Otsego Lake — "Glimmerglass" in James Fenimore Cooper's Leatherstocking Tales — is a 5-kilometer-long glacial lake of unusual clarity just north of Cooperstown. The Susquehanna River begins here, flowing out of the south end of the lake through the village. The lake is clean enough for swimming, with a public beach at Council Rock on the southern end, and the forested hillsides rising from both shores create a landscape of genuine beauty.
Boat rentals are available in summer from the lakefront in Cooperstown. The Glimmerglass State Park, on the eastern shore, offers swimming, hiking, and camping, and the Hyde Hall Historic Site at the park's northern end preserves one of the largest and most impressive Federal-period country houses in the United States. The drive around the lake's perimeter takes about an hour and passes through some lovely small-farm country.