Lake George, NY: Cleanest in U.S.

[Glenn MacGrady]

"This hidden treasure of a community is now being recognized across the country as the cleanest lake in the country, in addition to being a wonderful destination. According to a ranking by A-Z Animals, Lake George is the cleanest lake in the United States."

"Situated in Upstate New York, Lake George is the southernmost point of the renowned Adirondack Park. This lake is regarded as one of the world's cleanest and clearest major lakes."

"Since the cleanest lake in the U.S. was created by melting glaciers some 10,000 years ago, both locals and tourists have been in awe of its breathtaking scenery and crystal-clear water for generations."

No Surprise Here: This Is The Cleanest Lake In The US

As the cleanest lake in the U.S., Lake George is a recreational hub for travelers from all over the world.

www.thetravel.com

I worked in Lake George for three summers during college in the 1960's and have always loved it and the whole area. We had another thread in which Skaneateles Lake was designated as the cleanest in New York.

 

[Curlymoe]

I also worked there late '60's, early 70's, though I wasn't paying particular attention to the beauty of the area. Lots of partying and sleeping til noon as I remember. It's a pretty quick drive for me so for the past seven years I've spent alot of time in this gem of an area. My wife chefs there seasonally and while she cooks I chase grand kids and wander off and paddle the waters within a hour's drive. Snowshoe in the winter.

These "cleanest lake" articles are always funny. The author, Volia Schubiger, is apparently unfamiliar with the periodic shutdowns of beaches for fecal coliform from leaking/out of date septic systems and the polluting boat traffic. But, then, she is self-described as a "freelance copywriter and content editor with a passion and expertise in content creation, branding, and marketing". Huh?

Anyway, it IS a pretty clean lake and I'm fortunate to have it in my backyard. This year I plan to noodle around NW Bay til it freezes.

 

[lowangle al]

I don't know about the cleanest, but it was the clearest lake I've ever paddled by far.

 

[Alan Gage]

I don't know about the cleanest, but it was the clearest lake I've ever paddled by far.

I've never paddled Lake George but I have paddled Crescent Lake in Washington and, while I concede it might be possible, I can't even fathom water more clear that than.

Alan

 

[stripperguy]

No doubt, the surrounding mountains are scenic…
I consider Lake George to be an excellent filter, nothing more.
It generally attracts the crowds that are best kept away from the nicer parts of the ADK’s.
With all the inconsiderate motor boaters, jet skis, and crowds of seasonal visitors, I avoid the area like the plague.
I used to crew on some J24’s that raced there, the winds are very temperamental, as are the race boat owners!
I was on the water with a buddy in his dad’s old CrisCraft to watch the fireworks on July 4th, in the 70’s. It was a madhouse and two other boats collided with us and caused quite a bit of damage to that beautiful boat. I truly feared for my life, and was still immortal at 18 years old.
Not too many years ago, a group of drugged and drunk party kids launched their speedboat over an antique Hackercraft, killing an 8 year old child as she cuddled in her moms arms…
The water may be clear, but the boaters and visitors generally are not. Lake average is also suffering from infestations of zebra mussels and harmful algae blooms, due to careless boaters and runoff from those beautiful mansions that surround the lake.
Just up the road is Jabe Pond, a jewel of water surrounded by state land and home to nesting bald eagles, no motorboats.

As far as clear waters, Bear Pond in the St Regis area has amazing clarity, as does Clear Pond at the end of the red horse trail, north of Stillwater Reservoir.

 

[Curlymoe]

No doubt, the surrounding mountains are scenic…
I consider Lake George to be an excellent filter, nothing more.
It generally attracts the crowds that are best kept away from the nicer parts of the ADK’s.
With all the inconsiderate motor boaters, jet skis, and crowds of seasonal visitors, I avoid the area like the plague.
I used to crew on some J24’s that raced there, the winds are very temperamental, as are the race boat owners!
I was on the water with a buddy in his dad’s old CrisCraft to watch the fireworks on July 4th, in the 70’s. It was a madhouse and two other boats collided with us and caused quite a bit of damage to that beautiful boat. I truly feared for my life, and was still immortal at 18 years old.
Not too many years ago, a group of drugged and drunk party kids launched their speedboat over an antique Hackercraft, killing an 8 year old child as she cuddled in her moms arms…
The water may be clear, but the boaters and visitors generally are not. Lake average is also suffering from infestations of zebra mussels and harmful algae blooms, due to careless boaters and runoff from those beautiful mansions that surround the lake.
Just up the road is Jabe Pond, a jewel of water surrounded by state land and home to nesting bald eagles, no motorboats.

As far as clear waters, Bear Pond in the St Regis area has amazing clarity, as does Clear Pond at the end of the red horse trail, north of Stillwater Reservoir.

Jabe Pond IS a jewel.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

"Lake George and Blue Mountain Lake attract divers from several states and Canada and are considered among the best cold-water dives in this part of the United States . . . . "

Exploring the depths of Lake George

Lake George is considered among the best places cold-water scuba diving in the northeastern United States.

adirondackexplorer.org

 

[TimG]

That editor clearly did not do her research, as Lake George is far from the southernmost point of Adirondack park. However, it is true that it is one of the clearest lakes in the US. It may be one of the cleanest too, depending on which Lake George you’re talking about.
People often confuse Lake George with Lake George Village the same way they confuse New York State with New York City. Most of the invasives and any pollution are contained in the southern third of the lake and a few spots at the northern tip of the 32mi long lake. Most of the lake is pristine, and being spring-fed, crystal clear. I’ve paddled every pond in the Saint Regis Canoe Area and not one of them comes close to seeing 25-30’ down like you can in Lake George. You can see shoals 20’ down even from a Google Earth satellite.
People also confuse Lake George with Lake George in the Summer. Any local anywhere knows that once the kids are back in school and the tourists leave, you have it all to yourself. Before Memorial Day and after Indigenous Peoples Day, the state campground sites in the Narrows and Mother Bunch island groups and Black Mountain shoreline revert back to state land and they start pulling the docks out, leaving hundreds of sites open for canoeists to camp on for free. There’s usually still some foliage left in the second half of October when the boat traffic drops off to only a few fishing boats trolling for landlocked salmon, a few year-round locals going for one last tour in their Hackercraft and the odd tour boat carrying a handful of straggling tourists. You would certainly see at least twice as many people in the SRCA on any summer day as you would a Saturday on Lake George this time of year.
I grew up here. My first experiences camping and backpacking were here and I continue to canoe camp here about every other year and it still strikes me as one of the most awe inspiring sights in all of the Adirondacks. Just gotta know when to go. And when not to go! It’s a big lake and should be treated as such. It can get really wild if the wind picks up!

 

[dogbrain]

Lake George is quite clear, but not even close to being the clearest in the US. It looks like Secchi Disk measurements are 8 to 10 meters there, which is very clear. At Waldo Lake in Oregon, which I've paddled a few times, the Secchi depth is regularly upwards of 40 meters, and averages in the mid 30's. The fact that there are no inflow streams and no permanent structures on the lake is a big part of the reason. The water there is like aqua velva, if anybody remembers that. When the light is right, looking down into the water while paddling will give you the sense that you're floating in the air. Crater Lake in Oregon is close to that with averages over 30 meters, and for the same reason. There are other lakes in the cascades with similar numbers, and many that are above 10 meters. I've been to a couple lakes in the boundary waters that are likely at or above 10 meters.

Mark

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

Lake George is quite clear, but not even close to being the clearest in the US. It looks like Secchi Disk measurements

Crater Lake in Oregon is close to that with averages over 30 meters

The article in the OP doesn't make a claim about for Lake George about being the "clearest", but rather about being the "cleanest". Granted, it's not a scientific article and doesn't even define what it means by "clean".

To the extent the article mentions clearness, it says that Crater Lake "offers the best visibility, reaching up to 100 feet and permitting sunlight to penetrate down to 400 feet."

 

[yellowcanoe]

you can thank zebra mussels. I am sure they play a part. Lists like that are ridiculous. Drinking water for Portland comes out of Sebago. On my lake many homes draw from the lake ( they do use water filters in the kitchen)

 

[alsg]

you can thank zebra mussels. I am sure they play a part. Lists like that are ridiculous. Drinking water for Portland comes out of Sebago. On my lake many homes draw from the lake ( they do use water filters in the kitchen)

Just to add to what yellowcanoe wrote, Portland doesn't filter the water drawn from Sebago before sending it to the public because it is so clean it has an exemption from EPA -- one of only 50 such exemptions for the roughly 13000 public water supplies in the U.S. But they do still disinfect it with ozone, ultraviolet and chlorine.

https://www.pwd.org/sites/default/files/2023_annual_water_quality_report.pdf

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

you can thank zebra mussels.

Zebra mussels are a big and increasing problem in many places, but I don't think Lake George is one of them. According to this 2019 article, "Yearly surveys for adult zebra mussels have been performed since 1999 following hand removal of zebra mussels at Lake George Village, focusing on marinas as the highest risk of introduction. Calcium concentrations are monitored where zebra mussels are found, and any mussels that are found are removed, measured, and preserved. No zebra mussels have been found at new locations in Lake George since 2011."

Lake George Zebra Mussel Monitoring - Invasive Mussel Collaborative

In 1995 a veliger monitoring program was launched in Lake George, conducted at 12 different sites. The locations are surveyed biweekly during the summer months, and the program is ongoing today. In the event that veligers are identified in a sample, SCUBA surveys are conducted at that site to...

invasivemusselcollaborative.net

 

[TimG]

Zebra mussels are a big and increasing problem in many places, but I don't think Lake George is one of them. According to this 2019 article, "Yearly surveys for adult zebra mussels have been performed since 1999 following hand removal of zebra mussels at Lake George Village, focusing on marinas as the highest risk of introduction. Calcium concentrations are monitored where zebra mussels are found, and any mussels that are found are removed, measured, and preserved. No zebra mussels have been found at new locations in Lake George since 2011."

Lake George Zebra Mussel Monitoring - Invasive Mussel Collaborative

In 1995 a veliger monitoring program was launched in Lake George, conducted at 12 different sites. The locations are surveyed biweekly during the summer months, and the program is ongoing today. In the event that veligers are identified in a sample, SCUBA surveys are conducted at that site to...

invasivemusselcollaborative.net

That’s correct. The only place they were found was on the concrete sea wall in the Village because of it’s calcium content.
I once dated the niece of the director of the Freshwater Institute located in Bolton Landing, where she was an intern. We spent half that summer living on the Institute’s sailboat. What a summer that was!

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

I once dated the niece of the director of the Freshwater Institute located in Bolton Landing, where she was an intern. We spent half that summer living on the Institute’s sailboat. What a summer that was!

Was this exclamation point memory related to zebra mussels . . . or something else . . . I'm too old to figure things out.

 

[TimG]

Was this exclamation point memory related to zebra mussels . . . or something else . . . I'm too old to figure things out.

Umm… they were really toned mussels?

 

[Woodpuppy]

My family has vacationed at Silver Bay (formerly YMCA) on Lake George since my Great Aunt Laura was 18 in 1905. Almost cheesy by today’s jaded standards, a great place to take the kids for summer vacation. My grandparents’ ashes are spread in the memorial garden at the chapel there.

Silver Bay is where I learned to shoot a bow, paddle a canoe, and sail a “catyak” and Sunfish. I’ve hiked Black Mountain, and ridden my mountain bike up the trails west of the lake, and around to the south and back over Tongue Mountain. That was a rude awakening for a Florida cyclist. Had a memorable summer crush there several years running. Some great memories to be sure.

Oh, and yes the lake is clean and refreshing. Half the shoreline is undeveloped and preserved, which contributes highly to the cleanliness. The fact that the banks are abrupt to clif like helps also in that very little of the land adjacent to the lake was suitable for farming and the attendant nitrogen rich runoff that causes so much algal matting everywhere else. Just have a look at Champlain to the north. What a contrast.

 

[ppine]

I have friend that has cabins on Lake George. He used to sail on it.
On the Left Coast, Lake Tahoe is known for great clarity and great depth over 660 feet. It never freezes.