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No problem but seems odd that OP reminded us that Tahoe, Fingerlakes, etc. are not man-made without saying why he's leaving them out of the comparison. To my mind a natural lake like Lake Tahoe or Lake George, Winnepesaukee or Squam are way nicer than artificial lakes. Maybe OP trying to take bias like that out of the discussion. Or maybe some other reason...
I'd guess there are two categories of man-made lakes, reservoirs and recreation. Reservoirs like Pepacton, Neversink, Ashokan and others in the NYC water supply system are nice places but of course no swimming, no houses, no marinas... Having watched Ozark I have a rough idea of the other category of man-made lakes and it seems like those ones are all about recreation.
Actually, most of those other man-made lakes were built for power generation.
That's definitely true of the Lake of the Ozarks; Bagnell Dam was built in 1921 by Union Electric Company of St. Louis, Mo.
It's also true of Pennsylvania's largest man-made lake, Lake Wallenpaupack in the Poconos. I'm surprised you didn't put it on this list, for I'd say it's better known than Pymatuning. PPL didn't build the dam, but it owns it now.
It's definitely true for Hoover (nee Boulder) Dam.
Some of those non-reservoir dams, however, were built as part of flood-control projects; they were designed to keep snow melt from flowing too freely into the rivers downstream from them.
There are a bunch of smaller man-made lakes in the Poconos that were built for the purpose of harvesting ice from them in the winter for the filling of iceboxes. Electric refrigeration made these lakes obsolete, and just about all of them now have resort communities ringing them.
Well now you know right? Lol...
I've never been to it, but have heard of it. What do you think of it?
I've been to Riffe lake once, but seems like there isn't much to do there besides boating and fishing. the entire shore line is private lumber land, it's also not even our largest artificial lake.
The largest artificial lake in WA (as well as the largest in general) would be Franklin D. Roosevelt Lake which sits behind the grand coulee dam. It has a surface area of 125 sq mi, it's 150 mi long and has over 600 miles of shoreline. The lake is so large that there are two ferry lines operating on it.
Of the lakes on this list, I've been to the following:
Guntersville Lake - Alabama - It was cool I guess.
Lake Havasu - Arizona - Great Lake. Love the desert mountains over the lake.
Lake Granby - Colorado - Maybe the most scenic depending on where you're looking at it from. I feel like if you're look Southeast at the lake, it is really beautiful, but I think most people approach it from the South heading North from Granby
Lake Kissimmee and Chain of Lakes - Florida - Well, not really to Lake Kissimmee itself, but have been to several smaller lakes I think are considered to be in the Chain of Lakes. The best on my list to be at during Sunrise...
Lake Lanier - Georgia - Finding an island to hang out on for the day is hard to beat. Most other Man-made lakes don't have the over 150 islands that Lake Lanier has...
Toledo Bend - Louisiana - Eh... Did have a little success fishing, but just didn't feel as welcomed as other places. Often when fishing, passing other anglers can spark a little light & friendly conversation. But there it just felt like people weren't really trying to speak to us.
Lake Meade - Nevada - I realize it's bigger than Havasu, but I had more fun at Havasu.
Lake Norman - North Carolina - Seems a lot like Lake Lanier really. Charlotte just wants to be Atlanta in so many ways (but I will say that Downtown Charlotte is beating downtown Atlanta. Maybe smaller, but more organized & aesthetic).
Pymatuning Lake - Pennsylvania - Honestly, was kind of bored there.
Norris Lake - Tennessee - Was a GREAT fishing!
Lake Travis - Texas - This was an impressive experience... Hard to beat. Lots of activities and the water was great! There is like this Brewery that overlooked the lake. NICE man... The fishing was fun (we caught 0 fish!)... May be top 3 if not the best on my list.
The only ones who ever bring up the "Charlotte wanting to be like Atlanta" subject are those outside of Charlotte. I have lived here nearly all of my 55 years and we never obsess about Atlanta, lol. Never. We like Atlanta in a lot of ways, but love who we are. So, the weird "Atlanta Envy" myth is something we just don't get, lol smh.
It's also true of Pennsylvania's largest man-made lake, Lake Wallenpaupack in the Poconos. I'm surprised you didn't put it on this list, for I'd say it's better known than Pymatuning. PPL didn't build the dam, but it owns it now.
When I saw this thread, I thought he was going to say Lake Wallenpaupack. I haven't ever heard of the other. Lake Wallenpaupack was home to the famous episode of The Office where they go on a team building booze cruise. I have been there before, it's a good spot for a long weekend. It's got a real 50s' yogi bear camping aesthetic.
my photo
My buddy had a house right on Sacandaga Lake. Beautiful, big lake in the Adirondacks. Great for water skiing, jet skiing, etc. We would also drive to nearby Saratoga and put some bets down.
Actually, most of those other man-made lakes were built for power generation.
That's definitely true of the Lake of the Ozarks; Bagnell Dam was built in 1921 by Union Electric Company of St. Louis, Mo.
It's also true of Pennsylvania's largest man-made lake, Lake Wallenpaupack in the Poconos. I'm surprised you didn't put it on this list, for I'd say it's better known than Pymatuning. PPL didn't build the dam, but it owns it now.
It's definitely true for Hoover (nee Boulder) Dam.
Some of those non-reservoir dams, however, were built as part of flood-control projects; they were designed to keep snow melt from flowing too freely into the rivers downstream from them.
There are a bunch of smaller man-made lakes in the Poconos that were built for the purpose of harvesting ice from them in the winter for the filling of iceboxes. Electric refrigeration made these lakes obsolete, and just about all of them now have resort communities ringing them.
This may be semantics, but is Lake Wallenpaupack larger than Pymatuning Reservoir? It appears that Pymatuning is larger, but then about 1/3 or it is in Ohio, so maybe Wallenpaupack is the largest entirely within Pennsyvlania.
Either way, there is nothing special about Pymatuning. For one, there is Lake Erie like 30 miles to the north and then another dozen or so fairly large man-made lakes (at least I believe all are) in Northeast Ohio. The only person I personally know who has ever been there was my sister, and I was like why? Her answer was IDK, just wanted to get away for the weekend. She stayed at a campground on the Pa side and while she loved it, my niece and nephew (16 and 13 at the time) were like it was the worst weekend ever, lol.
This may be semantics, but is Lake Wallenpaupack larger than Pymatuning Reservoir? It appears that Pymatuning is larger, but then about 1/3 or it is in Ohio, so maybe Wallenpaupack is the largest entirely within Pennsyvlania.
Either way, there is nothing special about Pymatuning. For one, there is Lake Erie like 30 miles to the north and then another dozen or so fairly large man-made lakes (at least I believe all are) in Northeast Ohio. The only person I personally know who has ever been there was my sister, and I was like why? Her answer was IDK, just wanted to get away for the weekend. She stayed at a campground on the Pa side and while she loved it, my niece and nephew (16 and 13 at the time) were like it was the worst weekend ever, lol.
I'm writing this response from the kitchen of a mothballed house in Pocono Manor whose owner is putting it on the market this coming Monday. I'm here at the owner's invitation; he's a fan of my real estate writing for PhillyMag and apparently wanted to meet me as much as or even more than he wanted me to write about the house — which I will; it's a handsome bluestone-and-red-shingle traditional that was built as part of this huge vacation resort that predates World War I. The resort is owned by a group of New York investors who apparently got burned when they didn't upgrade the hotel at its center and it ended up getting filled with Grouponers who stayed on the cheap and brought their own booze and food in with them. The hotel — signs at the community's entrance still mention it — burned to the ground in a fire in 1999 that everyone around believes is suspicious but which ended up with no one getting charged because no concrete (or pile of stone) evidence could be found.
This resort is right next door to a much newer one, a huge box called Kalahari that has a big digital sign right next to I-380. As we got off at the exit just past it, my boyfriend said to me, "We've seen that monstrosity before." (We had, on our visit to a luxurious B&B in Bethany for the Poconos feature that will appear in next month's issue; on the day we were to return, we decided to head down to the Delaware Water Gap first and took 380 to get to it.)
We are nowhere near Lake Wallenpaupack, though I think there is a lake somewhere near here; there is a waterfall nearby, and the owner plans to take us to it on a hike later this morning.
I'm enjoying the environment, and the house is lovely. BF is disappointed; he was apparently expecting a repeat of the first trip and isn't enjoying staying in a mothballed house that's partly out of commission (one of its two bathrooms isn't working because of a water line leak, and the doorknob to the other one is missing one side and came off in my hand this morning). That, and his allergies are acting up because the forests up here are still pollenating. He wants to return early.
Actually, most of those other man-made lakes were built for power generation.
That's definitely true of the Lake of the Ozarks; Bagnell Dam was built in 1921 by Union Electric Company of St. Louis, Mo.
It's also true of Pennsylvania's largest man-made lake, Lake Wallenpaupack in the Poconos. I'm surprised you didn't put it on this list, for I'd say it's better known than Pymatuning. PPL didn't build the dam, but it owns it now.
It's definitely true for Hoover (nee Boulder) Dam.
Some of those non-reservoir dams, however, were built as part of flood-control projects; they were designed to keep snow melt from flowing too freely into the rivers downstream from them.
There are a bunch of smaller man-made lakes in the Poconos that were built for the purpose of harvesting ice from them in the winter for the filling of iceboxes. Electric refrigeration made these lakes obsolete, and just about all of them now have resort communities ringing them.
Lake Wallenpaupack is actually Pennsylvania's second largest man made lake.
The largest man made lake in Pennsylvania is Raystown Lake in the central portion of the state.
Both are great and scenic lakes though and should be in the poll over the one selected for Pennsylvania.
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