Cox Hollow Lake Beach is the main swimming beach at Governor Dodge State Park, a 5,000-plus acre park run by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources about four miles north of downtown Dodgeville in Iowa County. The beach sits on the northeast shore of Cox Hollow Lake, an 81-acre reservoir on the Mill Creek system held back by a dam and ringed by wooded sandstone bluffs. It is one of two designated swim beaches in the park; the other is on Twin Valley Lake a short drive to the northeast.

The park entrance is on State Highway 23 just north of Dodgeville. From the entrance station, follow the main park road to the Cox Hollow beach and picnic area, where the parking lots sit a short walk from the sand. A bathhouse stands right behind the beach, and the Dodgeville Kiwanis Club runs a concession stand beside it. On hot summer weekends the lots fill, so a morning arrival is the easy way to get a spot.

The swim area is a strip of sand beach with a grassy picnic area behind it. There are no lifeguards on duty at any time, so children need an adult within reach and weak swimmers should stay close to shore. The lake is fairly deep for its size (a state survey put the maximum depth at 29 feet), so the bottom can drop off once you are past the shallows. The beach is open from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m., the same hours as the park. Only electric motors are allowed on Cox Hollow Lake, which keeps boat traffic quiet and slow near the beach.

Swimming itself costs nothing extra, but every vehicle entering the park needs a Wisconsin State Park System admission pass. A daily pass is $13 for vehicles with Wisconsin plates, $16 for out-of-state plates and $3 for Wisconsin residents 65 and older. Annual passes are $28 for Wisconsin plates and $50 for out-of-state plates. Passes are sold at the park and online from the DNR.

Check conditions before you go. The DNR has listed Cox Hollow Lake as impaired for excess algal growth since 2016, so late-summer algae blooms are possible; if the water looks like green paint or smells bad, stay out and keep dogs out of it. Beach bacteria samples in the DNR's 2018 assessment were below state limits. Road, retaining wall and water system construction is underway in the park through fall 2026, and the DNR says the Cox Hollow picnic area and boat landing may be closed for stretches, with detours and single-lane traffic on park roads. Any area posted as closed is off limits.

The Kiwanis stand rents rowboats and canoes daily from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day, with weekend rentals in spring and fall, and sells snacks, pizza, ice cream, ice and charcoal. Three hiking trails start at the Cox Hollow beach picnic area: the 1.25-mile Lakeview loop, the 3.3-mile Mill Creek loop with views of both lakes, and the 5-mile Meadow Valley loop. Across the water, Pine Cliff State Natural Area covers the bluffs on the south shore. Cox Hollow Campground sits just northwest of the beach, and Stephens Falls is a few minutes away by car.