Cummings Pond is a

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

Luzerne County, Pennsylvania Luzerne County is a county in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and is water. It is Northeastern Pennsylvania's second-largest county by total area. As of ...

, in the United States. It has a surface area of more than and is located in Franklin Township. The lake is fed by springs and an unnamed tributary of Sutton Creek flow from it. It is up to deep, though it was deeper in the past. The lake was formed approximately 27,000 years ago by glacial action. It was historically stocked with fish and cattails and alders occur in its vicinity. In the early 1900s, the lake was used for boating, fishing, and ice harvesting.

Geography and geology

Cummings Pond has no inlets, but is fed by various springs. The main outflow of the lake is an unnamed tributary of Sutton Creek. This tributary has a clean

channel Channel, channels, channeling, etc., may refer to: Geography * Channel (geography), in physical geography, a landform consisting of the outline (banks) of the path of a narrow body of water. Australia * Channel Country, region of outback Austral ...

is approximately wide and deep. The elevation of the reservoir is above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...

. Cummings Pond is a natural lake and had no

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, a ...

in the early 1900s. It has a regular, oval shape. The lake's maximum width is and its maximum length is . It has a surface area of and a volume of 46 million gallons. The depth in most of the lake is , but the deepest parts can reach . The lake was originally close to deep. Cummings Pond is approximately 27,000 years old and is in a depression cut in hard

shale Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4) and tiny fragments (silt-sized particles) of other minerals, especial ...

by glacial action. The lake mostly retains its original shape. Up to of

sediment Sediment is a naturally occurring material that is broken down by processes of weathering and erosion, and is subsequently transported by the action of wind, water, or ice or by the force of gravity acting on the particles. For example, sand an ...

is under the lake. On three sides, Cummings Pond is surrounded by hills that rise above the lake. One side of the lake was highly marshy in the early 1900s.

Watershed and biology

The watershed of Cummings Pond has an area of . In the early 1900s, the watershed consisted entirely of

second-growth forest A secondary forest (or second-growth forest) is a forest or woodland area which has re-grown after a timber harvest or clearing for agriculture, until a long enough period has passed so that the effects of the disturbance are no longer evident. I ...

. Cummings Pond is entirely within the

United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...

quadrangle of Center Moreland. Cummings Pond was stocked with

yellow perch The yellow perch (''Perca flavescens''), commonly referred to as perch, striped perch, American perch, American river perch or preacher is a freshwater perciform fish native to much of North America. The yellow perch was described in 1814 by Samu ...

in the 1930s. The lake is in the C-1 Conservation district, whose purpose is to protect it and other hydrological features.

Cattail ''Typha'' is a genus of about 30 species of monocotyledonous flowering plants in the family Typhaceae. These plants have a variety of common names, in British English as bulrush or reedmace, in American English as reed, cattail, or punks, in A ...

s and

alder Alders are trees comprising the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus comprises about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few sp ...

s occur in the vicinity of the lake.

History and recreation

Cummings Pond was entered into the

Geographic Names Information System The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is a database of name and locative information about more than two million physical and cultural features throughout the United States and its territories, Antarctica, and the associated states of ...

on August 2, 1979. Its identifier in the Geographic Names Information System is 1198628. In the early 1900s, a public road ran parallel to Cummings Pond above the lake. A farmhouse was also located near the lake, above the water line. During this time period, it was used for boating and fishing, as well as a private ice supply. Its ownership was claimed by Daniel B. Winters. Cummings Pond is navigable with rowboats. A privately run campground with an area of is located on the lake.

References

{{authority control Lakes of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania Lakes of Pennsylvania

Geography and geology

Watershed and biology

History and recreation

See also

References