Skaneateles Lake
United States · Americas
About
Skaneateles Lake ( SKAN-ee-AT-ləs, locally SKIN-) is a Finger Lake in central New York state, United States. The name Skaneateles means "long lake" in the Onondaga language. The lake spans three counties, and is sometimes referred to as "The Roof Garden of the Lakes" because its elevation (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 inspect (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."
Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)。Photography via Wikimedia Commons.