So in New york when you go up north in April things can be surprisingly cold, especially at night, so I would recommend packing warm, it will also probably be very wet and kinda rainy so I would get some waterproof hiking boots if you haven’t already and I definitely would not wear sneakers or anything like that, your feet will get muddy and they will get wet and if they get wet there is a good chance that you will get blisters. In terms of sleeping you can always just bring a hammock and set up wherever but you will be cold (probably) (get a rain tarp for it (the hammock) as well) so I would recommend finding a trail with a leanto or a place to pitch tents; a thicker, warmer, winter sleeping bag will serve you better than a thin summer one. Also, because of the warm winter this year there will be alot of bugs afoot, mosquitos, flies, stuff like that, so bring bug spray, or expect to be itching a lot, there is a lot of poison ivy in New York, its not as bad up north but it still exists so look out for it. On wildlife, squirrels l, chipmunks and other similar critters may try to steal some of your food if you leave it unattended so dont do that. I’ve never had an issue with bears but look into if where you are camping has notices for bear activity and if it does get a bear canister to put your food in, and a bit of cordage to hang it out of the bear’s reach. Final point I will make is that it is very difficult to start a fire in spring because everything is wet, so either bring a gas stove or be prepared to lug around serval pounds of marked up firewood wherever you camp. Other than that there is not much else to worry about if you stick to the trails, just be aware, have fun, and enjoy the eclipse!!!

Edit: i dont think its exactly legal to camp anywhere in the woods in certain forests but i dont see anyone stopping you soooo