Deep water is terrifying. Hell, I can hardly even swim in a pool without imagining something reaching up from below to grab me. Backyard pools are one thing, but lakes are in a league of their own.

With hundreds of feet of murky depth, there's no telling what secrets they're keeping. So what's the deepest lake in New York, and what's hiding at the bottom?

Here's a hint: the deepest lake can be seen from plenty of wineries (Google)
Here's a hint: the deepest lake can be seen from plenty of wineries (Google)
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Lakes in New York State

There are a staggering amount of lakes here in New York. With nearly 8,000 bodies of water (including reservoirs) and more than 70,000 miles of creeks, streams, and rivers, it's a paradise for boating and fishing enthusiasts (and a nightmare for people like me who think movies like Lake Placid are based in reality). While the deepest lake in the country is thousands of miles away in Oregon, seeing the deepest lake in New York just requires a short drive to central New York.

Seneca Lake (Google)
Seneca Lake (Google)
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The Deepest Lake in New York

While the honor of largest lake in New York goes to the 51,000-acre Oneida Lake in Oswego County, NY, the deepest lake is its neighbor to the southwest, Seneca Lake.

Not that I had anything to do with how deep it is, but I'm proud to say that Seneca was my local lake for four years when I attended Ithaca College (they even had SCUBA certification classes in the lake). Seneca lake can be as deep as 618 feet (that's two Statues of Liberty stacked on top of each other), here's what researchers found at the bottom.

What's hiding at the bottom? (Google)
What's hiding at the bottom? (Google)
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What's at the Bottom of Seneca Lake?

With modern technology, you don't even need to dive into the water to see what's laying on the lakebed. Using sonar, both scientists and amateur enthusiasts have patrolled the lake looking for hidden items. One of the most exciting was a massive shipwreck with Civil War history.

Google
Google
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Shipwrecks in Seneca Lake

A giant steamboat, The Onondaga is resting roughly 400 feet below Seneca Lake's surface. Before its life as a public passenger ferry, it was used to move Union soldiers during the Civil War. After 38 years of service, the nearly 200-foot-long ship was ceremoniously exploded in 1898 to the delight of thousands of onlookers.

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Want some glamorous lakeside living a little closer to home? Who knows how many shipwrecks it's hiding, but take a look at the incredible castle on Greenwood Lake in Orange County, NY that was once owned by none other than Derek Jeter below (yes, that's an actual lagoon, too).

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