Cranberry Lake

Cranberry Lake is located in Cranberry Lake, Sussex County NJ. The Lake is 180 Acres and averages 8 feet deep. The lake is quite shallow. Cranberry Lake Park is on the eastern shore and offers a very nice boat launch for easy access of your kayak. Allamuchy Mountain State Park lines the southern end of the lake which makes for a nice undisturbed paddle. In the summer months the southern end of the lake becomes almost impassible due to the explosion of water plant growth. Spring and fall offer the best times to paddle the southern section of the lake. Cranberry Lake is a great place for your next kayaking trip and is especially a good spot for beginner paddlers.

Morning paddle on Cranberry Lake. Conditions were fantastic. Crisp, calm morning, blue skies-very still for an early fall paddle. Water level is extremely low as evidenced as I paddled on the back side of the lake which butts against Allamuchy Mountain State Park. There are a few rocks that protrude from the water. I took some clear shots of the water lines on those rocks and you can see that the water line is about 2 feet from the current water level. This has been the trend as I paddle area bodies of water. The response I get from folks at each spot is that its normal for this time of year. I’m thinking its not that normal. We haven’t had that much significant rain in quite some time.

Kayaking NJ Cranberry Lake using my Personal Camera Buddy (PCB). All of the bow shots were done with my Kodak PlaySport (ZX5). All other action shots- Port, Starboard, and Stern were captured using the PCB. All shots using the PCB up to the Snowy Egret sequence I used my Emerson Action Cam. After that I used my Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS4 with the PCB. Using the PCB just gives another point of view to capturing my activities. The PCB has been a great addition to my quiver of equipment to help record my paddling trips.

Kayaking NJ Cranberry Lake in Byram Twp.
Been a while since I was out on this lake. Not too mutch water in it the last time. Plenty on this trip. Got to explore the back side which is the back side of Allamuchy Mountain State Park. Very cool exploring. It gets very narrow to navigate. Lots of birds especially Red Wing Blackbirds.

First paddle on the local lakes. Ice just went out about a week ago. Nice weather to get out on the lake. Saw a pair of Osprey’s. One had quite a fish in it’s talons. Explored the back side of the lake which is the border of Allamuchy Mountain State Park. Not a lot of water in this section of the lake. I did manage to take a beaver channel as far back as I could. Was quite amazing because on either side of the channel the water was only a few inches deep while the channel ran 2-3 feet deep. One of the things I love about kayaking is that you can go virtually any where as long as you have a few inches of water you’re good to go.

Went out for a crisp fall paddle on sunny Cranberry Lake. The temp didn’t break 40 degrees and with the winds felt closer to 30 degrees. I was surprised to find that the water level was way down-must have a draw down just like the one on Lake Hopatcong. This is a pretty shallow lake to begin with so with the water level down at some areas I was paddling in only a few inches of water for a good while. Was hoping to explore the southern end of the lake which butts up against Allamuchy Mountain State Park but could not get close enough with the water level being down. It was just me and the sea gulls, Canada gees, mallard ducks, and swans on the water. It was a great day of paddling. I highly recommend paddling Cranberry Lake during the fall.

Headed out onto Cranberry Lake for a gray day of paddling. Saw many ducks and geese and swan that live on the lake. The wild flowers were brilliant. Even picked up some trash along the way. The Western shore which backs up against Allamuchy Mt. Park is unapproachable this time of year as the waters are overgrown with Lilly pads and other aquatic plant life. Discovered a small cave in one of the islands that separates the two sections of the lake…very cool. Nice place to paddle but can’t wait for the fall months when the water vegetation recedes and the foliage paints the shore line.

Cranberry Lake is a very unique place to paddle. The front portion of the lake is heavily residential with houses very close together. When you paddle to the back side of the lake – witch backs up to Allamuchy Mt. State park- its a whole other world. There are no houses and interesting rock formations line the shores and jut out of the water. Unfortunately for us paddle adventurers the back side of the lake becomes impossible to navigate due to heavy vegetation growth during the summer months. I find fall and spring are the best times to explore this unique lake.