Trailer ramp · Lake Erie · New York

Sunset Bay State Marine Park Boat Launch

A public trailer ramp on Lake Erie / Cattaraugus Creek in Hanover, Chautauqua County, New York. Managed by NY State Parks (OPRHP).

Directions All Erie launches

The launch

What the agency lists

Launch type: Trailer ramp — hard surface launch
Water: Lake Erie/Cattaraugus Creek
Parking: 50 cars and trailers
Fee: Not published in the source — ask the manager
Managed by: NY State Parks (OPRHP)
Location: Hanover, Chautauqua County, New York
Coordinates: 42.5671° N, 79.1353° W

Before you launch

Lake Erie is big water

Erie is the shallowest Great Lake and the quickest to turn. A sustained blow builds a short, breaking sea in a couple of hours, and summer squalls can arrive from the west with little warning. In the western basin, mind the reefs; on the run to the islands, mind how far you are from shelter.

Wind against a shallow basin. Erie stacks up faster and steeper than any lake on the chain — a sustained 20-knot wind over 60 feet of average depth builds a short, breaking four-to-six-foot sea in a couple of hours. Boats swamp here in weather that would be uncomfortable elsewhere.
Unstable ice. Western-basin ice moves. Anglers have been carried off on detached floes and taken off by helicopter more than once, most infamously with over a hundred people at a time.
Fast-moving line squalls in summer, often arriving from the west with little warning behind a hot afternoon.

Read how to read a Great Lakes marine forecast and trailering and launching on big water. Pack the big-water safety kit.

From this launch

What to fish on Lake Erie

Our Erie fishing guides name spots at or near Cattaraugus Creek:

Smallmouth Bass · Late May through June, and September through early November

Smallmouth Bass Fishing on Lake Erie

Sturgeon Point and the Cattaraugus Creek mouth, New York: Eastern basin shoreline structure west of Buffalo. Gravel, boulders and creek-mouth transitions that hold heavy fish in September and October.

Steelhead · Late October through April, with the heaviest push after the first cold rains in November and a strong March run

Steelhead Fishing on Lake Erie

Cattaraugus Creek, New York: The largest New York alley tributary, running through the Zoar Valley. Big water, wild scenery, and fish well into spring.

Brown Trout · October through April in the tributaries alongside steelhead; April and May nearshore; July and August deep

Lake Erie Brown Trout: Pennsylvania's Small Stocked Fishery

Lake Erie brown trout are a small, stocked side fishery concentrated on the Pennsylvania shore, and most are caught by anglers fishing for something else. Pennsylvania stocks steelhead by the million and browns by the tens of thousands — come for steelhead and treat a brown as a bonus, not a plan.

Lake Trout · May and June in 50–60 ft off North East, PA; July through early September in 90–130 ft off Dunkirk and Barcelona

Lake Erie Lake Trout: The Eastern Basin off Dunkirk and Erie

Lake Erie's lake trout are a stocked population rebuilt from zero, and they live almost entirely in the deep, cold eastern basin off New York and Pennsylvania. It is a real summer fishery in 90 to 130 feet off Dunkirk and Barcelona, but it is narrow, and most fish are still caught by walleye trollers running one rod deep.

Muskellunge · September through November, with October the best window

Lake Erie Muskie Fishing: Where to Fish & Fall Tactics

Lake Erie is not a muskie destination and you should not plan a trip around it. Where the fish do concentrate — Presque Isle Bay, the upper Niagara River at Buffalo, and the western basin near the Detroit River mouth — they are genuinely large, and a fall fish there is a real trophy.

Northern Pike · Ice season on Presque Isle Bay; April through early June and September through November in open water

Lake Erie Northern Pike: Presque Isle Bay and the Upper Niagara

Lake Erie is not pike water, and outside a few sheltered, weedy corners you will rarely see one. Presque Isle Bay in Pennsylvania is the one place on the lake with a dependable pike population; the upper Niagara River is the New York option, and Ohio's pike are scarce.

Walleye Yellow Perch

Erie by season

SpringJig season on the reef complex SummerTroll the open basin, and go east as it warms FallSteelhead Alley and the biggest walleye of the year WinterIce when it comes, tributaries when it doesn't

Next ramp over

Nearest Erie launches

Hanover municipal launch0.4 mi · trailer ramp · NY
Sturgeon Point Marina9.7 mi · trailer ramp · NY
Dunkirk Harbor12 mi · trailer ramp · NY
Buffalo Harbor State Park24 mi · trailer ramp · NY
Erie Basin Marina25 mi · trailer ramp · NY
Barcelona Harbor28 mi · trailer ramp · NY

Straight-line distance, not a boating route.

For the crew ashore

Beaches nearby

Evangola State Park Beach2.4 mi
Lake Erie Beach4.6 mi

Camp or picnic

State parks nearby

Evangola State Park3.6 mi

Source

Launch facts are from the NYSDEC, Boat Launch Sites for Chautauqua County, retrieved 2026-10-05. Ramps close for repairs, fees change and water levels move; confirm with NY State Parks (OPRHP) before you tow. Fishing rules are set by theNYSDEC.

Chart shoreline generalized from Natural Earth (public domain). Not for navigation. Something wrong or missing? Write to contact@greatamericanlakes.com.

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