Lake Champlain is 120 miles long, up to 400 feet deep at its deepest point between Charlotte and Essex, and by most counts the sixth-largest natural freshwater lake in the country — and Burlington gets to keep it as a western horizon. This page is the shore, spot by spot, south to north.
The city runs five official swim beaches and tests every one of them: E. coli samples on Mondays and Thursdays with results by 11 AM Tuesday and Friday, cyanobacteria checks daily in season. The open/closed chips on this page are live from the city's tracker — the same data as our weather page, where the full swim board lives.
And because just listing beaches is no fun: every spot below carries a few challenges — real, findable things. Tick them off as you go; found something good along the way? Send the photo and it may run in the Brief.
Not to scale — just the shore in order, north at the top. Tap a dot.
Red Rocks Park & Beach
The dramatic one · South Burlington
A hundred acres of hemlock and pine that end, suddenly, in red rock cliffs over the water — the one stretch of shoreline here that doesn't look like Vermont. Below the drama sits a small, calm swim beach at the end of Central Avenue.
The practical part
4 Central Ave, South Burlington — enter off Queen City Park Rd. Open dawn to dusk.
3.3 miles of forested trails to shoreline overlooks; dogs on leash, no bikes on the foot trails.
No lifeguards; seasonal restrooms and portable toilets in season.
Small parking fee mid-June through mid-August; limited free parking outside the park otherwise.
South Burlington tests the water Mondays and Wednesdays in season — it's not on Burlington's tracker, so no live chip here.
Getting there
Bus#6 Shelburne Road to Shelburne Rd at Farrell St, then Farrell St → Queen City Park Rd → Central Ave, about a 15-minute walk. Sundays the #756 South End Circulator makes the same stop.
BikeNot on the Greenway — ride Queen City Park Rd and Central Ave on-street from the Oakledge end.
Morning for the trails before the lot fills; a hot afternoon for the beach.
The hunt
Found one? Send the photo — say "Red Rocks" in the spot field.
Blanchard Beach
The tucked-away one
A sandy beach folded into the south side of Oakledge Park, easy to miss and better for it. Its nearest neighbor is a stone circle: the Burlington Earth Clock, a working sundial on the bike path where your own shadow tells the time.
The practical part
Inside Oakledge Park, off Flynn Ave — one of the park's two swim beaches, and one of the city's five tested ones.
No lifeguards. Seasonal restrooms, grills, picnic tables and the rest of Oakledge's facilities are shared next door.
The Earth Clock: fourteen granite stones, some over 20 tons, raised in 2006–07 by the nonprofit Circles for Peace.
Getting there
BusSame as Oakledge — #5 Pine Street to Pine St near Flynn Ave, then walk Flynn Ave west to the park, about 10–15 minutes. Sundays: #756.
BikeOn the Greenway — the Earth Clock sits right beside the path at the park's south side.
Golden hour. The Earth Clock was placed with sunset in mind, and the beach empties before the light gets good. (Will tonight’s deliver?)
The hunt
Found one? Send the photo — say "Blanchard Beach" in the spot field.
Oakledge Park & the Cove
The sunset one
A 45-acre South End park that has quietly collected the city's best small wonders: the world's first universally accessible treehouse, a universally accessible playground, and the Cove — the most secluded of the city beaches, rocky outcroppings and all. This land was a private resort and then a country club bought by General Electric workers; the city made it everyone's in 1971.
The practical part
West end of Flynn Ave; gates 6 AM–9:30 PM. Parking $3/hour May–October, free November–May (ParkMobile zone 5818).
The Cove is a tested city swim beach — no lifeguards. Seasonal bathrooms at the shelters.
Sunset at the Cove — the official page calls it a quiet-sunset spot, and it's right. Weekday afternoons for the beach itself. (Check tonight’s sunset score.)
The hunt
Found one? Send the photo — say "Oakledge" in the spot field.
The Waterfront
The famous one
The lawn, the porch swings, the boathouse, ECHO, and the sunset everyone photographs — this is the postcard, and it earns it. One honest note: the harbor is not a designated swimming area and isn't on the city's test list, so save the actual swim for the beaches on either side.
The practical part
Waterfront Park, 10 College St — open sunrise to sunset, festival venue all summer.
Restrooms seasonally at the info booth and Community Boathouse; year-round inside ECHO.
Perkins Pier, at the foot of Maple St: seasonal marina, playground, picnic tables, and a free kayak/canoe launch on the Lake Champlain Paddlers' Trail.
Parking at the Lake St and Pease lots, $3/hour.
Getting there
BusThe easiest of all — nearly every GMT route ends at the Downtown Transit Center on St. Paul at Cherry; from there it's three or four blocks down College St to the water.
WalkTen minutes downhill from Church Street. The hill on the way back is the price.
Golden hour, obviously — but a quiet weekday sunrise here is the same view with none of the crowd.
The hunt
Found one? Send the photo — say "Waterfront" in the spot field.
Texaco Beach
The dog one
The city's one dedicated dog beach — year-round water access for dogs, off the Greenway at the Urban Reserve, and on a warm afternoon it is the happiest place in Burlington. The name is real history: for most of the twentieth century, lake barges landed here to pump gasoline and oil into shoreline tanks.
The practical part
Greenway access only — no parking, no restrooms, no lifeguards, no facilities at all. That's the charm.
Still one of the city's five tested beaches, so the chip above is live.
Nearest restrooms and parking: North Beach (seasonal) or the Waterfront lots.
The parcel became city land in 2016, with help from the Vermont Land Trust and conservation funds.
Getting there
BikeIt's a path spot: ride the Greenway north from Waterfront Park past the Moran Frame and the Urban Reserve, or south from North Beach.
BusNo stop of its own — #7 North Avenue to the Burlington High School stop on Institute Rd, walk down to North Beach, then follow the path south. Every GMT bus has a free two-bike front rack, which is the smoothest way to do this.
Found one? Send the photo — dogs mid-swim especially welcome.
North Beach
The big one
Burlington's largest beach and its most social: the only one with lifeguards, a campground in the pines behind it, and the Adirondacks stacked across the water. On a hot August weekend it hits capacity before lunch, and it earns that too.
The practical part
Off North Ave via Institute Rd; gates 9 AM–9 PM in season. Beach access is free; parking is $3/hour May–mid-October (ParkMobile zone 5828), free the rest of the year.
The only lifeguarded beach in the city — guards on duty daily in summer, roughly early June through late August, 11 AM–6 PM.
Restrooms with showers, playground, grills, picnic tables; in recent summers, the Beach House bar-and-grill and a snack bar with creemees, both on the sand.
Kayak, canoe and paddleboard rentals from Paddlesurf Champlain in summer.
North Beach Campground: 137 sites in the pines, open May 15–October 15 — camping inside city limits.
Getting there
Bus#7 North Avenue, every half hour or so Monday–Saturday, to the Burlington High School stop — then walk Institute Rd down to the water, about 10 minutes. Sundays the #778 North End Circulator covers North Ave.
BikeRight on the Greenway — about 10 minutes north of Waterfront Park.
Early. On hot weekends the lot fills by 11 AM; a weekday morning swim here, with the guards on and the lake flat, is the full postcard.
The hunt
Found one? Send the photo — say "North Beach" in the spot field.
Leddy Park Beach
The local one
The New North End's beach: a long ribbon of sand below a grassy picnic bluff, free parking, and a calmer crowd than North Beach on the same water. It's also the only beach in town with an ice arena in the parking lot, which is a very Vermont sentence.
The practical part
216 Leddy Park Rd, off North Ave. Parking is free; the main gate runs 4:30 AM–12:30 AM.
No lifeguards. Restrooms are inside the Leddy Arena building.
Grills and picnic tables on the bluff above the sand; athletic fields, tennis and basketball in the park behind.
Leddy Beach Bites — the summer Wednesday-evening food-truck series — is the neighborhood's weekly ritual.
Getting there
Bus#7 North Avenue to North Ave near Leddy Park Rd, then a short walk in — under 10 minutes. Sundays: #778 North End Circulator.
BikeThe Greenway runs right through Leddy Park — about 20 minutes north of the Waterfront.
Late afternoon into evening — and a summer Wednesday if you want the food trucks with your swim.
The hunt
Found one? Send the photo — say "Leddy" in the spot field.
Keep going
Two more finds for when the beaches are ticked off — one on foot, one on two wheels.
Rock Point
Quiet, cedar-shaded church land next to North Beach, open to the public with a free trail pass reserved ahead at rockpointvt.org. It holds the Champlain Thrust — a fault where rock hundreds of millions of years older sits directly on top of younger stone, visible at the waterline.
The Causeway & the Bike Ferry
North of Leddy the Greenway becomes the Island Line Trail and runs out onto the Colchester Causeway — miles of old railroad bed with the lake on both sides of you, ending at "the Cut," where Local Motion's seasonal bike ferry carries you across to South Hero.
Statuses come from the city's Beach Closure Tracker; when in doubt, believe the sign at the beach. Red Rocks is tested separately by South Burlington. Parking rates and lifeguard seasons are the cities' published ones and can change; bus times live at ridegmt.com, and every GMT bus carries a free two-bike rack up front. Facilities listed here are from the official park pages — if we got something wrong, tell us and we'll fix it.