Lake George overnight anchoring?

[Mischief Managed]

Can I legally anchor overnight on Lake George? It's not allowed on lakes in NH and I know Lake George has some strict regulations, not unlike Winnipesaukee and Squam in NH.

 

[tpenfield]

Re: Lake George overnight anchoring?

I found this on the web . . . hopefully some Lake George folks will chime in as well.

Red Rock Bay | Island Camping In Lake George

I hope that your summer is going well. Let's hook-up on our 'Mechanical Indicator project' after Labor Day.

 

[Mischief Managed]

Re: Lake George overnight anchoring?

Thanks Ted. I called a park Ranger on the lake and overnight anchoring is allowed. Probably going to spend a weekend there in September and scope it out for a vacation next year. It's only 3.5 hour from my house and a surprisingly easy drive (not much traffic at all). Seems like a really nice lake.

 

[moosehead]

Re: Lake George overnight anchoring?

Subscribed. Very interested to hear your views MM, after our spectacular trip to Lake Winni this year, we are already targeting Lake George for next summer.

Enjoy, September should be beautiful.

 

[Mischief Managed]

Re: Lake George overnight anchoring?

We drove out there boatless yesterday. I think it will be as nice, and possibly nicer than Winni. The port towns are substantially bigger and seemed clean, neat and orderly. Lake George village is like a giant version of Weirs Beach only with thriving businesses and huge crowds. Bolton reminded me of a huge Wolfeboro.

 

[ZacUSNYR]

Re: Lake George overnight anchoring?

Lake George is a beautiful lake, but it's getting so silly on evasive species checks/permits for getting on the lake/expensive launch costs/permits for stopping on islands/LG Patrol stopping for the sake of safety checks.

You must permanently plug any water drains that are not bilge, silicone blocked. They like to ticket those who forget.

Also launching, Norwal is probably one of the more convenient launches (in Bolton) for the larger boats, they'll hit you up for $20 a day for truck/trailer parking and $25 to launch. Daily lake permit is $7. So $80 to get on the water for an over nighter.

You familiar Sacandaga Lake? (Visit the Great Sacandaga Lake - The Best Kept Secret in the Adirondacks) Also a beautiful lake, on average much calmer then Lake George, always warmer, very lightly patrolled, no costs to get onto the lake or be on the lake. Would make for a great trip, you could also rent a camp site in Northhampton, and sleep on your boat and have a place to leave your vehicle/trailer and have a fire at night time.

(not trying to turn you off of Lake George, grew up on that lake, just don't like the politics that are trying to ruin it as a boaters lake.)

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Lake George overnight anchoring?

We drove out there boatless yesterday. I think it will be as nice, and possibly nicer than Winni. The port towns are substantially bigger and seemed clean, neat and orderly. Lake George village is like a giant version of Weirs Beach only with thriving businesses and huge crowds. Bolton reminded me of a huge Wolfeboro.

Did you wave when you drove by my house in Vermont. My home faces the Rt4 Highway (4 lane) ......

Lake George is nice but too commercialized and crowded for my taste. I frequent Bomoseen in VT and Champlain (Champlian offers ALL types of water and conditions). ZacUSNYR is right and there other other lakes in the area that are nice too.

 

[Mischief Managed]

Re: Lake George overnight anchoring?

Thanks for the ideas. We boat in many different lakes and the ocean. As much as I hate to admit it, our most memorable trips generally involve some sort of tourist-trap commercialization. Sometimes it's fun to simply embrace your inner tourist and go with the flow, especially with young kids. I'm not terribly concerned with the costs. The upcoming trip will be to get away to someplace new for a weekend with my wife, and to scope out island camping for next Summer when we'll be with a family that has young kids. I'm used to strict lake laws, I boat in Maine and deal with invasive species inspections all the time. I have also been inspected for discharge issues as well. No big deal.

 

[The Woo Woo Kid]

Re: Lake George overnight anchoring?

Come September, the Lake will be vacant anyway. North of the narrows is always low traffic.

Sandy bay (eastside, southern basin) has moorings and calm water. I'm not sure if mooring overnight is allowed.

" In Sandy Bay " so to speak anchoring is not allowed BUT just outside of the " no anchoring " buoys ( which is still in the bay ) anchoring does "seem" to be allowed. Several days this summer all the moorings were taken and a dozen or so boats, myself included, were anchored just outside of the buoys and the authorities made many trips past us but said nothing to anybody. The bottom has a nice mud there for solid anchoring and is about 15 ft-20 deep.

" Recreating " within 200 ft of private property is not allowed on Lake George. The Park commission did make two boats who were anchored close to shore move but issued no tickets.

Invasive species fight is a good thing, IMO.

 

[The Woo Woo Kid]

Re: Lake George overnight anchoring?

Oh yea, a FWIW since you'll be overnighting. Soap is not allowed to be used in Lake George and no discharge of anything from boat.

Many of the islands with day use sites or camping have outhouses. The island ranger stations have bathrooms.

 

[Mischief Managed]

Re: Lake George overnight anchoring?

The ranger I spoke to said that by mid-September, the island camp sites would be unused and the campsite offices would be closed. He said feel free to dock at any state-owned island and check it out. I wonder if anyone would care If I tied up to a vacant state dock for the night instead of anchoring; he did not specify a time limit, after all...

 

[The Woo Woo Kid]

Re: Lake George overnight anchoring?

That's what I was thinking. Don't know the for sure answer but I would bet you'ld be Ok. If questioned, tell them what the ranger told you.

I believe some of the docks will be coming out in September. But there's a ton of them and surely you'll find a berth.

You're going to have a wonderful time !

 

[Mischief Managed]

Re: Lake George overnight anchoring?

We made it. The morning was pretty gloomy so we went right from Katskill Bay to LGV and figured correctly that the gloominess would mean dock space. Had a nice walk around town, ate a nice lunch, then went to the boat show. The sun came out and we headed back to the boat. We explored the camping islands for awhile, then headed up to the very north end of the lake, taking in the shore line counter-clockwise. It's absolutely beautiful.

At present, I'm anchored in Red Rock Bay with the camper canvas up, a cup of hot chocolate at my side, the grill ready to go, and some marinated steaks awaiting my attention. Life does not get much better.

 

[tpenfield]

Re: Lake George overnight anchoring?

Nice. :thumb: Good to hear that you are enjoying the lake. You doing a couple of nights? Plenty of places to anchor & dock?

As I mentioned in my email last week . . . My port trim pump would not activate in the down direction. So, I spent the morning doing some diagnostics and connection cleaning. Still no go. So. I ran into town and got the new solenoid. It took an hour or so to put *** in.

Of course the Bay was flat as glass today . . . :facepalm: We got a couple hours in towards the end of the day.

Post some pics if you can.

 

[Keith7481]

Re: Lake George overnight anchoring?

I"m glad you found your way to LG, it is really beautiful. Red Rock is one of my favorite spots on the lake, and I suspect many will overnight there, probably a great spot for a weekend. Not sure where you put in, but the Mossy Point launch ramp in Ticonderoga is outstanding. It is a free lauch, and free parking and has a free pumpout if needed and the ramp is gentle grade. The north end of the lake is much quieter and more scenic than the south end. For the summer, getting an island site can be tricky, most are filled way in advance, but I found open spots on almost every weekend, especially on those sites at the Narrows group which is near Huletts landing and more often at the Glen Island group which is a bit further south.

 

[Mischief Managed]

Re: Lake George overnight anchoring?

We toured the entire lake, even well past Mossy point until I ran out of water under my keel, despite the channel markers... I considered launching Mossy Point, but I was worried about security. I launched at a marina in Katskill Bay, which was very convenient and not terribly expensive. I used more money (in gas) going from the Narrows group to Mossy Point and back than I would have saved by launching and parking for free.

We plan to book an island for next year (mid-week) exactly 9 months in advance; that's the earliest you can book them.

Some pics:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/...460.1073741829.1591328395&type=1&l=249849e151

 

[tpenfield]

Re: Lake George overnight anchoring?

That is some big rocks in some of your photos . . . looks like you had the lake almost to yourselves.

 

[Keith7481]

Re: Lake George overnight anchoring?

Great pics. It is a haul from Mossy point down south, but if you are only going to stay in the north, it might be worth it. I've left my trailer there overnight many times with no problems, but they've had some vandalism at the pump out station before. Where did you launch in Kattskill bay? Any chance you found Paradise Bay, just north of Red Rock maybe 200 yards, but a narrow entrance and very hidden. No anchoring in the summer, but I think you can at this time of year. That was a great photo of Rogers Rock, did you get to see anyone climbing it? In the summer, there could be 10 people on the face working there way up, very cool to watch. In the past, I've done the early booking of campsites, but after a couple of years of catching rain, I'm now more likely to take one of the Red rock bay sites which means sleeping on board. As an FYI, you can get one of them most any day you show up, I don't think I've ever seen them all used.

 

[moosehead]

Re: Lake George overnight anchoring?

Beautiful pics, thanks MM.

 

[Mischief Managed]

Re: Lake George overnight anchoring?

Great pics. It is a haul from Mossy point down south, but if you are only going to stay in the north, it might be worth it. I've left my trailer there overnight many times with no problems, but they've had some vandalism at the pump out station before. Where did you launch in Kattskill bay? Any chance you found Paradise Bay, just north of Red Rock maybe 200 yards, but a narrow entrance and very hidden. No anchoring in the summer, but I think you can at this time of year. That was a great photo of Rogers Rock, did you get to see anyone climbing it? In the summer, there could be 10 people on the face working there way up, very cool to watch. In the past, I've done the early booking of campsites, but after a couple of years of catching rain, I'm now more likely to take one of the Red rock bay sites which means sleeping on board. As an FYI, you can get one of them most any day you show up, I don't think I've ever seen them all used.

There's actually 5 or 6 people climbing the rock in the photos. They are specks though...

I launched at a marina that was recommended to me privately and I agreed to keep it a "secret". I'd be happy to share it with you via PM though.

My issue with camping is that we plan to vacation with a boatless family next year. They will require a camp site and our group is large enough that we will require another camp site to stay legal at a max. of six people per site.

I went by Paradise Bay and actually considered anchoring there for the night. When I asked about doing so at the Ranger station, they said it was not allowed. Red Rock was perfectly calm after 8 PM and was never choppy enough to be any concern whatsoever. I also had a perfect view of the sunset. I'd gladly stay there again.