Diving ghost town in Lake Roosevelt??

[Buccaneer]

OK, tomorrow I WILL find out the truth about this legend. If it is true, I will get detailed info and plan a Saturday dive soon (maybe this Saturday, before there is too much snow to travel). From what I know of the LDS mentioned, they enjoy a good story as much as I do. But I do know someone who will know, and will tell me. If he doesn't swear me to secrecy, I'll post what I find out tomorrow night after the weekly night dive.

Well if you come back and say it's not true, how will we know you're not just lying :06:
..seriously though, cool _ I never expected this to drag out so much

 

[Rick Inman]

I live near Lake Roosevelt, I can see it from my house. I think this "Sunken Town" story is bogus. When the river goes down there are places where you can see old foundations, fireplaces, front steps, etc. that are high and dry.

Well, DonziMan seems to have it pegged. From what I'm told, the story is better than truth. Yes, I'm told, when the water is low you can dive the old town - but all that is there are old foundations covered in silt. Everything else was removed before the town was flooded (I even talked to a guy who was there, and saw it when it happened).
Too bad. But when you think about it, if there really was an old town with structures that was div-able, it would either be the best kept secrete, or the place would be packed with divers every weekend.

Well if you come back and say it's not true, how will we know you're not just lying

.

 

[DonziMan]

Thanks for doing the leg work Rick. I can't imagine there being a need for secrecy about dive sites here in the inland NW. We need to have more well known dives sites here to strenghen our dive community. Sunken towns, train wrecks, boats, slot machines, etc. are all reasons to go diving. Secrets don't really help grow the community or help out the local dive shops. Just a thought...

By the way, there are some great dives on Lake Rosevelt. It is a beautiful lake and you can boat for miles without seeing another person even in the busy summer holiday season. Those of you who have never visited should give it a try!

 

[The Kraken]

We have something of the same legend here in the Atlanta area. In 1956 Lake Lanier was backed up. There were several little communities that were inundated. I heard rumors for years that the communities were still standing, yadda, yadda, yadda . . .
Well, when we started diving and locating the sites all we found were foundations and so forth. Every once in a while we would find where an old shed or something had been left standing, but after almost 50 years under water, nature and the elements had taken their tolls and the structure had collapsed on its own.

We still have a lot of sites to locate and explore, who knows ????

 

[Rick Inman]

By the way, there are some great dives on Lake Rosevelt. It is a beautiful lake and you can boat for miles without seeing another person even in the busy summer holiday season. Those of you who have never visited should give it a try!

Can you tell me a little about the diving? If I come up, will you take me for a dive?

 

[DonziMan]

I'd be happy to dive with anyone who wants to go on Lake Roosevelt! Check out this website http://www.nps.gov/laro/

Lake Roosevelt is 130 miles long! There are all kinds of diving here. Some great cliffs, deep drops, islands, waterfalls, caverns where fish hang out, shady coves, etc. In the upper Spokane Arm there are lots of crawdads. This section is about 30-50 feet deep for about 5 miles. I like to drag behind the boat for a high speed drift dive (I call it scuba-skiing). Anyway, you could spend a lifetime exploring and not see it all. Also, the lake level drops quite a bit in the spring. Maybe 20-50 feet. So that opens up more dive sites as well. The visibility varies depending on the time of year. It gets silty in the spring but can be very clear later (30+ feet) in the summer, fall, and winter.

 

[Rick Inman]

I'd be happy to dive with anyone who wants to go on Lake Roosevelt! .

PM-ing you now...

 

[sgarwood]

I see that this is an old meaage thread but I've lived in Colville, which is about 9 miles south of the newer Kettle Falls. Every year the river level drops, however every once in a while you just drive by the river and see the old towns flooded by the dam. There are serveral towns that I have gotten pictures of, One town Marcus which is 10-15 miles northeast of Kettle Falls has some awesome remains. This year the river has dropped to record lows and when you drive up to marcus youcan see the roadways building structures and everything it's cool. If anyone wants some pictures I can send them to you, email me at sgarwood@theofficenet.com. I don't know what the pictures of Kettle Falls from this year will show but I will have them by this week. I do know that Lake Roosevelt is a large lake and you can have a house on it and not be able to see the old city.

 

[Rick Inman]

I see that this is an old meaage thread but I've lived in Colville, which is about 9 miles south of the newer Kettle Falls. Every year the river level drops, however every once in a while you just drive by the river and see the old towns flooded by the dam. There are serveral towns that I have gotten pictures of, One town Marcus which is 10-15 miles northeast of Kettle Falls has some awesome remains. This year the river has dropped to record lows and when you drive up to marcus youcan see the roadways building structures and everything it's cool. If anyone wants some pictures I can send them to you, email me at sgarwood@theofficenet.com. I don't know what the pictures of Kettle Falls from this year will show but I will have them by this week. I do know that Lake Roosevelt is a large lake and you can have a house on it and not be able to see the old city.

Welcome to ScubaBoard!

Oh, yes, I would be very interested to see where there actually is some underwater structures.

Emailing you now...

EDIT: Your email address comes back as invalid.

 

[Cold_H2O]

A group of my dive buddies and I were talking about this yesterday.
We are planning on diving it this summer. Thanks for the information.
I will add more as our plans come together. I am sure there will be room if anyone wants to join us.