Blue Lake is located 15 miles south of Wendover, Nevada (& Utah - it's a town right on the border). This 215 acre management area consists of several clear deep hot spring fed lakes/ponds with an extensive wetland complex surrounding them. Blue Lake is the largest of these lakes with a depth of approx 58 feet deep. With a winter surface temperature of 76 degrees Blue Lake is very popular for Scuba Divers from November thru May. Near the bottom, the temperature will increase in spots up to 83 degrees. The altitude is around 4,300 feet. Blue Lake is surrounded by a brackish marsh. From the hard-packed parking area, you'll take a boardwalk about 600 feet to the lake. Be careful, it can get slippery at times!
Much of the bottom is covered with pond weed. Deeper down, you can watch the hot water boil up through the silt, and put your arm into warm mini-lakes of silt moving around in the springs.
There are lots of fish in Blue Lake. They are warm-water species like bass and bluegill. The largemouth bass are a bit more cautious than the bluegill, but all of them are fairly tolerant of divers. You will also find tiny snails in the “silty” sand bottom as well as on the pond weeds - you have to look close, they are small. (Think macro-photography!)
Be aware, there are no services available at the site, not even a bathroom. There's no fresh water either. The parking lot is hard-pack dirt, so you will want to bring a tarp to get suited up on. It can be quite cold in the winter in the parking lot, so a propane heater will be very welcome as well as a large thermos with hot water for tea, hot chocolate or cider mixes. However, the diving is warm, and can be fairly clear (if there isn't a large group in the water).
**Although there aren't motorized boats in the water. It is used heavily as a training facility, so do follow standard dive rules. Please set your float and model appropriate dive behavior for our new divers.
Click here for a Map to Blue Lake