Picnic Areas & Playground

Green Lakes State Park has five reservable pavilions and rooms that NYS Parks prices from $100 to $600, holding 25 to 100 people, booked through ReserveAmerica. Open picnic areas sit around the north end of Green Lake at Tulip Hill and Lakeview, and an accessible playground, opened in 2023, connects to the beach. Pets are not allowed in playgrounds or buildings, and in summer NYS Parks charges $10 per vehicle from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Reserving a Pavilion or Room

NYS Parks says Green Lakes has five pavilions and rooms. Prices run from $100 to $600 depending on the space, and they hold between 25 and 100 people. Check availability and book through ReserveAmerica's Green Lakes State Park listing, linked from the NYS Parks park page. NYS Parks lists the event rentals as accessible.

The park map shows a Reserve Shelter on the west shore of Green Lake and an East Bathhouse with a community room at the beach. Use the ReserveAmerica listing to see which space fits your group.

Picnic Areas

The trail map marks picnic areas around the north half of Green Lake:

• Tulip Hill, on the rise east of the beach. NYS Parks' history hikes end here.
• Lakeview, south of Tulip Hill along the east shore.
• The west shore, near the Reserve Shelter and the Environmental Education Center.
• The Pine Woods and Rolling Hills camping areas have their own picnic symbols for campers.

The Playground

In 2023 NYS Parks opened a new $910,000 playground next to the beach. The press release describes it as built to connect the play area with the beach, picnic area and woods, with poured rubber surfacing running from the beach, more universally accessible play equipment, and natural features such as logs and boulders alongside standard equipment. Environmental education signs are built in. Pets are not allowed in playgrounds.

Restrooms

The West Beach bathhouse, finished in 2023, has year-round restrooms, two family restrooms, changing stalls and a wheelchair charging station, according to NYS Parks. The map also shows public restrooms near Tulip Hill, the camping areas and the golf clubhouse.

Rules for Picnics

• Pets: up to two, leashed 6 feet or less, and not in playgrounds, buildings or on the guarded beach.
• Fee: $10 per vehicle in summer; plan for buses at $35.
• Hours: dawn to dusk.
• Clean up: NYS Parks ran a waste-diversion and composting pilot at Green Lakes in 2024; use the bins provided.

Nearby

After lunch, walk the Green Lake Trail, swim at the beach or rent a kayak.