Sylvan Lake is located next to the community by that name in the Town of Beekman, New York, United States. It is the deepest and second-largest lake in Dutchess County.Burns, David; Vasilakos, Lisa and Oestrike, Rick; , Dutchess County Environmental Management Council and Fishkill Creek Watershed Committee, June 2005, 22. Retrieved April 21, 2010 It is a popular local recreation spot. Many summer camps are located along it, as well as a large private campground. Many residents from Chelsea Cove also use the lake recreationally.

Geography

It is an irregular rounded shape, with a surface area, located near the town's southwestern border with

East Fishkill East Fishkill is a Town (New York), town on the southern border of Dutchess County, New York, Dutchess County, New York (state), New York, United States. The population was 29,707 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. The town was once the ...

. High unnamed hills rise to to its northeast, above the lake. The

unincorporated Unincorporated may refer to: * Unincorporated area, land not governed by a local municipality * Unincorporated entity, a type of organization * Unincorporated territories of the United States, territories under U.S. jurisdiction, to which Congress ...

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

of Sylvan Lake is located to its southeast and east. Dutchess County Route 10 runs northwest from the hamlet along the lakeshore, providing access to the nearby

Taconic State Parkway The Taconic State Parkway (often called the Taconic or the TSP and known administratively as New York State Route 987G or NY 987G) is a parkway between Kensico Dam and Chatham, the longest in the U.S. state of New York. It follows ...

via the NY 82 state highway at Arthursburg. To the southwest are lower hills. The lake's unnamed outlet brook flows at first northward through a

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The p ...

between two smaller hills at that end but soon turns southward, carrying the drainage from the lake and its basin south a few miles to

Fishkill Creek Fishkill Creek (also Fish Kill, from the Dutch ''vis kille'', for "fish creek") is a tributary of the Hudson River in Dutchess County, New York, United States. At U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataT ...

. From there it reaches the

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...

Beacon A beacon is an intentionally conspicuous device designed to attract attention to a specific location. A common example is the lighthouse, which draws attention to a fixed point that can be used to navigate around obstacles or into port. More mode ...

. The lake is located adjacent to the Chelsea Cove housing complex and all its residents are permitted access to the lake. There is a small beach with a small area to wade in before it drops off into much deeper waters. Sylvan Lake Beach Park, a privately operated campground, is located along another shore. The remainder of the shoreline is owned by private residences and

summer camp A summer camp or sleepaway camp is a supervised program for children conducted during the summer months in some countries. Children and adolescents who attend summer camp are known as ''campers''. Summer school is usually a part of the academ ...

Hydrology

The lake is deep, the deepest in Dutchess County. Formerly a

quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their envir ...

used for mining, the slope is very steep and reaches maximum depth quickly near the center of the lake. The

thermocline A thermocline (also known as the thermal layer or the metalimnion in lakes) is a thin but distinct layer in a large body of fluid (e.g. water, as in an ocean or lake; or air, e.g. an atmosphere) in which temperature changes more drastically with ...

in the lake reaches about 40 degrees F. To scuba dive in the lake, advanced open water certification is needed. Equipment such as 7mml full body wetsuits including gloves and hood are necessary as are lights due to the murkiness of the water.

Recreation

The campground and camps have facilities for swimming in the lake near its shore. Boating is permitted on the lake as long as gasoline-powered engines are not used. Diving is also permitted with advanced open-water certification due to the lake's depth.

Angling Angling is a fishing technique that uses a fish hook or "angle" (from Old English ''angol'') attached to a fishing line to tether individual fish in the mouth. The fishing line is usually manipulated via a fishing rod, although rodless techni ...

, from either boats or the shoreline, is also permitted. Fishermen must have a valid New York state license. The lake has a bass population in its warmer areas, and the state Department of Environmental Conservation stocks it with 1,700 brown trout fry every spring. Special fishing regulations apply since the lake is also a popular

ice fishing Ice fishing is the practice of catching fish with lines and fish hooks or spears through an opening in the ice on a frozen body of water. Ice fishers may fish in the open or in heated enclosures, some with bunks and amenities. Shelters Longe ...

spot in winter. Trout may be taken all year round; there is no minimum size and up to five fish a day may be taken. Some anglers have taken trout as large as .

References

{{authority control Lakes of New York (state) Lakes of Dutchess County, New York