Winnisook Lake
| Winnisook Lake | |
|---|---|
 From northeast corner | |
  Winnisook Lake Location within New York  Winnisook Lake Winnisook Lake (the United States) | |
| Location | Ulster County, New York |
| Coordinates | 42°00′52″N74°24′45″W/ 42.01444°N 74.41250°W[1] |
| Type | Artificial |
| Primary outflows | Esopus Creek |
| Basincountries | United States |
| Surface area | 5 acres (0.0078 sq mi)[1] |
| Surface elevation | 2,664 feet (812 m)[1] |
Winnisook Lakeis an artificiallakelocated inOliverea,New York, United States. It is the source ofEsopus Creekand the highest lake in theCatskill Mountainsat 2,664 feet (812 m) above sea level.
The lake is the private property of theWinnisook Club,which expanded it with adamso they could have a place tofish.This created some problems withhikersin the past, who would park along the neighboring stretch of Ulster County Route 47 and cross the club's property to reach state-ownedForest Preservelands and climb the Catskills' highest peak, neighboringSlide Mountain.Crowds of hikers steadily increased throughout the 1970s, causing the club to consider closing what had long been one of the easiest ways to ascend the peak. New York'sDepartment of Environmental Conservation(DEC) solved the problem in the early 1980s by buying some land to the south of the club and building a new access trail over it.
The stretch of Route 47 next to the lake has the distinction of being the highest elevation improved public through road in the state.
The name, one of the fewIndianplace names in the Catskills, comes from Winnisook, the same legendary figure from whom the nearby hamlet ofBig IndianandBig Indian Mountaindraw their names.