HIGH FALLS, N.Y. — After a teenager drowned at Rondout Creek in High Falls, residents warn that what looks like a fun, safe place to spend a hot summer day should be treated with caution.

Christopher Palez, 17, was pulled underwater Tuesday while swimming with friends. Rescuers couldn't get to him for 40 minutes, according to the Ulster County Sheriff's Office. He died at the hospital despite several attempts to revive him.

The falls are a popular spot to hang out, but it's a location with a long history of people drowning or nearly drowning in the swift currents below the surface. Others have been seriously injured jumping from cliffs into the water, hitting their heads on hidden rocks.

"That particular swimming hole has some notoriety. A lot of people in the area and out of the area know about it," says Det. Lt. Dirk Budd from the Ulster County Sheriff's Department, one of the officials who responded to the incident Tuesday. "I don't think that there is anywhere that I can think of that is as treacherous and as known for water emergencies and drowning incident as that particular location in High Falls."

The Ulster County Sheriff's Department says that because the water is owned by Central Hudson, it's illegal to swim there.