Cooper Lake, located near Lake Hill in the Town of Woodstock, Ulster County, New York, is the largest natural lake in the Catskill Mountains. However, it has been expanded somewhat over the years since it serves as the main reservoir for the nearby City of Kingston and Town of Ulster, which stores water there that it pipes from Mink Hollow Stream on top of whatever else reaches the lake from its 8.6-square mile (22.4 km²) drainage basin.
It holds roughly 1.2Â billion US gallons (4,500,000Â m3) to the city a year; providing an average of 4.6Â million US gallons (17,000Â m3) a day to Kingston and Ulster.
Swimming and fishing in Cooper Lake are prohibited.
The area of Cooper Lake and the surrounding grounds is owned by City of Kingston Water Department.