Otisco Lake

Otisco Lake details:

• Length: 5.5 miles
• Maximum width: 0.75 miles
• Maximum depth: 76 feet
• Average depth: 34 feet
• Major cities and towns: Amber, Marietta, Otisco Valley

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Which is the easternmost Finger Lake?

Which of the 11 Finger Lakes lies farthest to the east? That would be Otisco Lake.

I referred to Conesus Lake, the westernmost lake, as the ‘jewel of the west,’ so we’ll also call Otisco Lake the ‘jewel of the east.’

Otisco Lake is the pinky finger of the 11 mostly vertical lakes dug out by the Laurentide Ice Sheet 10,000 years ago. 

It long confused me that there are actually other lakes in the Finger Lakes Region, yet they didn’t get included in “the 11,” or those special enough to be labeled as The Finger Lakes. But other lakes, such as Onondaga, lie horizontally on the landscape. 

Otisco Lake is the last of the line of vertically aligned lakes that look like a great god took his mighty fingers and made a few scrapes across the landscape of central New York. 

Hey, I didn’t even come up with that idea on my own! Read on to find out how Otisco Lake got its name and how that led to the lakes being labeled as the ‘Finger Lakes.’

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Otisco Lake Causeway

Otisco Lake is unique in that it's very shallow at the lower ⅓ portion of the lake - with an average depth of six feet. And cutting across the lake at the head of this shallow portion, is a causeway you can walk out onto and fish from.

The causeway was once a railroad that cut across Otisco Lake, turning eight miles of travel into less than one. However, a bridge that crossed the middle of what is left of the causeway was washed out in the late 1920’s and never replaced. 

And so, for the last 100 years, anglers have enjoyed the excellent fishing at the southern tip of Otisco Lake the causeway affords them - and you can too. 

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How did Otisco Lake get its name?

So, where did Otisco Lake get its name from? Well, similar to nearly all the other lakes in the region, Otisco Lake got its name from the Iroquois that once inhabited the region. 

The Iroquois, also known as both the Six Nations and the Haudenosaunee, were a group of six Native American tribes that came together to maintain peace throughout the region. They went down in text books when they both attempted to fight and work with settlers during European colonization of the Americas.

In the Iroquois language, Otisco was a phrase that meant, “waters dried away.” In the late 1800’s, dams were placed around Otisco Lake to help maintain its water year-round. Prior to this damming, the lake was less lake and more swamp, which would fill and drain with the seasons. 

Regarding the god that came and scraped out the Finger Lakes with his hands, Native American legend does go that the Great Spirit did do just that to this area in upstate New York and that's how the lakes were formed. Legend or no legend, they do look like 11 fingers laid across the central New York landscape. What do you think?

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Things to do while visiting Otisco Lake

So, you wanna visit Otisco Lake?

Otisco Lake is known for having some leisurely paddles, a low-key attitude, and plenty of woods for hiking. I don't blame you for wanting to come here. Even though I live locally, I'm planning my next trip too!

To find out more about the following activities on Otisco Lake, just click on the link. I suggest you try them all - because you just never know what kind of good stuff you might miss out on if you don't!

Boating

Hiking

Paddling

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