Biographical Info

End of Co. Rte. 15 at Lake Ontario, Sandy Pond.

Lake Ontario sandy beach between North and South Sandy Ponds offers swimming, picnicking and outdoor activities; bathhouse.

Beach open weekends end of May through end of June, daily end of June through Labor Day. Admission is charged.

Sandy Pond Beach Unique Area is a 76-acre New York State conservation area located within the eastern Lake Ontario dunes. It lies at the north end of a spit of land dividing North Sandy Pond from Lake Ontario, and is about 2 miles (3.2 km) north of Sandy Island Beach State Park. There is no road access to the area, which can be most easily reached by boat. For this reason, local residents have long referred to the beach as “Boaters’ Beach”.

There is a bird sanctuary on the northern-most tip of this area that hosts large numbers of shorebirds during migration; the Unique Area is part of the Eastern Lake Ontario Marshes Bird Conservation Area that also includes Deer Creek Marsh, Lakeview, and Black Pond Wildlife Management Areas. Visitors and pets are not allowed in the bird sanctuary.

The area was purchased by The Nature Conservancy in 1994 from two private owners who were concerned about preservation of the land; the purchase price was about $300,000. The new conservation area was named the Sandy Pond Beach Natural Area. The purchase was followed by a restoration effort involving beachgrass plantings and construction of boardwalks, which prevent damage to the beachgrass by foot traffic. The Nature Conservancy properties have been purchased by New York State to create the Unique Area, which is part of the New York State Forest system.

The Unique Area has also been designated a New York Natural Heritage Area.