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The public beach at Lake Wyola State Park on a clear October afternoon: a wide curve of sandy shoreline in the foreground sloping down into the calm dark water of the lake, a wooden swim float and short dock at the left edge of the beach, a wooded point of mixed pines and orange-and-yellow fall hardwoods reaching into the lake in the middle distance, a low forested ridge across the far shore in patchy fall color, a small paper Welcome sign and a No Lifeguard On Duty notice posted on a wooden post in the right foreground, and a bright blue sky with a few thin streaks of cloud overhead.
Outdoors · Park
The public beach and paddle-craft launch at Lake Wyola State Park, October 2021. Photo by Morrowlong, source, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Lake Wyola State Park

Shutesbury, Franklin County

Category
Park
Town
Shutesbury
County
Franklin
Difficulty
Easy

Lake Wyola State Park is a small Massachusetts DCR park on the shore of Lake Wyola in Shutesbury, about 42 acres of woods and shoreline wrapped around a sand swimming beach, a paddle-craft launch, and a picnic grove. The park is also known as the Carroll A. Holmes Recreation Area, named for a former Shutesbury selectman, and was opened to the public by the state in 1997.

The lake

Lake Wyola itself is a 128-acre upland pond in the central Massachusetts hills, dammed in the 1880s on Fiske Brook above the headwaters of the Sawmill River. It is shallow at the edges and steeper in the middle (average depth around 11 feet, maximum about 33 feet), with a generally clean, sandy-bottomed swimming area at the state park beach. Most of the shore is private, lined with summer cottages and year-round homes; the state park parcel is the public access point.

What’s there

  • Swimming beach. A sand beach gently sloped into the lake, with a roped-off swim area, a small wooden dock and float, picnic tables back from the water, and restrooms in the day-use building.
  • Paddle-craft launch. A cartop launch alongside the beach for canoes, kayaks, and paddleboards. Lake Wyola is a short, sheltered paddle and a good lake to learn on.
  • Picnic grove. Tables and grills under the pines behind the beach.
  • Trails. Short walking paths through the woods on the park parcel, also used in winter for snowshoeing and cross-country skiing when there is cover.

What to know

  • Hours. DCR lists Memorial Day-Labor Day hours as 9 AM-7:30 PM, with off-season hours posted at the park.
  • Pets. Dogs are not allowed at DCR swimming beaches during the swimming season; check current DCR pet rules for the rest of the park.
  • Fishing. Lake Wyola is open to fishing from shore and from boats with a Massachusetts license.
  • Season. The developed day-use area is a summer-forward operation; the gate is typically closed in winter and the beach and restrooms shut down, though the property remains open to foot access.

Nearby

The park is in the northwest corner of Shutesbury, in the rolling hilltown country east of the Connecticut River and west of the Quabbin watershed. From the beach it is a short drive to the rest of the central Franklin County hills.

Sources