Paddling Lake Welch in Harriman State Park

Lake Welch in Harriman State Park is a frequent paddling spot for me. There are multiple reasons for that. It is right off of exit 14 on the Palisades Parkway, making it supremely accessible. It has a dedicated parking area for paddlers behind a locked gate so even on the park’s busiest days I am almost guaranteed to be able to find a spot. It’s big enough to get a modest workout and do a little exploring so I don’t get too bored with the scenery.

All the lakes in Harriman are compromised as pure nature experiences. The place is just too popular and too close to the city to find true solitude.

Most of them are close enough Seven Lakes Drive to hear traffic noise, especially from the many motorcyclists that converge on the area every weekend. Lake Welch benefits from being located away from Seven Lakes Drive.

The less popular Kanawauke Drive (Route 106) which bisects Lake Welch, is tame by comparison. Welch also does not have summer camps located along its shores, which is nice. There is a gigantic beach and picnic area at one end; I guess you can’t have everything. So within the context of the normal Harriman/Bear Mountain weekend shitshow, Lake Welch is relatively quiet.

That’s not to say you can sleep in when paddling Lake Welch; the beach attracts enough people to cause the occasional traffic jam. Your best bet is to get an early start, as I did on my most recent visit. There’s always somebody that got up earlier. As I pulled in, I noticed there was a vehicle waiting for me to clear the way so he could get out.

I put my window down to confirm he would close the gate (of course he would) and drove down to the boat ramp. The parking/launching setup at Welch is as simple as can be. I pulled into my spot, took my kayak down and got my gear ready.

After launching, I turned north and paddled toward the beach. I almost immediately passed some people wading outside of the beach area. I continued on, skirted the beach and made my way across the lake towards the Beaver Pond Campsite. You can’t really see the campground from the lake but I know it’s there. Following the shoreline as it curves to the south brings you to the dam that created Lake Welch in the first place.

According to the book Harriman Trails by William J. Myles and Daniel Chazin, a community known as Sandyfield occupied this area from around 1760 until the Palisades Park commission started trying to kick out residents after the park was created in 1910. As is often the case, the community resisted. The last four residents were ordered out in 1939. Of course there was a cemetery that had to be moved down the hill to Stony Point.

It seems like every man made lake in upstate New York displaced a cemetery. Also, it seems that the first dam built there, completed in 1929, wasn’t high enough because a CCC crew began building another one in 1934. They were finally ready to dedicate the lake by October 1947. It was named after Major William A. Welch, the former general manager of the park who had died in 1941. Im sure Major Welch was a nice guy and all but I think I might have honored the residents of Sandyfield or one of the poor souls that was disinterred and carted down the hill. Sandyfield Lake wouldn’t be a bad name.

One odd thing I noticed as I passed the dam was that somebody had left a shoe sitting on top of it. A dress shoe. You see a lot of garbage in Harriman State Park. People from the city come every weekend and absolutely trash the place but a dress shoe? That struck me odd. I kept paddling south and came across a couple more people swimming from the shore there. The guy had on goggles and seemed to be scanning the lake bottom so I asked if he was searching for something as I passed. He said no. None of my business anyway.

Soon after that, I reached the culvert which lets paddlers pass beneath Kanawauke Road. I made my way underneath the road and into the more isolated northern part of the lake. There is more to look at on that side. There are more nooks and crannies to paddle in and out of, a beaver lodge, lots of turtles and frogs to look at… I even spotted an otter once. You rarely see anyone back here other than other paddlers or the occasional angler throwing a line in from the road.

I traced the shoreline all the way around until I came to a nice big beaver dam, all the way back, far out of sight and earshot of the road and beach area. Now it’s a whole different vibe. The water on the other side of the dam is a foot or two higher than the main lake. There are big boulders sticking up out of the water… it feels genuinely wild. I’ve thought about landing my kayak back here and dragging it around to explore further but it doesn’t seem right to do it. I usually take a break here and listen to the water trickling over the dam. It’s a great spot for a little meditation.

I headed back before too long. I spotted a few turtles on the way, including a fat little snapper. I went back under the road, and turned left to follow the edge of a little bay. There a few islands out in the middle of the main part of the lake so I paddled around and between them, disturbing a pair of Canada Geese in the process.

Then there was just one more bay to circumscribe before I was back at the launch site, having done the full circuit of Lake Welch. The whole thing took about an hour and fifteen minutes and, according to Strava, was about four miles of paddling. No biggie but lots of fun.