Due to high bacterial levels, the beach and swimming area at Mauch Chunk Lake Park was closed Friday and today.

The park was shut down after its weekly water testing results came back Friday morning showing that the bacteria levels were too high, according to Dave Horvath, park director.Horvath said there were some people setting up on the beach, but they were notified around 11 a.m. Friday they would have to leave due to the high bacteria count, Horvath said.Its picnic area, trails, and lake for fishing, boating, and boat rental remained open, said Horvath, who added the campgrounds are full.He said the park will remain closed today, at which time the park's swimming area will be tested.Horvath said the park will get the test results sometime Sunday morning.If the results are acceptable, he said the park plans to open back up Sunday.Horvath said it's been a while since the park had to close."The results that we've had taken have been exceptional up to this point," Horvath said. "We haven't had any problems with high bacterial levels."Horvath attributed the spike in bacterial levels to the amount of rainfall we had recently."We're hoping to be back up and running Sunday sometime depending on the results," he said.