Lea Lake

Lea Lake at Bottomless Lakes State Park in the Pecos River valley southeast of Roswell, New Mexico, offers freshwater divers a desert lake diving experience in one of the American Southwest's most unusual natural settings. New Mexico's Bottomless Lakes, despite their name, are not actually bottomless—the name was given by cowboys in the nineteenth century who attempted to gauge the depths by throwing weighted ropes and found the lakes deep enough to exhaust their rope supply, leading to the reasonable inference that the lakes had no bottom. In fact, Lea Lake and its neighboring lakes reach depths of between 17 and 90 feet—significant for desert pools but not infinite. The lakes form part of a series of sinkholes created by the dissolution of underground salt and gypsum formations—a geological process that produced collapsed depressions which subsequently filled with water. The resulting lakes appear suddenly in the desert landscape like deep blue eyes in the red cliff terrain of the Pecos River drainage, their color contrasting dramatically with the surrounding high desert. This geological origin gives the lakes their characteristic clear water—the sinkholes receive water from springs and seepage rather than from surface runoff, which would carry the sediment and nutrients that cloud more typical desert lakes. Visibility at Lea Lake can reach impressive depths given its geological water source—spring-fed lakes in karst terrain tend toward clarity that surface-fed lakes cannot achieve, and Bottomless Lakes' sinkholes benefit from the same filtering effect that makes New Mexico's famous Blue Hole in Santa Rosa so exceptional. The water temperature maintains a relatively constant level throughout the year, cooler than the desert air in summer and warmer than air temperatures in winter, creating a year-round diving window that desert divers with appropriate thermal protection can exploit regardless of season. The diving environment at Lea Lake reflects the sinkhole geology of its formation. The lake's walls, where they are accessible at recreational depths, show the stained limestone and gypsum rock of the sinkhole formation, colored by iron oxides and the mineral content of the water that has passed through these formations over geological time. Spring openings may be visible in the lake's walls or floor, their positions identifiable by the slight shimmer of fresh water entering the lake—a phenomenon that creates visual interest and reminds divers of the hydrological system sustaining the site. Aquatic life at Lea Lake, while less diverse than more temperate or warmer-water sites, includes fish populations appropriate to the desert lake environment. Stocked rainbow trout provide sport fishing to the park's visitors and are occasionally encountered during dives, their silver flanks catching the light as they move through the clear water. Invertebrates inhabit the lake's marginal zones and rocky surfaces, with the limited but adapted community of organisms that thrive in desert freshwater environments. Bottomless Lakes State Park's facilities make Lea Lake one of New Mexico's more organized freshwater dive sites, with established access, camping facilities, and the recreational infrastructure of a managed state park. For divers traveling through southeastern New Mexico—whether visiting Roswell or passing through the region—Lea Lake offers an interesting and accessible freshwater diving option in a setting of considerable desert beauty.