These Little-known Lakes in Upstate New York Have Water So Blue They Look Like You're in the Caribbean

You can find Caribbean-like waters in the heart of New York state.

Ten miles east of Syracuse, New York, the vibe took a dramatic shift as I passed through the forests of Green Lakes State Park in nearby Fayetteville. I had heard about the two lakes — Green Lake and Round Lake — being meromictic, which means their layers of water don’t mix. But when I actually set eyes on them, I gasped.

It wasn’t just that they were unusually clear, but they also had that soothing bluish-green sheen that’s typically associated with Caribbean island waters. Yet they were so far inland, right in the middle of upstate New York. The 1,955-acre park — centered around the two peculiar, yet stunning, lakes — may not be the most talked about in the Finger Lakes region, but are no doubt among the most unique.

“Formed during the last ice age nearly 15,000 years ago, the two lakes are essentially giant plunge pools,” the Finger Lakes Land Trust described on its site. “Great waterfalls flowing off the receding edge of the glaciers scooped out nearly 500 feet of rock to form deep, steep-sided lakes that are incongruous with the present-day landscape.”

With Green Lake being about 195 feet deep and Round Lake at 180 feet, the unique phenomenon of its hue is also attributed to its minerals and salts, like calcium carbonate. “[Minerals and salts] leech into the lake from the groundwater,” the nonprofit explains. “During late May to early June, the lakes undergo an annual ‘whiting’ event where the calcium carbonate precipitates out of the water and settles to form reef-like structures — yet another spectacle only observable at this park.”

Surrounding the lakes are gorges with slopes as high as 150 feet, as well as old-growth forests that are “a rare circumstance in the northeast" and "feature multi-layered canopies [with] large diameter trees,” the land trust added. It also noted there are about 13 miles of hiking trails.

Open year-round from dawn to dusk, visitors can swim at Green Lake State Park in the summer from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. through Sept. 4, and camp there through Oct. 8. (There are 134 campsites for $18 to $37 a night, and seven cabins for $116 a night.) The park’s vehicle entry fee is $10.

The boat house is also currently open and rents out row boats and kayaks. Also on-site is an 18-hole golf course, designed by renowned course architect Robert Trent Jones.

While summer is the time the park shines with its namesake lakes, fall brings a new palette of colors to its trails and winter offers a different sense of adventure with about 10 miles of cross-country and snowshoeing trails. Simply put, there's no wrong time to visit Green Lakes State Park.

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