Every Lake
Lake New Melones
Completed in 1979, the dam flooded a gold-rush town named Melones for a second time.
- 36 ft · first step
- 72 ft
- 108 ft
- 144 ft
- 180 ft
- 216 ft · bottom
About Lake New Melones
New Melones Dam sits on the Stanislaus River in the Sierra Nevada foothills of Calaveras and Tuolumne counties, in California's Gold Rush country. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers finished the dam in 1979, replacing a smaller 1926 dam of the same name a few miles downstream. The rising water covered the original townsite of Melones and stretches of the Stanislaus River canyon that miners had worked more than a century earlier, along with a run of whitewater rapids once popular with rafters.
The reservoir draws people from Sonora, Angels Camp, and Jamestown, towns that trace back to the same Gold Rush era the lake now covers. Houseboat rentals, bass fishing tournaments, and Army Corps campgrounds around the shoreline bring in weekend traffic from the Central Valley, including Modesto to the west. Because the lake sits in a steep canyon, its shoreline is longer and more irregular relative to its surface area than most reservoirs its size, and water levels can swing sharply between wet and drought years.
- 24 shore towns named, with a star on each
- 1,081 roads engraved around the shore, 0 of them labeled
- 6 depth layers, each step engraved with its depth in feet
- Compass rose, title block with coordinates, max depth and area; keyhole hanger on the back
Turn it in your hands
Live 3D of the actual cut files — drag to orbit, pinch to zoom. Every road you see is engraved on the real thing.
Viewer not showing? Open it full screen.
Lake New Melones depth chart, in wood
This is a Lake New Melones depth chart you can hang: 6 stacked layers of birch, each one a depth contour — 36 ft, 72 ft, 108 ft, 144 ft, 180 ft and deeper, down to the deepest hole at about 216 ft. The lake covers about 18.4 square miles, and 1081 shore roads are engraved around it. The shape of the bottom is the real one from published soundings, so anglers recognise their drop-offs and points.
A Lake New Melones map for the wall — or a gift
Most of these go to a cabin wall, a lake house entry, or a home office; a lot are gifts — the family that has been on Lake New Melones for three generations, the retirement move, the first boat. The 12-inch is the desk-and-shelf size; the 24- and 30-inch boards read across a room. Add a line under the title and star your place on the shore, and it becomes the map of your Lake New Melones.
Lake New Melones map — the details
How big is the map?
Four sizes: 12, 17, 24 and 30 inches on the long side, from $149. Every size is cut from the same depth data of Lake New Melones; the bigger boards carry more shoreline roads and place names.
Is it made from real depth data?
Yes. Lake New Melones is cut layer by layer from published bathymetric soundings — each layer of birch is a depth contour, so the shape of the bottom is the real one, not decorative.
Can I add my own place on it?
Yes. At checkout you can add a line under the title (a family name, a cabin name, a year) and star the spot on the shore that matters to you.
How long does it take?
Made to order in Waterford, Pennsylvania and shipped in 7–10 days; shipping is free in the lower 48.
Can you make a lake that isn't listed?
Any lake in the United States — we hold depth data for 104,419 of them. Search for yours; if it isn't built yet we build it when you order.
- 6 depth layers down to 216 ft
- 18.4 square miles of water
- 1081 shore roads engraved
- Title block, compass rose and depth markers
- Birch plywood, keyhole hanger, made in Waterford, PA
