Vermont nude beach fans against parking lot, boardwalk

Concerned about the cars that park along the highway by the lake during summer, the state is offering a redevelopment plan that is being criticized by people who use the beach and the surrounding area.

The plan includes clearing land to make way for parking, boardwalk trails and restrooms.

When the state held public meetings about the plans last winter, some officials were shocked at the level of opposition.

Shelah Vogel, of Newport Center, Vermont, said she fears the state's proposal could turn the area into a state park that could eventually require paid admission, forcing out the skinny dippers.

For decades, the tiny beach at the south end of Lake Willoughby, the 5-mile (8-kilometer), narrow body of water flanked by two steep mountains, located about 20 miles (32 kilometers) south of the Canadian border, has been a haven for people who like to frolic nude.

There is a clothed beach closer to the highway, a boat launch and miles of hiking trails in the Willoughby State Forest.

Famously, in 1971, Vermont's most senior politician, Democratic U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, then the Chittenden County state's attorney, wrote a memo for police about nude swimmers.