Woodlawn Beach State Park

"This place is literally the worst beach in the United States. Granted, I haven't been to every single beach, but it would be difficult to imagine worse. For the uninitiated, this place is a STATE park in NY, which means, of course, it has 1 billion rules and, of course, charges a fee to get in. Aside from all that, this July weekend, they had ONE lifeguard present for the entire place on a premium day! Don't forget that people will smoke in your face even though smoking is against the rules. Oh, and you'll get the one guy with a megaphone yelling at you if you put your kids on your shoulders. Oh, and there USED to be a playground, but that was too fun, so they ripped that out. The absolute worst part, though, despite all of those mentioned unpleasantries, is that the water is GROSS. My entire family had to take showers after because we had algae and rocks covering our bodies. New York is already a shameful place to live, and Woodlawn Beach is the embodiment of this soulless wasteland we call New York State."

"A fabulous time here and if you arrive early enough, there isn't an agent at the entrance to take fees. So that's a bonus for me. Clean, soft sand and an onshore breeze today made for a wonderful visit. On top of that, there was an open outlet on one of the light poles so I parked next to that and spent the afternoon with a free Level 1 charger to bring my onboard battery up to 100%. Great beach, free charging, I had a very good time!"

"Large beach with volleyball nets and plenty of room for everyone. Lots of dead stinky fish on the beach. Good spot to look for cool drift wood, rocks, sea glass, and some fossils (coral and brachiopod). Sea glass is mostly clear, some is brown, green, and rarely blue. Bands play most nights during the summer at Solei and they offer an unlimited drink package. See pictures. Park is open until sunset during the summer and Bathrooms close by 8:45pm. Might be a charge per car during peak hours, the pay booth was closed on the evening I was there. There might be a woodland birding trail but I didn't see it. Beach is near a waste treatment plant and water may be closed during unsafe times."

"Tonight my family went to Woodlawn beach.. It was a hot but beautiful beach! We were getting ready to leave and a huge fight broke out! This was more than 50 to 100 kids fighting on the beach. Mercy Flight was circling over everyone.. The Erie county sheriff’s were there and had to go down to the fight. I don’t think we will go back, if we do it won’t be often. I will either drive to Presque Isle down in Erie Pa or over the Canadian border to Crystal Beach! Sad to see this on a beautiful Buffalo, NY beach!!"

"Woodlawn Beach is probably the best beach in western New York. It's like being at the seaside, but without tides, stinging jellyfish, or all the saltwater-borne parasites! The sand is really fine, and for most of the beach there are no rocks or stones, so you can set up anywhere on soft sand. The dunes at the edges have been recultivated with dune grass, so there's a nice barrier between the beach and the marsh beyond, and again, makes the area feel like you're on on ocean, not a great lake. The beach runs for a huge distance within the park, so you can walk the beach for a long way, though only a quarter mile or so is actually groomed (which can be a nice thing if you like beachcombing). It does mean that you can settle in somewhere with no people really near you, and play games or fly kites without bothering people nearby. There is a fee to get in (we have an Empire Pass that gets us in to most state parks for free, and it works here), and they test the water quality daily which indicates if the water will be open (safe) for swimming, so you do have to check before if you are only going to get into the water."