It is surrounded by grassy parkland sloping down to the lake from the roads on the south and east, and woods on the other sides.

There is no road along the western side, although a local street, Glenvue Drive, traverses the top of the 545-foot (166 m)-high ridge there.

Its bottom continues its rapid drop from the shoreline, reaching a depth of slightly over 100 feet (30 m) in the middle of the lake, equivalent to the surface of a swampy depression to its east.

It had been a part of the Carmel landscape since the hamlet's designation as county seat upon Putnam's 1814 creation.

[4] New York City bought rights to the lake around 1895 and tore down what houses were built near it.

This raised some local concern in 2005, since many were left on shore during the offseason and the town found them unsightly as it prepared to spend $2.3 million to spruce up the hamlet.