Nearby Connecticut Lakes and Rivers
When you're visiting the Lakeville - Salisbury area of Connecticut you're sure to notice the abundance of lakes, rivers and streams. Make your visit more enjoyable by jumping in! Perhaps not literally jumping in - but experience the water by getting out there...
Lakeville
Lake Wononscopomuc - Also known as Lakeville Lake. Nestled in the foothills of the Berkshires it is Connecticut's deepest natural lake and a premiere recreational asset for swimming, sailing, canoeing and fishing in the summer and skating and cross country skiing in the winter.
Wononscopomuc is one of Connecticut's premier fishing lakes. The record for lake trout, first established here in 1918, still stands. (Dr. Thompson brought one in at 29 pounds 13 ounces.) Trophy fish are still recorded at the Town Grove office (East side of the lake) each year. The lake is known for trout, large mouth bass,chain pickerel, yellow perch and sunfish. The Connecticut Bureau of Fisheries stocks the lake each year. It is a bass management lake. Fishing licenses are available at the grove office.
Lake Wononpakook - Lake Wononpakook or "Long Pond" is a fairly quiet lake, with easy, public boat launch (best for small boats - the launch is very shallow). The Mary V. Peters Memorial Park is owned and maintained by the Town of Salisbury (no facilities). This a great lake perfect for a paddle or a great place for dogs to swim! The park closes at dusk.
Salisbury - Twin Lakes
Lake Washinee (West Twin Lake) is about 1.6 miles (2.6 km) long, and under a quarter mile (0.4 km) wide of except for its squarish roughly 0.5 by 0.6 mile (0.8 by 1.0 km) southernmost section. Its deepest part is 22 feet.
Lake Washining (East Twin Lake) is much rounder, and roughly 0.9 by 1.3 miles (1.5 by 2 km). It has a maximum depth of 81 feet. Much of the shore is wetland, but there are some private residences. There is a thermocline that forms around 25 feet. Lake Washining has public access - both a carry-in State boat launch and a commercial marina.
The two lakes are separated by an isthmus under 300 feet (100 m) wide, and they maintain the same water level. They are located in the Housatonic Valley in northwesternmost Connecticut. Near the 'Between the Lakes Road' is located a series of limestone caves, including the Bashful Lady Cave, one of the longest in the state.
Housatonic River
The Housatonic River flows right through Salisbury / Lakeville, and provides an excellent resource for fishing, sight-seeing and cooloing off. Enjoy a canoe or kayak trip down the river, or take advantage of guided fishing, rafting and float-boats.
The river is approximately 139 miles and drains about 1,950 square miles of southwestern New England into Long Island Sound. Its watershed is just to the west of the watershed of the lower Connecticut River. The Housatonic rises from four sources in far western Massachusetts in the Berkshire Mountains. It flows southward through western Massachusetts through the Berkshires and into western Connecticut, and empties into Long Island Sound between the towns of Stratford and Milford.