Plans for a new adult swimming access point at Stissing Lake could come to fruition by July 4, according to Pine Plains Town Board Member Murphy Birdsall, who serves as liaison to the town’s Conservation Advisory Council.
The swim-at-your-own-risk access point would be located several feet to the right of the public beach, giving residents a sanctioned place to enter the lake outside the lifeguarded beach area, including when lifeguards are not on duty.
The project has been in discussion since last summer. While planning is still underway, one key piece of preparation has already been completed: A benthic barrier near the access point was cleaned up Sunday, May 17, according to Kim Denardis, a member of the CAC. The barrier, a mat placed on the lake bed to help maintain a clear path into the water, was installed in June 2025 by C and D Underwater Maintenance. The company recently returned to pull milfoil that had grown around it, Denardis said.
The CAC also plans to plant native vegetation along the shoreline near the access point. Denardis said plants such as arrow arum, blue flag irises and buttonbush would support pollinators, including butterflies, birds and dragonflies.
Birdsall said the Recreation Department may also consider installing a wooden walkway beginning near the fence and extending down toward the water.
The access point would be the first board-sanctioned public swimming entry at the lake outside the lifeguarded beach area, Birdsall said. She said it could help address residents entering the lake from private shoreline areas.
Rachel Greenfield, who has lived near the lake for about 30 years, said the access point would provide a safer option for swimmers.
“The only other quasi-public entry to the lake then becomes the boat landing, which is owned by the Lions Club,” Greenfield said. “There are fishing boats and motor boats and all sorts of traffic going in and out of that boat landing all the time, and there’s a lot of aquatic vegetation there, and it’s not safe for people to be going in and out swimming.”
Greenfield said she supported expanding lake access for residents who do not live along the shoreline.
“What you have to do is have a spot where it’s clearly posted that you’re swimming at your own risk,” she said. “There’s ample parking, they have a place for their towels and grass to sit on, and it’s safe. So I’m thrilled.”
Town officials and CAC members also discussed water quality concerns at the lake. Last summer, testing found enterococci, a fecal indicator bacteria, and the lake was closed about two or three times for multiple days, according to Trevor Roush, the town board liaison to the Recreation Department.
Roush said the cause of the elevated bacteria levels can be difficult to determine, citing possible factors such as geese, runoff after rain or changes in weather.
“I believe that we are going to press the [County] Health Department to take a better sample of the beach,” Roush said. “You’re supposed to take three samples and then you get a median number and it seems like, from my understanding, they were only taking a sample from one place.”
Denardis said Stissing Lake is not stagnant and that bacteria often clears on its own.
Roush also said the metal fence along the shoreline would need to be cut to create the access point. Two red flags currently mark the proposed opening.
Denardis said the project would be a welcome addition.
“It’s a nice alternative entry into the water for people who enjoy swimming,” she said.
Awesome news! Many municipalities further north of here have had swim at your own risk areas for a very long time! Glad to see the town finally implementing it after asking a few years ago.
As for water quality/swimming, if the town takes every possible precaution, and goes above and beyond picking up poop and feathers from the geese, raking under the darker sand, and keeping the weeds out of the swim area (all easier said then done), the health department has and will open the water (I had two summers of no closure when Director of beach and Rec doing this).
I also wish that the boards of our town and Ancram back then could’ve come to a beach reciprocity agreement where residents of both could have access to each area with either town’s pass. I had proposed the idea in 2020 at a few meetings in the hopes of us having a consistent schedule for swim lessons without having to worry about the lake possibly closing.
As for health of the lake ecosystem, in my kayaking and fishing expeditions, there have been plenty of healthy fish, birds, turtles and other wildlife doing just fine. Hopefully, we consider the wildlife and habitat too in any future projects.
It seems we’ve got some new folks involved now, that might be able to make some good things happen!
According to the Professional Habitat Study for Pine Plains completed in 2009 by Hudsonia, Stissing Lake is a CIRCUMNEUTRAL BOG LAKE. As such it is fragile.The DEC concurs with this. Moreover, the CAC is defined under the State Environmental Quality Review Act(SEQRA) as an ‘interested agency’ that may participate in the review process on issues pertaining to potential impacts on the environment , but has NO jurisdiction to approve or undertake ANY ACTION. (ie. the selection of plantings may leave out the needs of certain organisms vital to the life cycles of certain organisms. Plantings, instead of letting nature take its course is arbitrary and capricious. The benthic mat will kill or smother benthic organisms like dragonfly , mayfly larvae and any or all rare species characteristic of this lake featured in the Museum of Natural History as natural. Opening this area to anyone for swimming ….deprives the Town of Revenue with the installation of a separate area for entry. The laying down of this benthic mat,,sets a bad precedence , for the entire littoral region of this lake. The wooden fence splicing the calcareous wet meadow , goes counter to the recommendations in Hudsonia Habitat Study . Lifeguards on duty at the Town Beach are not under obligation to protect swimmers in this area ( This is a legitimate concern of the Health Department) . Other than generating money for people who sell these mats, what is its function other that turn the lake into a giant sterile swimming pool. If one has an aversion to stepping on pebbles, perhaps they should seek a pool, instead . The kayak launch must be moved to an area parallel , but a distance north of the float and yards of sand have to eliminated at the Town Beach as this mass of excessive sand is filling in the lake as well as clogging underground springs feeding the lake with clear, clean water. There is an area at the Oligotrophic end of the lake, where adults could swim, where the Town maintains an easement for use of a pipe draining a marsh area further south. The present plan, destroys the character and nature of this relatively pristine, rural, rustic, remarkable landmark lake with a mountain at its girth.