Buffumville Lake is located in eastern Charlton, Worcester County, Massachusetts along the Little River and South Fork in the upper Thames River Basin. The U. S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) initiated construction of the dam in September 1956 and completed Buffumville Dam in June 1958 at a cost of $3,068,600. Buffumville Lake is an integral part of the comprehensive Thames River Basin Flood Control Program. Working with the other five USACE reservoirs, Buffumville helps mitigate flood risk within the Thames River watershed in Massachusetts and Connecticut.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers welcomes you to Buffumville Lake for year-round recreation. The project covers almost 500 acres, with 200 of those acres being water. Developed recreation features include the day use Buffumville Park with a swimming beach and picnic shelter, boat launch, disc golf course, restrooms, and over 7 miles of multi-use trails. Park rangers are available to assist you during your visit.
The outdoor sports enthusiast can hunt, fish and boat at Buffumville Lake. Hunting is not permitted in developed areas of the park and dam site.
Buffumville Park:
- Private Vehicle: $5
- Walk-in/Bike-in: $2
- Bus/Commercial: $20
- Annual Pass: $40
- Federal Recreation Pass Holders: Free
- Picnic Shelter Reservation: $50
- Special Event: $75+
- Big Island Primitive Camping Permit: $100 per week (one week maximum)
- Boat Ramp: Free
- Disc Golf Course: Free
America the Beautiful passes are available by appointment only by calling the Project Office at 508-248-5697. Method of payment includes cash, check or money order.
Passes available include Access, Annual, Military, Senior Lifetime, Senior Annual, 4th Grade, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Day Pass. Pass availability varies based on what is in stock.
Buffumville Park is a five-acre recreation area open from mid-May to mid-September. The park hours are from 8 am to 7 pm and is operated by project staff, contracted attendants, and volunteer hosts. A day use fee is required for entry into Buffumville Park.
USACE maintains a 320-foot long by 125-foot-wide swimming beach with a target depth of 5-feet. Trail access, a horseshoe pit, cornhole pit, and sand volleyball are located at the north end of the park. Walkways provide visitors access to reservable picnic shelters, approximately 60 picnic tables and charcoal grills, an ADA accessible waterborne restroom, and a drinking water fountain. ADA access improvements were completed with infrastructure funding in 2023 to include 10 handicapped parking spots and a wheelchair ramp to the restroom.
Boaters will find a boat ramp located across the street from Buffumville Park on Oxford Road. There is no fee required to use the boat ramp. The ramp features one 12-foot-wide concrete launching lane with a courteously boat dock. Two gravel parking lots provide parking for vehicles and trailers. Two fishing platforms are located within a short walk from the ramp.
A corrugated 12-foot-radius culvert under Oxford Road provides boaters access to both sides of the lake during normal summer pool levels. A composting toilet is located at the ramp for public use and is open year-round. Boating on Buffumville Lake is in accordance with state boating laws and USACE regulations. The use of watercraft, including motorboats, canoes, kayaks, and other vessels are permitted on the lake. Personal watercraft, such as jet skis, are only permitted on the south end of the lake. Navigational buoys are visible on the lake to aid boaters.
The Buffumville Lake Disc Golf Course consists of an 18-hole professional layout that attracts players from all over New England. There is no fee to use the course. The course starts from a small parking lot on Old Oxford Road adjacent to the dam and winds its way around the entire length of the dam. The course features a combination of concrete and stone dust tee pads in conjunction with professional style baskets. The course offers a variety of left and right curved throws through the natural areas of the site. Several holes have an alternate tee pad to accommodate all disc golf abilities.
Buffumville Lake provides visitors the opportunity to access 7.2 miles of multiuse trails from several different locations at the project. Visitors may park and access the trails from the boat launch, Buffumville Park, Fulling Mill Rd., and the dam site. Visitors can hike, dog walk, mountain bike, and view wildlife on the trails. The 3-mile trail around the North end of the lake is a less strenuous, meandering trail that features views of the lake, a fishing pier, and bridges built by scouts. The 4.2-mile trail around the South end of the lake features more challenging hiking, larger hills and difficult footing, more forest and wetland views, and bridges built by volunteers.
All trails at Buffumville Lake are well marked with blue blazing on trees. Blazing with a black dot in the middle indicates you are heading back to the dam. In 2018, an Eagle Scout created Lost Trail signs along the trail system. These signs are placed approximately every 1.5 miles and contain information such as GPS coordinates, a location number, and emergency contact information. These signs correlate to maps in the project office and at the local police departments to aid in emergency situations around the lake. Project staff has recently developed a QR code for visitors to report trail conditions.
Currently there is one picnic shelter available for rent, called the “Grove” picnic shelter which accommodates up to 60 people, and has two charcoal grills. This shelter is located within Buffumville Park and thus is only available to rent from mid-May to mid-September. There is a $50 fee to rent the shelter, and day use fees are charged in addition to the shelter fee. Reservations can be made by logging onto www.recreation.gov or by calling 877-444-6777.
Organized special events such as fishing tournaments, disc golf tournaments, etc. require a Special Use Permit. There is a minimum fee of $75.00, however fees may vary.
Primitive camping is allowed through the issuance of a Special Use Permit on a 3-acre island at the southern end of the lake called Big Island. A small dock, fire ring, two picnic tables, three tent sites, and an outhouse-style toilet are provided on the island. Renters must have their own boat to access the island. The fee is $100 per week (one week maximum). Reservations begin on January 1 for the summer season on a first-come first-serve basis until all available weeks have been reserved.
Please contact the Project Office for more information at 508-248-5697.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers manages the natural resources at Buffumville Lake for multiple uses: flood damage reduction, wildlife habitat, forest production, watershed protection, and outdoor recreation.
On the western side of the lake, red oak, white oak and hickory are commonly found. The east side of Buffumville Lake supports white pine and hemlock. Other species sited along the lake's edge are red maple, alder, and birch as well as other common wetland plants. Deer, rabbits, geese, raccoons, fox and a variety of songbirds are some of the wildlife species inhabiting these natural areas. The lake is a warm-water fishery, with good populations of large-mouth bass, pickerel, horned pout, bream and numerous other fish species.
The site where the village of Buffumville was established was first developed as a mill in 1812. The 183-acre tract was situated in both Oxford and Charlton. In that year, brothers Alexander and Jonathan Nichols built a dam and sawmill on the Little River. In 1815, they built a two-story house, and in 1818, a gristmill.
Moses Buffum, a successful miller and businessman, was born July 10, 1800, at Smithfield, Rhode Island. He began a hat making business in Slatersville, Rhode Island at the age of 18, and soon became a part-owner of a satin mill in Millville, Massachusetts. He became the sole owner in 1834 and continued to enlarge his business until his mill burned in 1849. In 1852, Moses Buffum relocated to Oxford, Massachusetts and bought the mill on the Little River to manufacture cashmere (fine woolen goods). Because Mr. Buffum became a prominent and well-liked businessman, the community around his mill became known as Buffumville.