Newfound Lake -- The Ledges

[TimK]

Picked up Luis and drove up to Newfound Lake to dive The Ledges today. Met Mike and Sue, Laura, Bill and his wife Lynn up there. A bit breezy today so made changing in and out of the wetsuit interesting. We all suited up and walked down the road to the drop in point, carefully made our way down the very steep emabankment and then giant strided off a convenient boulder into about 10 feet of water. Lake was clear and vis was pretty good till you hit around 70 feet, then it got dark real quick and flashlights were in order. Thermocline at 60 feet. Lots of huge boulders to swim around with trees that had fallen in as well. Almost spooky in the darkness. Not much in the way of fish life although we did see several bass and a school of baitfish. Bottom is a sand muck mixture that really silts up the area nicely if you roll large rocks down through it, huh Luis? There's some signs down there as well with the most prominent being one that claims a $50 fine for pianting the rocks -- rather humerous underwater. Also the front grill from a Dodge pick-up that story has it, apparently didn't make one of the turns...truck was removed.

Anyway, both dives for me and Luis about the same -- 88 feet, 42 minutes, water temp 46 at depth. Both good dives and gave my gear a nice freshwater rinse. Nice to actually get out of the water without the salt taste in your mouth from the ocean.

 

[reefseal]

It's been a while since first dove it with Dark Frog. What's changed is the little parking spot we thought was public is actually private. The folks on the water use it now for storage shed and above ground septic. Still, the owners of property let us park there as long as we moved our cars up further. Nice retired folks. Something to keep in mind if go there. Be considerate divers. (as should always be)

 

[dave4868]

Always good to hear dive reports! Thanks!

Hope you don't mind a few questions....I may head up that way some time, since easily accessible ledges sound like a good dive.

I've fished, but never dove Newfound Lake. It appeared exceptionally clear. Can you give me some estimate of the vis in the shallows and the vis at your deep point?

Was 88' where the ledges leveled out to a more flat bottom, or do they go deeper?

Can you give any specifics about the location of the entry and parking?

Any other interesting drop-offs like "The Ledges" that are accessible from shore?

Thanks again for the interesting dive report!

Dave C

 

[reefseal]

search newfound lake on board for details on where, entry, parking, directions. etc,. there's a post. Looking at water, was pretty clear. once you get in, yeah it gets silty by movement. (esp when you tumble down big boulders! Vis was same clarity in shalllows as depth. once got to bottom, it flattens out. Never had need to go beyond ledge as just mud, dark and COLD.

 

[TimK]

Once you go past the state park, continue on until you go past a cliff on your left. Parking will be at the very next set of houses with the first house being a red house. Parking is in a pull out on the left. Ask the owners in the nice 2 story just after the red house for permission to park. Walk back down the road and look for the first easy access to the water. You should be able to giant stride off a relatively flat rock by the water. I didn't think to take pictures of the entry point -- sorry.

If I get back up that way again I'll take pics and post them.

 

[crlavoie]

search newfound lake on board for details on where, entry, parking, directions. etc,. there's a post. Looking at water, was pretty clear. once you get in, yeah it gets silty by movement. (esp when you tumble down big boulders! Vis was same clarity in shalllows as depth. once got to bottom, it flattens out. Never had need to go beyond ledge as just mud, dark and COLD.

A little further out, it turns back to a sand bottom. We found 100 FSW but nothing else. Basically follow the line of rocks.

Also, be sure to adjust your weight accordingly if you're not used to diving fresh water.

 

[Green_Manelishi]

It's nice to read that someone found depths greater than the almost 80, never venturing far from the rocks, that I've found in three trips to that site. I hope to get back there again next year.

 

[dave4868]

It's nice to read that someone found depths greater than the almost 80, never venturing far from the rocks, that I've found in three trips to that site. I hope to get back there again next year.

The more I hear, the better Newfound Lake sounds!

Your post's title referred to "easy access". Can you elaborate on what you meant? Were you referring just to the "Ledges"? Or are there other access points?

A lot of people stay close to the rocky areas and don't bother swimming across the "barren" or "featureless" bottoms of lakes, but once in a while, those areas can surprise you, as I'm sure you know.

It might be a lake trout suddenly darting away or a length of rope leading to a nice anchor buried in the mud or maybe a sailboat rudder or an icefishing chisel. (Sold three sailboat tillers back to their owners for $25 each in the recent past.)

One of our local lakes has an interesting shelf of clay exposed in the otherwise silt-jello bottom at 80'. Interesting stuff, very much the consistency of modelling clay when grabbed in one's fingers.

Sometimes it's just fun to take a heading across the "featureless" bottom and then make a triangular course and seeing how close one can come to returning to the entry point.

It's also nice to think that the "featureless" areas haven't been dived much, if at all, and that one may come across things not previously seen or disturbed.

Of course, if I get up to Newfound Lake for a first-time dive, I'll probably spend most of my time on the ledges and save the "barren" areas for future dives!

Dave C

 

[spectrum]

I agree that fresh water is about "what you find". For most the fun of this site is wandering up the rocky wall along the shore line. There is plenty of trash & treasure from lake and road traffic that lurks below for sure.

The acess is essential scambling over a roadside granite rubble seawall sort of structure to where you can slip in or jump and subsequently climb out.

When I was there two years ago with the Green_Manelishi a local commented that 200+ feet could be found farther out. I never pulled a chart to confirm, what would be the point?

I know I have fun exploring a local pond where I have fond lots of neat artifacts. Being roadside I bet the silt below the ledges at Newfound could be a bottle hunters paradise.

Pete

 

[Green_Manelishi]

The more I hear, the better Newfound Lake sounds!

Your post's title referred to "easy access". Can you elaborate on what you meant? Were you referring just to the "Ledges"? Or are there other access points?

Dave C

As Spectrum pointed out the entry is essentially a scramble across and down rocks. Due to the parking situation you really have no choice but to walk about 50 yards from the parking lot and then you can scramble down/across the rocks to the water. If you are tired, clumsy or whatever it could be a hard entry/exit; especially if you fall. The first time I dove it, based on reported depths, I chose to do so with doubles.