The Beach at Awosting

I've talked to a lot of people that have visited Lake Minnewaska. They love the trails around the lake and have jumped in at the public swimming area. Many of these people, however, have never made the trek out to Lake Awosting to check out the granite beach there. It's definitely worth making the trip.



I wrote about riding around Lake Awosting from Minnewaska, and so my earlier post provides some info about Awosting. However, I wanted to write some more about the beach specifically.

Awosting Beach is at the blue dot on the map above. The red trail illustrates a loop that runs from the Minnewaska parking lot around Awosting to the beach and back. If you take the most direct route from the parking lot (the north half of the loop - you can go directly to the beach along the east side of the lake), it is a distance of about 3.5 miles. You can also come up from the Awosting parking lot, which brings you up to the north side of the lake. The distance is about the same (maybe a little less), but you take some significant uphill terrain to get there.

The beach at Awosting is made of a huge granite slab that extends out about 50 feet (the water is about 8-to-9 feet deep at the back of the roped-in area). The water is crystal clear - be sure to bring your goggles! - and it remains quite cool throughout the summer - despite being out in the open. The "beach" area is the continuation of the rock slab, and you'll find a number of people lying out in the sun.

Because of the distance, many people opt to ride bikes out there, although if you're up for a hike, it's definitely do-able. The beach area has bike racks and a comfort station with changing rooms and bathrooms. Please note that there are no trash facilities inside the park - you have to carry out everything that you bring in. Additionally, the bathrooms - though very clean and relatively pleasant to use - have composting toilets. There are no water fountains or other plumbing inside the park - so make sure you carry in enough water for your entire hike/bike.

To get information about the park - including park office contact info, etc., check out this site. There is a panoramic view of Lake Awosting at this site.