Lake Kinnelon

Lake Kinnelon is home to Largemouth Bass, Smallmouth Bass, Rock Bass, Walleye, Perch, Pickerel, Crappie, Channel Catfish, Bullhead Catfish, Sunfish as well as a healthy population of turtles and beavers. The lake is stocked through revenues generated from Smoke Rise fishing licenses.

The lake averages a depth of 6 feet, deepening to 14 feet in Talbot Cove.

Lake Kinnelon was dammed in 1886 via a dam built in Talbot Cove which raised the lake level by three feet. Before the dam was built, a dirt road went from the Causeway (the site of the current boat launch) to West Shore Drive. That is now under water.

The dam is topped with a series of boards that can be adjusted to regulate water flow. Water flows along the exit road by the East Gate and into Forge Pond.

Many underground springs feed the lake.

Tree stumps line the bottom of the lake. Before the dam was built, all the trees growing in what was to become the enlarged lake were cut down, but the stumps were never removed.

The lake includes four islands: Duck Island, Chapel Island (the most famous and distinguished island because of its chapel, built in 1896 shortly after the dam and expansion of the lake), Blueberry Island and tiny Pea Island.  

(Click here to see a map including depths, of Lake Kinnelon)