Lake Laura — Attraction in New Market

I had a terrible time here- AVOID THIS PLACE IF YOU ARE A PERSON OF COLOR. One of the workers we met named an older women named Lynn/Linn (if she told me her real name) was constantly rude to our group of 20 people during our trip to the lake. When we first arrived at the place, she gave us conflicting information about the rentals and admission to the place. She told us you do not have to pay for admission if you pay for rentals. She kept rolling her eyes while we were trying to decide what rentals to get.

After we paid for the rentals (which covered everyone in our group), we heard remarks such as "you shouldn't be canoeing if you doing know how to swim" and "are you done yet?" and god knows what else that we ignored. We ended up returning our rental 15-20 minutes early so some of us jumped in the water for a quick splash. We asked another worker if we could keep our life jackets before jumping in and he GAVE US THE GO so we went ahead and planned to be in there for 10 minutes before leaving the lake. We stayed close to the dock and did no reckless activities or anything that could disrupt others there.

She came over and repeatedly told us to leave. After the first time, we were discussing within ourselves if we wanted to pay for swimming so we could stay in the water longer. While we were discussing, she yelled at us to get out of the water with "OUT, OUT OUT" and then counted us and said pay 90 extra dollars at the gate. WE WERE NOT TRYING TO CHEAT OUR WAY OUT OF $90 when we had already spent $140 for kayaks, canoes, and paddle boats. Our decision to go jump in the water was based off the information we were told from the beginning regarding admissions.

We were the only POC group and coincidentally the only group treated with such disrespect there. Frankly, her actions were racist. Other people came up to us after and said I'm sorry she's treating you this way. We had no problems at the Bryce Resort where we also did the chair lift but this incident...

We had a great time at the lake with our kids. There is parking available on Arnold Road (something we didn't discover until after we had hiked down the mountain with all our stuff) but the parking is on the opposite side of the dam and is free.

On our first visit we spoke with the young man at the "beach" entrance. He was exceptionally nice and helpful. The rates to get into the "beach" area are somewhat exorbitant. The price covers access to the portable toilet, lawn chairs, sandy area, and dock. There is also a floating dock that kids can jump off. The price is $8/person (4yo+) with additional fees for rental items (paddleboards, paddleboats, kayaks, canoes, tubes, or life jackets). Again, all rates are on the higher side. There was little regard for social distancing and we saw no one else wearing masks. The gentleman at the booth was behind plexiglass but that was the only COVID precaution we saw.

You can swim anywhere in the lake, so we walked across the dam and followed the lake trail for a short distance until we reached an off-shoot that led to a small "cove" area. It was perfect and allowed us to have our own private "beach" area. While there was some seaweed, it wasn't abundant and made it easy and comfortable to walk/swim just off the shore. There was a collection of branches/logs off to one side that we had to watch out for as some were hidden under the water, but it wasn't bad.

We had a wonderful time...

Great family fun. Water is fed by several springs and has cleaner water than you drink according to e coli testing. Toddler area great to safely let children experience sand and water play. Family members swam across entire lake and never felt strong currents. You can go about 10 feet out and still stand up. Two floating docks with ladders provide fun to swim to and jump off or sun on them. Chairs and loungers provided all up and down shoreline. First couple hours after it opens, there is shade all the way down to the sand at the beach or toddler play area. Nice to have shade which remains all day under oak trees in the back with a beautiful view looking down on lake. Grassy hill is nice so everything doesnt get all sandy. We had fun trying out paddleboards in the shallows near the launch point. Then had a journey to the end of the lake and back. Also for rent are kid friendly inner tubes with bottoms in them, paddleboats, canoes and kayaks. (All kids should still wear life jackets when in water or any vessel.) Snacks and food available. Portable toilet there and changing cabin. Also picnic tables. Staff were very friendly and helpful. Something for everyone- we had toddlers, young adults and...