Chautauqua Lake stretches twenty-six kilometres northwest from Jamestown through rolling dairy and vineyard country. The lake sits over 400 metres above sea level — one of the highest navigable lakes in North America — and freezes solid in winter for ice-fishing huts and snowmobiles.
In summer the lake is the focus of life in the region: small marinas at Lakewood, Bemus Point and Mayville rent boats and pontoons, swimming beaches dot the shoreline, and a steady traffic of bass-fishing tournaments uses the launch ramps. The historic Chautauqua Belle paddle-steamer runs sightseeing cruises from Mayville in season. The west shore is more developed; the east shore, harder to reach, has the better swimming and the prettiest stretches.