Cliff Pond is a
kettle pond
A kettle (also known as a kettle lake, kettle hole, or pothole) is a depression/hole in an outwash plain formed by retreating glaciers or draining floodwaters. The kettles are formed as a result of blocks of dead ice left behind by retreating ...
in
Brewster, Massachusetts
Brewster is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States, Barnstable County being coextensive with Cape Cod. The population of Brewster was 10,318 at the 2020 census.
Brewster is twinned with the town of Budleigh Salterton in the U ...
.
It is the largest pond in
Nickerson State Park
Nickerson State Park is a state-owned, public recreation area of more than located on Cape Cod in Brewster, Massachusetts. The park's sandy soil and scrub pines surround many kettle ponds which are dependent on groundwater and precipitation. The ...
and is quite popular with swimmers and fishermen in summer months.
Cliff Pond was totally reclaimed in 1960 and, like many kettle ponds has been treated for alkalinity over the years. The Massachusetts
Division of Fisheries and Wildlife stocks the pond in spring and fall with various trout species. It also has smallmouth bass and various other species.
In 1992, a world record
American eel
The American eel (''Anguilla rostrata'') is a facultative catadromous fish found on the eastern coast of North America. Freshwater eels are fish belonging to the elopomorph superorder, a group of phylogenetically ancient teleosts. The Americ ...
(8 pounds, 9 ounces, 46 inches
long, 10.5 inches in girth) was caught.
The pond has had repeated problems with
bluegreen algae blooms causing closures over the years and was treated in spring 2016 with
aluminum sulfate
Aluminium sulfate is a salt with the formula Al2 (SO4)3. It is soluble in water and is mainly used as a coagulating agent (promoting particle collision by neutralizing charge) in the purification of drinking water and wastewater treatment plan ...
. Water transparency has improved and the treatment is expected to last twenty years.
References
External links
MassWildlife map and info"The Amazing Cliff Pond Trail" capecodonline.com (Photos of the pond)
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Brewster, Massachusetts
Ponds of Barnstable County, Massachusetts
Ponds of Massachusetts
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