Cayuga Lake is the longest of New York's Finger Lakes - about 38 miles - and the second largest by area at roughly 43,000 acres, spanning Tompkins, Cayuga, and Seneca counties from Ithaca north toward the Erie Canal system. It is a natural glacial lake whose northern outlet level is regulated at Mud Lock by the New York State Canal Corporation as part of the Cayuga-Seneca Canal. Surface elevation is about 382 feet, the lowest of the major Finger Lakes, which helped link the lake to canal navigation.

Mean depth is about 181 feet and maximum depth about 435 feet, with a shallow, weedy north end and a deep, cold main basin. Roughly 95-106 miles of shoreline mix cliffs, gorges, wetlands, vineyards, and college-town waterfront. More than 140 tributaries enter along the shore; the largest cluster near Ithaca, including Fall Creek and Cayuga Inlet.

Cayuga supports both coldwater trout and salmon fisheries and warmwater bass and panfish opportunities managed by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Public ramps, state parks, and community waterfronts provide access, and Taughannock Falls and Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge anchor regional visitation. State parks, municipal launches, and the wine-trail communities along both shores support year-round visitation.

Unlike Corps storage reservoirs, Cayuga does not follow a large seasonal flood pool; levels are managed in a relatively narrow band for canal navigation and shoreline interests. Monitoring current lake levels still matters for docks, wetlands, and boating, especially after heavy Finger Lakes runoff. Mud Lock operations balance canal navigation needs with shoreline and wetland interests at the north end.

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