Green Lakes State Park —
Your Complete Guide

Green Lakes State Park is a 2,200-acre New York state park in Fayetteville, just east of Syracuse, named for its two glacial lakes, Green Lake and Round Lake, whose water looks turquoise-green because of calcium carbonate. It is open dawn to dusk every day. From Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day, NYS Parks charges $10 per vehicle from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.; the rest of the year there is no vehicle fee. The park has a swimming beach, an 18-hole Robert Trent Jones golf course, 134 campsites, 7 cabins and 22 named trails.

Both lakes are meromictic: their surface and bottom waters never fully mix, so the deep water stays still and without oxygen (why the water is green). Round Lake, over 163 feet deep, became a National Natural Landmark in 1973 together with the old-growth forest around it. The park itself was largely built in the 1930s by a Civilian Conservation Corps company, which hauled sand from Oneida Lake to make the beach (history).

Two rules to know before you go: NYS Parks does not allow private boats, kayaks or canoes on either lake, to protect them (rent one instead), and dogs are welcome on a leash of six feet or less but not on the guarded beach, in playgrounds or on the golf course (rules).

Nearby

The Old Erie Canal towpath runs along the park's north edge, a flat 36-mile trail from DeWitt to Rome. Chittenango Falls State Park, in Cazenovia, has a 167-foot waterfall, and Clark Reservation State Park, in Jamesville, has another glacial lake whose waters don't mix, seen from a cliff 175 feet above.