McGrath Pond and Salmon Lake
The chain of Belgrade Lakes is 7 interconnected lakes bordered by 7 towns.
The towns of Oakland, Belgrade, Rome, Smithfield, Mount Vernon, Mercer, and Sidney all share the Belgrades.
The lakes are as follows:
- McGrath Pond (aka “McGraw”), is spring fed, and leads into
- Salmon Lake (aka “Ellis Pond”),which leads into Great Pond.
- East Pond flows to
- North Pond, which flows to northern Great Pond.
- Great Pond flows to
- Long Pond; and Long Pond flows to
- Messalonskee Lake (aka “Snow Pond”).
From there, the waters flow along Messalonskee Stream and into the Kennebec River. From the Kennebec, the waters of McGrath Pond and Salmon Lake finally reach the Atlantic Ocean.
Click to see the Salmon Lake – McGrath Pond Watershed.
Read a little History of the Lakes
McGrath Pond Water Quality Data
Salmon Lake Water Quality Data
See the story about Loons and the Eagles by Christie Souza
Ice safety is always a concern and currently the Fish & Game has posted a warning about the ice: Thin ice continues statewide.
Ice out data for McGrath Pond / Salmon Lake
An article by the U.S. Geological Survey “Historical Changes in Lake Ice-Out Dates as Indicators of Climate Change in New England, 1850-2000” has interesting information on Ice-out data.
We now have a Blog contest to see who guesses the 2016 ice out date, Go to the Blog page and post your date on the blog by clicking here