Sleepy Hollow Lake is a recreational lake and residential community (and census-designated place) in

Greene County, New York Greene County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 47,931. Its county seat is Catskill. The county's name is in honor of the American Revolutionary War general Nathanael Greene. The c ...

, United States, located 120 miles north of New York City and 28 miles south of Albany in the

Hudson River Valley The Hudson Valley or Hudson River Valley comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in the U.S. state of New York. The region stretches from the Capital District including Albany and Troy south to Yonkers in Westch ...

. The lake is a two and one-half mile long, 324 acre, 70 foot deep man-made, Class “A” drinking water

reservoir A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...

for the neighboring communities. It is surrounded by a 2,200 acre residential community, also known as “Sleepy Hollow Lake”, which is a

Planned Unit Development A planned unit development (PUD) is a type of flexible, non- Euclidean zoning device that redefines the land uses allowed within a stated land area. PUDs consist of unitary site plans that promote the creation of open spaces, mixed-use housing and ...

(PUD) that self-governs residential land use, maintains common roads, parks, beaches, and other recreational facilities, operates most of the development's sewer and water services, and provides community security and code enforcement. The community is within the viewshed of the

Taconic Mountains The Taconic Mountains () are a 150-mile-long sub-range of the Appalachian Mountains lying on the eastern border of New York State and adjacent New England. The range, which played a role in the history of geological science, is separated from th ...

to the east and the

Catskill Mountains The Catskill Mountains, also known as the Catskills, are a physiographic province and subrange of the larger Appalachian Mountains, located in southeastern New York. As a cultural and geographic region, the Catskills are generally defined a ...

to the west. The community was featured in a 2015 episode of the

HGTV HGTV (an initialism for Home & Garden Television) is an American basic cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The network primarily broadcasts reality programming related to home improvement and real estate. HGTV Dream Home is an ...

series Lakefront Bargain Hunt.

Lake

Towns

The Sleepy Hollow Lake community is located within the boundaries of three municipalities – the town of Coxsackie, NY, the town of

Athens, NY Athens is a town in Greene County, New York, United States. The population was 3,916 at the 2020 census. The town of Athens has a village also called Athens. The town is near the eastern edge of the county. History The town of Athens was form ...

and the Village of Athens, NY. The postal zip code for the community is 12015, as mail is serviced through the local post office in the Village of Athens. The nearest larger communities are Catskill, NY about 7 miles south,

Kingston, NY Kingston is the only city in, and the county seat of, Ulster County, New York, United States. It is north of New York City and south of Albany. The city's metropolitan area is grouped with the New York metropolitan area around Manhattan by ...

and Rhinebeck, NY, both about 30 miles south, and

Hudson, NY Hudson is a city in and the county seat of Columbia County, New York, United States. At the 2020 census, it had a population of 5,894. On the east side of the Hudson River, from the Atlantic Ocean, it was named after the river's explorer, Henr ...

, just 2.5 miles directly across the

Hudson River The Hudson River, historically the North River, is a river that flows from north to south largely through eastern New York (state), New York state. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains at Henderson Lake (New York), Henderson Lake in the ...

from the community, but reached by car via the

Rip Van Winkle Bridge The Rip Van Winkle Bridge is a cantilever bridge spanning the Hudson River between Hudson, New York and Catskill, New York. Affording of clearance over the water, the structure carries NY 23 across the river, connecting US 9W and NY 385 on ...

, about 10 driving miles away, or via a

ferry on Friday and Saturday evenings during summer months. An

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

passenger rail station, which some residents use to commute to New York City, is located in

Fish

The lake is home to various game fish, including

largemouth bass The largemouth bass (''Micropterus nigricans'') is a carnivorous, freshwater fish, freshwater, ray-finned fish in the Centrarchidae (sunfish) family, native to the eastern United States, eastern and central United States, southeastern Canada an ...

smallmouth bass The smallmouth bass (''Micropterus dolomieu'') is a species of freshwater fish in the Centrarchidae, sunfish family (biology), family (Centrarchidae) of the order (biology), order Centrarchiformes. It is the type species of its genus ''Micropterus ...

, and

crappie Crappies () are two species of North American freshwater fish of the genus ''Pomoxis'' in the family Centrarchidae (sunfishes). Both species of crappies are popular game fish among recreational anglers. Etymology The genus name ''Pomoxi ...

. The New York State record

white crappie The white crappie (''Pomoxis annularis'') is a freshwater fish found in North America, one of the two species of crappies. Alternate common names for the species include goldring, silver perch, white perch and sac-a-lait. is named for the fish ...

(4 lbs 7 oz) was caught at Sleepy Hollow Lake in 2021.NY State Department of Environmental Conservation
NY State DEC

Birds

Sleepy Hollow Lake has many types of birds both seasonal and migratory. Bald Eagles, Peregrine Falcons, Red Tailed Hawks, Pileated Woodpeckers, Northern Harrier, Green Heron, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Belted Kingfisher to name a few
Instagram account of wildlife at SHL

References

External links

Sleepy Hollow Lake Community WebsiteFacebook page:

InstagramTown of Athens website

Town of Coxsackie website

Village of Athens website

{{authority control Reservoirs in Greene County, New York Populated places in Greene County, New York Reservoirs in New York (state)