Union Village Dam Recreation Area is the public land around Union Village Dam, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers flood control dam on the Ompompanoosuc River in Thetford, Vermont. The Corps finished the earthen dam in 1950 and manages several thousand acres of river corridor, woods and fields upstream of it. The swimming spot is Sandy Beach, a small sand beach on an inside bend of the river about half a mile south of Thetford Center. The dam only holds water back during floods, so what you swim in here is the free-flowing river, not a lake.

To reach the beach, take VT Route 113 to Thetford Center (it's a few miles west of I-91 exit 14) and turn south onto Buzzell Bridge Road, the Corps' east access road. Sandy Beach has its own sign and a dirt parking lot on the right about half a mile in, a short walk from the sand. The road keeps going south through the project to more picnic areas, the dam and the main day-use area on Main Street in Union Village. That southern end has the group pavilion, a playground, a sand volleyball court and flush toilets. The sand beach is up at the north end, so start from Thetford Center if you came to swim.

The beach faces a wide, slow pool. A 2016 Valley News guide to Upper Valley swimming holes called it calm enough to pass for a pond and big enough to swim laps. You walk in from sand, and no one publishes depth soundings for the pool. The Ompompanoosuc runs cold well into summer, and temperature and depth both change with rainfall, so wade in first and check the depth before you jump. There are no lifeguards. The Corps posts the rules at the site: swim at your own risk, keep pets on a 6-foot leash, and no pets on the beach. Portable toilets are put out at the beach area during the season.

There's no entrance fee. The Corps says fees apply to some facilities at the dam, but it lists no charge for swimming or for parking, and the beach lots are mapped as free. The Corps doesn't publish beach hours on Recreation.gov. OpenStreetMap data has vehicle access on Buzzell Bridge Road open roughly 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day weekend, so call the project office at (802) 649-1606 to confirm before a trip outside that window.

Union Village Dam is a flood control site, and the Corps warns the area can close when severe storms bring flooding. Heavy rain makes the river fast and muddy within hours. After a July 2017 storm dropped about 4.5 inches of rain, the Corps closed Buzzell Bridge Road for the rest of that season and asked people not to walk, bike or swim in the damaged area. Stay out after big storms. About 0.6 miles downstream are the Chutes, where the river pours over ledges and a short drop. It's a popular jumping spot, but the current there is much stronger than at Sandy Beach, and a sign there has prohibited nude bathing.

The rest of the project is good for an afternoon off the beach. The Corps lists more than a mile of trails, and the Thetford Trails Team maintains a larger network of walking, biking and skiing trails around the dam. In September 2026 the group bought a 93-acre parcel at the center of that network. Anglers fish the river for stocked brown and rainbow trout and for wild brook trout.