The Deepest Lake in Massachusetts Is Not What You Think It Is

For those that don't have the time and money to drive all the way to The Cape to go to the ocean (even though I think it's well worth it), we spend a lot of time in Berkshires or Massachusetts in general at what we call "The Lake." Whether you swim and fish at Windsor Lake in North Adams or enjoy live music at Onota Lake in Pittsfield where LIVE 95.9 presents the Live on The Lake concert series during the summer months.

In fact, out of those two favorites, they're a total of over 3000 lakes here in the Commonwealth! Now of course many lakes including Cheshire Lake (what we been calling it for years even though you can't swim in it, but you can fish in it), are man-made. In the Berkshires, the water depth is uneven for a lake versus say if you head towards Boston, you're going to find lakes that are flatter.

So, What Is the Deepest Lake in Massachusetts you may ask?

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Lake Chaubunagungamaug, easier to just say "Webster Lake." Located in the town of Webster Massachusetts, off I-395 near the Connecticut state border. With 1,442 acres of surface and an elevation of 477 feet! It is also the third largest body of water in Massachusetts with 17 miles of shoreline in the south border. This comes after larger "Long Pond" located in the towns of Lakeview and Freetown. There's even a much larger body of water known as "Quabbin Reservoir" the main water supply for the city of Boston.

Believe it or not back in 1921, the lake's name had 45 letters containing fourteen syllables which looked like this: Lake Char­gogg­a­gogg­man­chaugg­a­gogg­chau­bun­a­gung­a­maugg.  The longest lake name in the United States. Now if someone can actually pronounce that correctly for me, I want to hear it. Send me an audio clip and I'll even play it on New Country 94.7's morning show!

In case you're wondering where the name comes from and what it means, it actually comes from Loup, an Algonquian language. It has a meaning of "Fishing Place at the Boundaries—Neutral Meeting Grounds", with a translation of "lake divided by islands."

If you want to visit this historic lake, the drive is just under 2 hours away from the Berkshires! Just punch in "Lake Chaubunagungamaug, Webster, MA 01570" in Google Maps.