Woodlawn Beach State Park

Most times I’ve showed up to soak up the sun the beach has been closed due to contamination in the water. They’ve had far too many outbreaks but definetely a good thing that they remain closed. Just wish this weren’t the case since this beach is so conveniently close and me and the girls enjoyed coming here.

The beach itself is always great. The bar is always out of popular liquor both at the beach and in the parking lot bar. Food? Forget it, it took 45 mins for a cheeseburger and had to walk up to the parking lot. This used to be a great place to stop on the boat have a drink grab a bite and hang. Now it’s the pits. Bring back the previous operator it was a 5 star show. We will return when that happens, otherwise worth The ride to Mickey Rats or even sunset. We all thought it would become the new Mickey Rats but that has since changed.

It’s a local beach. It’s not too shabby.
Make sure you bring some insect repellent because the Mosquitos will attack. I’ve been going here the past year and a half and I like it. It’s pretty close to where I reside in south Buffalo. They have kayak rentals, two bars, a mini hut where you can buy food and a okay area for the kids. It’s a fun filled adventure for those with children and for
Those who just want to get out and do something.

Had so much fun here with bestie and the kids! Love how the beach is being built up looks great clean and super fun!!! Amazing job! Going back every chance I get!!!

We had a beach party here they were very accommodating with out arrangements. Love the bar on the beach made it easy to entertain our guests. The sand was clean and the water was awesome we had a great time. There is also a volley ball net up as well

Best beach in buffalo to take kids. Nice sized playground in close proximity to a fenced in bounce house area. $ 5 per kid to bounce all day. Kids have a blast going back and forth between the water, playground, bounce area and playing in the sand. Clean beach and only $ 7 to park

This was the first time I’ve visited this beach. In WNY, I’ve only ever been to Beaver Island. This one was much cleaner and the sand just felt more … real? There were several bathrooms available on the beach, too.
I liked that the beach area was very large. The size made it easy for us to avoid children and other obnoxious groups. There was a separate area available for adults, too. It appeared as though they had a full bar in there but I wasn’t looking for drinks on this day so I can’t be sure. There were multiple food vendors so I had a choice in what kind of beach snack I wanted.
There were a few downsides to this beach — both having to do with the food vendors.
The guy selling the hot dogs was very confused with our simple 3 item order. My friend specifically asked for no mustard on her hot dog and when he made a mistake about it — he pressured her to take the one he made in error instead of making her a correct one. He eventually made a new one but he made a deal about it. He also went ungloved at some points and when he did have them on — he touched food and money with the same ones.
Another problem I had was with a teenage boy who used a racial slur to his coworker as I was purchasing ice cream from the stand. I made a disapproving comment to him about it and he mocked me.
Other than the staff on the beach, I really liked what this beach had to offer. I will definitely be back. Hopefully the management reads Unilocal reviews I would like for them to be aware of these problems with their beach staff.

Being a Hamburg, NY native (I live in Arizona now), I was excited to visit Woodlawn Beach for the first time. I’d heard good things about Longboards (the former bar/​restaurant), and the beach in general.
Upon arriving, we made our way down to the beach and found a beautiful wooden boardwalk, sand dunes and pretty decent beachfront. However, it seems a bit scattered in terms of whether this is trying to be a beach or an amusement park. The bounce house, playground and ice cream stand were great for the kids… but the employees were inattentive, apathetic and somewhat rude.
Our daughters went into the bounce house area, but had troubles. They got scared and confused, and got stuck in the attraction. Despite the screams and crying, not a single employee even rose to their feet to help (they were sitting in chairs under a tent. When we eventually moved on to another bounce activity, an employee appeared to be napping in it (no joke!).
When the rains came, we went up to the bar/restaurant…and I had to basically beg someone behind the bar for service. The girls (three of them) appeared more interested in talking to each other than in serving my family. The food was pretty good, but the service really ruined the experience.
All-​in-​all, a pretty frustrating experience. Save your time and money and just head anywhere else. Disappointed in the Town of Hamburg for this failure of a project. Is the $ 7.00 parking fee that critical? If you’re not going to do something with a focus on integrity and class, don’t do it at all.

Very disappointed… new proprietor for the beach bar was NOT prepared for Memorial Day Weekend… NO Beach chairs, tables, umbrellas, chaises etc. No port-a-potties…Only picnic tables… how do you layout on one of those? No servers and no credit card service on the beach… bartender was nice, but beer was warm… we left after 30 minutes.
We come here every week in season… and Woodys Taqueria had it’s issues-​inconsistent food quality and service with bartenders/​servers. So we will give the new owners a chance to redeem themselves… and work to enhance the experience, and make Woodlawn Beach a choice destination… for the 2014 season.

Get there at sunrise during the summer and bring a coffee and snack and watch Lake Erie.

This beach is infamous and it lived up to its infamy today.
Notes:
–The nickname for this beach is «E.coli beach» because its often shut down for high E. coli levels, I would never swim here (My group, teachers, came here to explore whether or not we’d take students here for water samples for testing.)
–You have to pay 7 bucks to get in, why??? The parking lot isn’t well maintained, so where is that money going?
–The beach is debris filled, but they do keep up the swimming, and playground areas pretty well
–There are bars here, bounce house area, and playground on the beach. (I’m sorry going to the beach shouldn’t involve any of those things. You’re at a beach, not a beach bar.)
–There is a marsh area with a beautiful boardwalk.
–There are bars here…(I’m sorry I can’t get over it.)
–Great view of the turbines and Ford plant
This beach/​state park is trying to be too many things at once. There’s the beach, the beach bar, the marsh conservation area with educational signs, dune preservation area, bounce house, playground. Its like this place is having an identity crisis, its too much! When I want to go to the beach I want to be at the beach not a bounce house place, or beach bar or «beach museum».
I would never come here again.

Swimmers be warned! This beach has an awful pollution record! The sand is by far not the cleanest you will find of all the WNY beaches. Bottom line is this place should be shut down.

This is the perfect little beach getaway if you are strapped for time and don’t want to drive to Canada or far down Route 5. The water isn’t as crystal clear as further down Lake Erie and the sand has a lot of driftwood — but otherwise, it’s a really fun beach. First of all, it’s large — if there are private areas on this beach, they are really far away. You can easily find a spot away from the masses if you prefer a little more peace and quiet.
During their regular hours there are lifeguards positioned near the swimming area. But if you feel like being a rebel and swimming after hours, no one will stop you. You can watch the sunset while bobbing in the waves.
If volleyball, badminton or another racket game is your thing, they have three nets open and available. They’re pretty low for regular volleyball but that’s not necessarily a bad thing for those of us who are less than 5’8″.
If you came here to drink, there are bars both in the sand near the water and also back in the trees.
Bathrooms are located in the building by the parking lot, or you can brave the porta-​potties on the beach.
Now for the cherry on top, which many may not even notice when visiting: there is a beautiful, well-​maintained boardwalk that goes from the building, through the plush trees/​undergrowth and down to the sand. It’s absolutely beautiful and is worth seeing.
All this only 15 – 20 minutes outside downtown Buffalo!

Weird seeing this beach in the middle of Hamburg/​Blasdell surrounded by wind turbines and the Ford factory. Even weirder that you have to pay $ 7 for lot parking and you walk through a little forest to get to the beach. It’s a pretty dirty beach both on shore and in the water but it’s surprisingly packed with ppl of all ages. Also, it’s weird having a beach on a lake which was a first for me. You can go out 30 – 40 yards into the water without any change in depth. Volleyball and beach tennis nets are up but make sure you bring sandals b/​c there’s so much wood debris in the sand. But just the mere existence of a beach 15 minutes outside the city is impressive in itself.