Burbank Park Beach is the City of Pittsfield's public swimming beach on Onota Lake, set on the lake's eastern shore inside Burbank Park at 500 Lakeway Drive. The city owns both the lake and the park and runs the beach through its parks and open space staff. Onota Lake covers about 617 acres on the west side of Pittsfield, averages around 21 feet deep and drops to roughly 72 feet at its deepest, with a causeway splitting it into north and south basins. The Taconic ridge rises along the far western shore, so the view from the sand is mostly water and wooded hills.

The park is a few minutes' drive west of downtown Pittsfield. Follow Valentine Road to Lakeway Drive, which runs into the park along the shore. Parking is free in the lots near the beach and near the boat launch at the south end of the park. The beach sits beside the park's bath house at 500 Lakeway Drive, with restrooms and changing rooms, a small playground, and an accessible ramp that leads down to the water. Leashed dogs are allowed in the park, and Pittsfield's fenced dog park is a short walk to the south.

The swim area is a sandy beach (fresh sand was funded through the city's fiscal 2020 Community Preservation Act grants) that opens onto the main body of the lake. This is a natural lake, not a pool, so depth can change suddenly and there are rocks, logs and weeds below the surface. The lake water is cold early in the season and stays cool in deeper spots well into summer. There is no fee to swim and no resident sticker or permit is required. The park is open year round, and the city's facility listing gives no separate beach hours.

Lifeguards are the big caveat. Pittsfield has had seasons when it could not hire guards, and in those years swimming at Burbank Park is at your own risk. In its no-lifeguard notices the city has warned about sudden drop-offs, cold water, underwater obstructions, unpredictable currents and a lake bottom that is not inspected or maintained, and it noted that no emergency services are stationed at the park (call 911). Children and weak swimmers should only swim with close adult supervision, and nobody should swim alone. In 2022 an 8-year-old girl drowned at this beach, which is why the city and the Berkshire District Attorney have pushed water safety here. Powerboats, water skiers and jet skis share the lake, so stay inside the swim area. In years when guards have been hired, they have worked Friday through Monday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. from mid-July through August, so check the city's current notice before you go.

Burbank Park has plenty besides the beach. There is a free public boat launch, a fishing pier, picnic groves with grills, the Controy Pavilion and a walking path along the shore. Paddlers can launch canoes and kayaks at the ramp, and the lake is stocked with trout and holds bass, pike and perch. The park also hosts Live on the Lake, a free summer concert series that has run on Wednesday evenings in July and August. The Lake Onota Preservation Association monitors water quality and invasive species, including zebra mussels, so clean, drain and dry any boat before you put it in.