surcharge additional $5 per night)
• Address: 303 Petrie Road, Old Forge, NY 13420 (directions below)
• County: Herkimer
• GPS Info. (Latitude, Longitude): 43 44 11.88987N, 074 53 29.92944W
• Campground Phone: (315) 369-3224
• Regional Office Phone: (315) 866-6330
• Make Your Camping Reservation: ReserveAmerica
• Map: Alger Island Campground and Day Use Area Map (PDF) || DECinfo Locator

Firewood Restriction Map (PDF) shows the 50-mile radius from which untreated firewood may be moved to this campground. Help prevent the spread of invasive pests and diseases by following New York's firewood regulation.

This boat access only campground is located on Fourth Lake of the Fulton Chain of Lakes.

Fourth Lake Day-Use Area is the headquarters where registration and permits are issued for Alger Island. Located on the south shore of Fourth Lake, the largest of the Fulton Chain of Lakes, this picnic area provides scenic views of the lake, its shoreline, surrounding hills, and distant mountains. A state owned boat launch, with ramp for launching larger, motorized boats, is located on Route 28 in the village of Inlet.

A hand launch provides paddlers and small boat owners the ability to access Fourth Lake and the other Fulton Chain lakes.

Amenities

Alger Island Campground - 15 lean-to sites with a fireplace, a hibachi, a picnic table and a pit privy, 2 tent sites with a pit privy, a fireplace and a hibachi, picnic area with picnic tables, fireplaces and pit privies, hiking trails, and firewood sales.

Fourth Lake Day Use Area - 17 picnic tables, 9 charcoal grills, three fireplaces, and water spigots throughout the site.

Campsite Restoration Project

This campground has sites that have been selected for restoration. While undergoing restoration the chosen sites will be closed. For the list of sites and more information on the project visit the Campsite Restoration Project page.

Directions

From NYS Thruway, Exit 31 at Utica, Route 12 North to Alder Creek, Rte. 28 to Old Forge; right at the Post Office (Gilbert St.), left onto Park Ave., right onto South Shore Road to Petrie Road; 3/4 mile to the Fourth Lake Picnic Area.

From Route 28, Inlet, take South Shore Road to Petrie Road. One mile to Fourth Lake Picnic Area. Register for Alger Island at this point.

Get driving directions from Google Maps 

Planning and Management

The Alger Island Public Campground & Fourth Lake Day Use Area Final Unit Management Plan (PDF, 3.45 MB) (UMP) guides the DEC's land management activities at this facility for a five-year period, although a number of goals and objectives in the plan focus on a much longer time period. The UMP addresses specific objectives and actions for public use at this facility.

Additional Information

Area Attractions

A few minutes drive will provide shopping and sightseeing attractions in the nearby hamlet of Old Forge.

Historic Interest

In 1811, an "Act for the Improvement of the Internal Navigation of the State for the purpose of establishing a communication by means of Canal Navigation between the Great Lakes and Hudson River" was passed by the New York Legislature. Steamboat inventor Robert Fulton was an enthusiastic member of the commission assigned to investigate the feasibility of an "Adirondack Canal" and he extolled the virtues of this unnamed chain of Adirondack lakes. Although the idea never attained fruition, the lakes have since been known as the Fulton Chain.

In his book "The Adirondacks" (Fulton Chain-Big Moose Region), Joseph F. Grady indicates that Alger Island was called Deer Island in the late 1700's. It was later called Big Island. Alger Island came from the family name of its longtime owners, father and son Mort and Ollie Alger.

Alger Island was purchased by the state of New York on January 16, 1950 from Charles J. Engel. Lean-to's were constructed during the 1960's with the last one finished in 1968.