By Harold Gutmann
The Journal
News • August 27, 2008
CARMEL - Michelle Gouldsbury on Friday went
to the well-known Long Island summer spot Jones Beach. She was met by traffic on
the roads, crowds on the beach and jellyfish and dead sand sharks in the
water.
So on Saturday, she took her family to the much less famous
Canopus Lake beach, located in Clarence Fahnestock State Park.
"We were
just looking forward to coming here because it's beautiful here," the
Farmingdale resident said. "You just come and there's plenty of room. If you
want to barbeque you can barbeque, nobody bothers you, if you want to hike you
can go hiking. And for $7? It's great."
For only $7 a carload, it isn't
just local residents taking advantage of the sandy beach, located just off the
Taconic State Parkway and Route 301 in the highlands of Putnam County. People
from all over are coming to take advantage of the swimming, boating, fishing and
sunbathing opportunities in a scenic, yet mostly secluded, spot.
"It's a
wonderful place," said Rich Dambra, who comes with his family about five times a
year. "We moved up to Mahopac five years ago and we found this place, and ever
since we've been happy with it."
In addition to the shaded picnic area,
the beach includes a concession stand, locker rooms, shower facilities and
bathrooms. There is also fishing for bass, pickerel, perch and brook and rainbow
trout, and row boats are available to rent.
Ossining resident Caroline
Taylor said it's a great spot to bring her 2-year-old.
"We love
Fahnestock," Taylor said. "No dogs, it's clean - there's no trash around -
there's enough space to swim, the lifeguards are nice, the sand's nice. It's not
stony, which a lot of the lake stuff is. And they have concessions."
The
sand is different because it's brought in from off site. Kent resident Rachel
Jemmott, who is now a lifeguard at the beach, has been coming since she was 3.
It's been a relaxing spot for her.
"It's not too crazy," Jemmott said.
"It's really nice on the weekdays when there's no one here."
Besides the
lack of a current, Jemmott said the swimming area is safe because the ground
slopes down gradually, so people have time to realize if they're getting in too
deep.
The beach also has the advantage of being enclosed by more than
14,000 acres of state park, which includes a part of the Appalachian Trail.
Other features are the Taconic Outdoor Education Center, which provides
environmental and recreation programs, and an adjacent campground. Each of the
80 campsites has a picnic table and a fire ring, restroom and shower
facilities.
Deirdre Clarke of Piermont was taking advantage of everything
- hiking in the morning, going to the beach in the afternoon and then camping at
night. Previously she had seen a man who was hiking from New Jersey to
Vermont.
"It's pretty cool to see people who are serious hikers," she
said.
The park is open daily from sunrise to sunset, while the campground
is open from mid-April through mid-December. But the main attraction is still
the lake itself, known as the jewel of the park.
"It's clean, it's nice,
it's calm," said 15-year-old Alexandra Alzate of Yonkers. "It's better than the
other ones."
Reach Harold Gutmann at
hgutmann@lohud.com.
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