NYS Officials to Would-Be Peekamoose Blue Hole Swimmers: Please Go Elsewhere

  |  June 22, 2017

Peekamoose Blue Hole. Photo by Kandy Harris

It hasn’t happened yet, but we would not be surprised if the state of New York eventually closed off access to Peekamoose Blue Hole in Ulster County, western Catskill Mountains. Why? Recently, multiple news outlets, including WAMC.org, reported that the state Department of Environmental Conservation is recommending that visitors looking to beat the summer heat should cool off  on state lands as opposed to Blue Hole due to an over-inundation of tourists, trash, and cars parked along the road.

The DEC has been tightening access to the popular swimming hole over the past year and started prohibiting the use of fire and glass containers as well as camping around Blue Hole. Still, the tourists kept coming, forcing the DEC to create limited hours of operation and stepped-up patrolling. With the state regulators working hard to keep people away from the Blue Hole, we wonder how long it will be before Blue Hole will be closed to visitors for good.

As the weather gets hot, please keep our Catskills swimming holes in pristine condition so that we don’t lose them to closures. Because how much would that suck? Answer: A LOT.

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