Lake Bomoseen is the Vermont lake that sounds simple until the little facts start clicking. Biggest lake wholly inside the state. Clean water, not quiet water. A 65-foot basin, strong Secchi clarity in the local water-quality record, and no old HAB pattern, but enough Eurasian watermilfoil to turn herbicide into town politics. The official fish page gives the tactile map: shallow north and south ends, coves with aquatic vegetation, rock piles, underwater points, boat docks. Then the middle lake drops cooler around Neshobe Island and the locally named slate slide. Weekend wake boats. Weedline bass. Trout and smelt down in the colder dark. The less brochure-shaped material is underfoot. Hemlock, white pine, hardwoods, slate ridges. A state-park trail past quarry holes, colored slate rubble, and the vanished West Castleton company village. Neshobe Island with its Algonquin Round Table afterimage: croquet, literary guests, Harpo Marx turning himself into a mud-and-red-wig shoreline apparition to scare off snoops. Then the watershed paperwork comes back in: Sucker Brook, sediment after Irene, phosphorus, bacteria, steep back roads, lake-edge neighborhoods, resident septic-smell reports. Bomoseen is beach sand and boat rentals, yes, but also weeds, wake rules, old slate, and stormwater. Pretty water with arguments in it.
curator · lake-level · as of Sep 3, 2026
The facts
- Surface area 9.8 km² usgs-3dhp · lake-level · as of Jun 2, 2026
- Nearest town Crystal Beach · 1.6 km osm-overpass · lake-level · as of Jun 2, 2026
- Bird species (within 25 mi) 194 ebird-api-v2 · lake-level · as of Jun 2, 2026
- Bird diversity index 0.91 ebird-api-v2 · lake-level · as of Jun 2, 2026
- Median home value $227,000 census-acs-2024-b25077 · block-group-level · as of Jun 2, 2026
- Water clarity Moderate sentinel-2-l2a · lake-level · as of Sep 3, 2026
- Night sky Darkest skies viirs-black-marble-vnp46a4 · lake-level · as of Sep 3, 2026
- Surroundings Resort — a shoreline built for visitors curator · lake-level · as of Sep 3, 2026
- Water origin Natural lake curator · lake-level · as of Sep 3, 2026
In more detail
- Climate
- strongly four-season; cold winters (~23°F mean), warm summers (~68°F); ~45 in precip/yr curator · lake-level · as of Sep 3, 2026
- Public access
- Lake Bomoseen has public access on its Rutland County shoreline through both the state park system and a state fishing-access area. Bomoseen State Park, on the western shore, provides a public boat launch, boat/canoe/kayak/rowboat/pedal-boat rentals, a sand swimming beach, and day-use picnic areas (open seasonally, Memorial Day through Labor Day). The state-run Kehoe Fishing Access Area in Castleton offers a separate free concrete boat ramp with a dock, a universal shore-fishing platform, and trailer parking. Fees/permits: Kehoe Fishing Access Area (VT Fish & Wildlife) is free with no permit required; Bomoseen State Park charges a standard state-park day-use entry fee (exact amount not confirmed).. Sources: anrweb.vt.gov (fetched 2026-07-12); vtstateparks.com (search-extraction 2026-07-12); vtfishandwildlife.com (search-extraction 2026-07-12). curated-web-harvest · lake-level · as of Jul 12, 2026
- Dogs and pets
- medium — 1 dog park within 25 mi (OSM); state rule: Pets in Vermont state parks must be securely restrained on a leash no longer than 10 feet (or safely confined) at all times. Animals are prohibited from beaches, pools, picnic areas, playgrounds, and parking lots, but are allowed in designated campgrounds and other day-use areas when properly restrained. Service/assistance animals and Police Canine Corps dogs are exempt from the area restrictions if under leash/harness control. (Code of Vermont Rules, Agency of Natural Resources, Ch. 009 (12-020-009): Visitor Conduct and Fees and Charges for State Park Services and Commercial Activities on Department Lands, fetched 2026-07-12); At Bomoseen State Park, pets are not permitted on the sandy beach, in the designated swimming area, or in day-use areas, but are allowed elsewhere in the park on a leash. (vtstateparks.com, search-extraction 2026-07-12) curated-web-harvest · lake-level · as of Jul 12, 2026
- Property tax
- 1.81% ACS effective-rate proxy (2024 ACS 5-year; Rutland County anchor: $4,154 median real-estate taxes paid ÷ $229,400 median owner-occupied home value; Vermont proxy 1.59%, +0.22 percentage points). census-acs-2024-property-tax · county-level · as of Dec 31, 2024
Where it’s heading
Stable hand-rated for v0.1 · lake-level · as of Sep 3, 2026
Per VT DEC Lake Score Card figures, summer Secchi clarity averages 7.4 m with a "Highly Significantly Increasing" trend since 1990, and the lake has no history of harmful algal blooms. Pulling the other way, VTDigger reports a 2021 survey that found Eurasian watermilfoil the lake's most commonly occurring plant, and the 2016 watershed Stormwater Master Plan documents significantly increased Sucker Brook sediment since Tropical Storm Irene along with resident phosphorus, bacteria, and septic-odor concerns. With improving clarity offset by invasive-plant and stormwater pressures, and weekend boat-launch demand holding steady per VTDigger, the trajectory is flat rather than clearly up or down.