Great Lakes

**Mazderati** · 08-31-2011, 11:32 PM

Not the Great Lakes, but great lakes. What lakes do you know about that are of decent size (> 300 miles of shoreline), clean, warm in the summer, and have local attractions (bars, restaurants, etc.)? Must allow powerboats and jetskis.

**The AD** · 08-31-2011, 11:40 PM

Originally Posted by Mazderati

What lakes do you know about that are of decent size (> 300 miles of shoreline)

You consider > 300 miles of shoreline merely "decent" size?

**Loon** · 08-31-2011, 11:42 PM

Check the finger lakes in NY. One of my favorite places to be in the summer.

**Mazderati** · 08-31-2011, 11:51 PM

Originally Posted by The AD

You consider > 300 miles of shoreline merely "decent" size?

Depending on the shape of the lake, 300 miles of shoreline could feel relatively small. I grew up on a lake with somewhere around 500 miles of shoreline but it had lots of nooks and crannies so it felt a lot smaller.

**Dickeymotto** · 09-01-2011, 12:04 AM

Originally Posted by Loon

Check the finger lakes in NY. One of my favorite places to be in the summer.

This. Lake George (or any other sizable lake in the Adirondacks) is pretty fun too.

If you are near Utah, Bear Lake is nice place to get away and the local raspberries are awesome (especially in milkshakes).

Or how about Lake Powell? Lots of nooks and crannies to explore with gorgeous desert landscape. Its super warm and a powerboating mecca as well.

**hawkgt** · 09-01-2011, 06:45 AM

Lake of the Ozarks - Missouri - lived there many years.. tons of activitiy. Make sure you have a big boat...

Table Rock Lake - Arkansas - vacationed there many years.

**dumpy** · 09-01-2011, 07:05 AM

Another vote for the Finger Lakes. A string of beautiful lakes, with wineries (a few distillers and brewers too) and small towns scattered in between.
If you ride bikes at all, the road biking around here is tough to beat and the mountain biking ain't half bad either.

Also, why discount the Great Lakes? I spend quite a bit of time in Sackets Harbor NY each summer, at the very Eastern edge of Ontario and absolutely love it, great little town with some history, decent eats, fun places to drink and of course plenty of water to play on. Lots of protected harbors and bays, but if you want to take your boats into the lake and let em rip, that option is still there too. For something different, the Black River and it's whitewater are 15 minutes away or the St. Lawrence River and the Thousand Islands are 30 minutes away.

Lake Champlain is great too, clean, big, relatively warm in summer. A lot of towns (including Burlington and Plattsburgh) along either side of the shore too, so no shortage of food, bars, etc. Just watch out for sea monsters

/NY Board of Tourism post

**Mustonen** · 09-01-2011, 07:11 AM

Superior is pretty rad...

**volklpowdermaniac** · 09-01-2011, 08:36 AM

I don't know the sizes, but I'd add the NH lakes as well, Wentworth and Winnipesaukee amongst others--a ton in that region... I grew up spending summers up there, Wolfeboro is a cool ass town, Portsmouth not too far... that's all I got.

**Beakjones** · 09-01-2011, 11:07 AM

Originally Posted by Mustonen

Superior is pretty rad...

As long as "warm in the summer" isn't a big deal haha. I still love jumping at black rocks in Marquette though.

**Shredhead** · 09-01-2011, 11:23 AM

Lake James, Indiana.

**huckbucket** · 09-01-2011, 12:20 PM

Yet another vote for the finger lakes. I'm 30 mins from Canandaigua lake and the possibilities here are pretty endless. I've got great 3 and 4 hours road bike loops from my house. Granted property prices and taxes are retarded if you're looking for a place to invest.

13 · 09-01-2011, 01:54 PM

Originally Posted by Shredhead

Lake James, Indiana.

Silty water or "floaters?" You be the judge.

To the OP: Define warm... What's warm to me is cold to my wife. Just sayin.

**Shredhead** · 09-01-2011, 02:13 PM

No, it's spring fed, those are sandbars. It's shallow there, but a little off to the right, it's a 100ft.

**smmokan** · 09-01-2011, 02:56 PM

Originally Posted by Loon

Check the finger lakes in NY. One of my favorite places to be in the summer.

That area sucks, I don't know why you'd suggest that to someone looking for something fun to do.

Kidding aside, like the others previously said, the Finger Lakes is awesome in the summer. I grew up in Corning, about 5 minutes from Loon, and we spent many weekends on Keuka and Seneca. If I could have a summer house, I'd consider that area among the top choices.

**Garth Bimble** · 09-01-2011, 03:00 PM

Probably not very warm, but Flathead Lake in Montana is pretty good size...

**RShea** · 09-01-2011, 03:50 PM

300 Miles of shoreline- how did you pick that number? Live a few minutes from Lake Erie and it of course is one of the Great Lakes. Ontario only has 726 miles of shoreline, so a little more than 2 times your shoreline number picked. But there are many other slightly smaller lakes around that meet your criteria- all except the shoreline distance. They allow boats, jetskis, are warmer than most of the Great Lakes in the summer (however along the shore this year Erie hit 82 degree water temperature.) Fun things to do, etc.

**3snowboards** · 09-01-2011, 04:01 PM

My family used to rent houseboats on Norris in TN.
Used to be anything goes hillbilly style.
Don't know about these days.

**regct** · 09-01-2011, 04:09 PM

The pinky of the mitten

**Jer** · 09-01-2011, 04:13 PM

x3 for Lake Superior.

The air is warm in the summer.

**3snowboards** · 09-01-2011, 05:20 PM

A. He said no Great Lakes,
B. Erie isn't cold except in the winter.

13 · 09-01-2011, 07:42 PM

Originally Posted by regct

The pinky of the mitten

Leland, Suttons Bay, or Northport?

**Mazderati** · 09-01-2011, 09:46 PM

Warm water to me is high 70s and low 80s in the summer months. Requisite temperatures for butt naked stand up riding.

The shoreline number uses the lake I grew up on as a reference (Smith Mountain). Doing so is probably flawed given the shape of SML and the size of some of the mentioned lakes. SML looks like a dot compared to Ontario. Even Cayuga looks bigger on a map and it has around 95 miles of shoreline. Shoreline criterion - fuggedaboutit.

I'm not necessarily opposed to the Great Lakes. I just can't imagine they're very warm. The Fingers look nice but they also look cold given their depth. Submarine testing on Seneca like whoa. I suppose it matters less if consuming copious quantities of the region's vino. School me if I'm wrong.

Cool picture of Lake James. Spring fed lakes are normally pretty cold. Is James? Unbelievably, a Wikipedia entry on the lake doesn't exist.

**Loon** · 09-01-2011, 10:00 PM

The big fingers like Seneca and Cayuga are big deep fuggers but they do get into the higher 70s most years. The smaller fingers get into the 80s every year. Keuka is up to 85 this year which is boarderline to hot for me.

And yes it doesn't matter what temp the lake is after a day of wine tasting.