Skaneateles Lake

Description

Skaneateles Lake is one of the Finger Lakes in central New York in the United States. The name Skaneateles means long lake in one of the local Iroquoian languages. The lake is sometimes referred to as ’The Roof Garden of the Lakes’ because its altitude (863.27 ft or 263.12 m) is higher than the other Finger Lakes. It is one of the cleanest lakes in the United States. It is 16 mi (26 km) long (17 mi or 27 km long including the bogs at the south end of the lake) and on average 0.75 mi (1.21 km) wide, with a surface area of 13.6 sq mi (35 km2), and a maximum depth of 315 ft (96 m). The lake drains north via Skaneateles Creek, which flows into the Seneca River. The cleanest of the Finger Lakes, its water is so pure that the city of Syracuse and other municipalities use it unfiltered. The City of Syracuse spends about $2.3 million a year to protect lake quality, sixteen people inspecting (usually twice a year) each of the 2600 properties in the watershed, which is relatively small, compared to other Finger Lakes. The lake is the second cleanest lake in the United States as measured by dissolved nitrogen, after Crater Lake in Oregon. William Henry Seward called it ’The most beautiful body of water in the world.’