There's nothing better to do on a hot summer day than include some swimming in your schedule. Taughannock has a monitored swimming area off South Point, with lifeguards keeping watch over a roped-off area. If you're adventurous, you can swim out to the dock and enjoy jumping off the springboard into the cool water. The beach itself is sandy, though once you enter the lake you quickly encounter smooth rocks underfoot.
Swimming is not allowed elsewhere in the park, though that doesn't stop people on hot days from cooling off in the shallows of the creek along the base trail, or in the lake water off North Point.
Note: Depending on the time of year and presence of harmful algae blooms (HAB), the park's swimming area may close. Contact the park directly for the latest status or view their Facebook page.