Green Lakes State Park
Overview
Syracuse, New York
Syracuse is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States, the largest U.S. city with the name "Syracuse", and the fifth most populous city in the state. At the 2010 census, the city population was 145,170, and its metropolitan area had a population of 742,603...
in the Town of Manlius
Manlius (town), New York
Manlius is a town in Onondaga County, east of the city of Syracuse, New York, United States. The population was 32,370 at the 2010 census, making it the third largest suburb in metropolitan Syracuse...
. The park is strikingly scenic, and has a "masterpiece" golf course designed by Robert Trent Jones
Robert Trent Jones
Robert Trent Jones, Sr. was a golf course architect who designed about 500 golf courses in at least 40 US states and 35 other countries all around the world...
very early in his career. Green Lake
Green Lake (New York)
Green Lake is the larger of the two lakes in Green Lakes State Park, which lies about east of downtown Syracuse in Onondaga County, New York. Round Lake is the smaller lake located west of Green Lake. Both lakes are meromictic, which means that there is no seasonal mixing of surface and bottom...
itself is perhaps the most studied meromictic
Meromictic
A meromictic lake has layers of water that do not intermix. In ordinary, "holomictic" lakes, at least once each year there is a physical mixing of the surface and the deep waters...
lake – one in which layers of water do not mix – in the world. The park preserves the largest stand of old growth forest in Central New York, and Round Lake has been designated as a National Natural Landmark
National Natural Landmark
The National Natural Landmark program recognizes and encourages the conservation of outstanding examples of the natural history of the United States. It is the only natural areas program of national scope that identifies and recognizes the best examples of biological and geological features in...
by the U.S. Department of the Interior
United States Department of the Interior
The United States Department of the Interior is the United States federal executive department of the U.S. government responsible for the management and conservation of most federal land and natural resources, and the administration of programs relating to Native Americans, Alaska Natives, Native...
.
The park is centered on two small lakes, Green Lake
Green Lake (New York)
Green Lake is the larger of the two lakes in Green Lakes State Park, which lies about east of downtown Syracuse in Onondaga County, New York. Round Lake is the smaller lake located west of Green Lake. Both lakes are meromictic, which means that there is no seasonal mixing of surface and bottom...
and Round Lake, which have an unusual blue-green color.
