Skaneateles Lake, Finger lake in New York, United States

Skaneateles Lake is a Finger Lake in central New York, 16 mi (26 km) long and on average 0.75 mi (1.21 km) wide, with a surface area of 13.6 sq mi and a maximum depth of 315 ft. It lies in a narrow valley between ridges rising some 600 ft above the water, largely forested, with the village of Skaneateles at its northern end. The name Sganya·daís means "long lake" in Onondaga.

The name Sganya·daís, "long lake" in Onondaga, was recorded for the lake; the village of Skaneateles grew at the northern outlet, where Skaneateles Creek drains the lake north toward the Seneca River. Summer cottages appeared in 1881, and by 2002 more than 2,000 residences ringed the shore. From 1860 to 1900 Dr. W. C. Thomas offered water-cure treatment at the Hotel Glen Haven at the southern end.

The name Sganya·daís means "long lake" in the Onondaga language. Sailing regattas with yachts from other lakes began here in 1847, and the Lightning racing dinghy and the Comet were both designed and produced in Skaneateles. A mailboat serving cottages along the shore also carries passengers.

The lake supplies unfiltered drinking water to Syracuse, so sixteen inspectors check each of the 2,600 properties in the watershed about twice a year. A state public boat launch is on the west side just south of the Skaneateles Country Club marina; another launch is near Borodino on the east side. Cruises leave from the village, and a mailboat serving lakeside cottages also carries passengers.

The lake's name comes from the Onondaga word Sganya·daís, meaning "long lake". The village of Borodino, on the east side in the Town of Spafford, keeps an 1830 Federal-style church little altered since it was built, and it was a center of the abolitionist movement where Frederick Douglass spoke.