Swim Beach

First Day Hike start point. The hike was great, the trails are quite good.

Free, but lots of stairs to get from the parking to the beach. Bring chairs and blanket. The water isn't very deep and was very warm.

It's in a nice area and people are friendly but it doesn't look like the swim area here gets much love from it's community. I noticed plastic trash and nowhere to throw it away. The water was nice and cool but its a shallow place for a swim, more for kids. The beach isn't that big either so it looks like it could get cramped.

Nice, pretty area. But water was very dirty and very hot.. like bath water. Not refreshing. Didn't wanna go in far, it was very murky, green and slimy. A lot of stairs to the beach.

The swim beach on the northeast side of Clinton Lake is the one I frequent most often. I live close to downtown, so it's just a much closer drive than the swim beach across the lake. It has all the accommodations, and are well maintained. There's a bathroom, covered picnic area, sprayer for sandy feet, and ample trash receptacles. Close to rentable camping sites. Family friendly spot, cheap day outing. (Parking passes can be bought on-site, or wherever you renew your tags. Year park passes available.) People bring their pets, and are excellent about keeping control of and cleaning up after them. Adorable! There's a tiny beach, unless we've had a lot of rain, then I would recommend driving around to the larger beach on the south side. This side is not handicap accessible, there are something like twelve sets of stairs on the way down to the water. (Definitely avoid after heavy rain. The water rises up the to steps, covering the beach entirely, and pushes all the storm droppings into the cove. So you have to wade through tons of sticks and branches, and through plants that weren't normally water covered, and stub toes on large rocks that were moved to the beach's edge. Unsafe.)