What Lies Beneath
From the Summer 2026 Issue
Exploring the hidden world of Lake Pend Oreille
Lake Pend Oreille defines life in North Idaho. From the mountain ridges above Sandpoint to docks stretching into its deep blue water, the lake anchors the landscape and the communities along its shore.
But what most people never see is what lies beneath.
Remnants of the past litter the lake bed, mysteries waiting to be solved. Photo by Jill Eberley.
At more than 1,100 feet deep in places and stretching across nearly 93,000 acres, Lake Pend Oreille is the fifth-deepest lake in the United States. Below its calm surface lies an entirely different world: steep rock walls carved by ancient glacial floods, historic wrecks resting quietly on the lakebed and fish gliding through cold, clear water.
For a small but passionate community of divers, freedivers and spearfishers, the lake isn’t just something to admire from shore. It’s something to explore.
Cody Bartels dives just south of Garfield Bay. Film still by Vaun Bartels.
“I once found a slot machine,” Jill Eberley, a certified dive master and local SCUBA enthusiast, laughed. “That was a surprise, but usually the best finds in the lake are just those moments of calm.”
Eberley dives several times a year, often wearing a dry suit to stay warm while checking water treatment filters for the cities of Hope, Dover, and Laclede. While this isn’t a tropical destination, she said the lake offers its own rewards.
“The water can be incredibly clear, especially in winter,” she explained. “And there’s so much to see: wrecks, fish, geology. It’s a whole different perspective on the place we live.”
One favorite dive is near Laclede, where the remains of an old ferry sit about 20 feet below the surface. The wreck has become a gathering point for fish and crawdads. Other discoveries hint at the region’s past: train cars near Hope, pillars of stacked timber from old logging operations and even a possible undocumented mine shaft. Most recently, in November 2024, a drone first spotted a sunken vessel, which divers later confirmed to be a “narrow, single-screw river boat with metal plating along the hull.” While archaeologists are still confirming its history, the discovery hints at what other forgotten vessels or artifacts may lie elsewhere in the lake.
Diving locations can vary widely across the lake. Some sites offer shallow wreck dives, while others reveal towering rock walls plunging far beyond visibility. Water clarity changes with location and season: the west side often provides the clearest conditions, especially in winter, while areas near river inflows or bridges can be cloudier. Fish species also influence where divers go, from shallow bass habitat to deeper, colder water where lake trout roam.
Cody Bartels begins to head down a rock face near Mineral Point. Film still by Vaun Bartels.
And not everyone explores the lake the same way. Some rely on tanks and SCUBA gear, while others descend with nothing more than fins, a mask and a single breath.
Freediver and spearfisher Vaun Bartels is part of a growing group who explore the lake without tanks, sometimes reaching depths of 100 feet. Bartels moved to Sandpoint with his twin brother in 2016 and quickly became fascinated with the underwater landscape. “We had no idea what was down there,” he said. “And that’s part of what makes it exciting.”
Freediving requires careful breathing, relaxation and steady technique. Divers kick downward with long fins until the increasing pressure reduces their buoyancy, allowing them to glide silently into deeper water.
One of the most surprising things divers notice is how different the underwater landscape is from the shoreline above it. On land, wind, rain and seasonal runoff constantly erode the terrain. Beneath the surface, those forces largely disappear. The rock formations below Lake Pend Oreille remain sharply defined, with steep walls carved by ancient glacial floods plunging hundreds of feet into the depths.
Cody Bartels dives near Maiden Rock, where the geology is as impressive below the water as it is above. Film still by Mark Duffner.
At a certain depth, Bartels said, the experience becomes almost surreal. “You stop kicking and just start falling,” he explained. “It feels like flying. I’ve hugged rock walls and just free-fallen down them like Superman into what feels like a black abyss.
“Was I scared? Yes,” he laughed. “But once you relax, you realize you’re in this incredible environment that hardly anyone ever sees.”
For those interested in exploring the lake themselves, the local diving community is welcoming. SCUBA certification courses are available through Jake’s Scuba Adventures in Coeur d’Alene, and informal groups like Freedive Sandpoint, Bartels’ Facebook group, organize dives and share information about conditions and locations.
Travis Uminski looks ahead to the next diving spot as Cody grabs a selfie pic of the pair just as they near the Long Bridge. Photo by Cody Bartels
Safety is always part of the conversation. Running out of air, becoming entangled or misreading gauges can create dangerous situations, which is why divers stress training and never diving alone. Depth also introduces the potential risk of decompression sickness, often called “the bends.”
“The risks here are the same as diving anywhere,” Eberley said. “You need proper training and to know your limits.”
One risk that’s non-existent, however (despite persistent rumors) is that of unexploded ordinance left behind by the Navy base at Bayview. Seth Lambrecht, a mechanical and ocean engineer who oversees the Navy’s Acoustic Research Detachment, said there’s nothing on the bottom of the lake from the Farragut training base days. “This was just basic training, so small arms and some basic anti-aircraft training was the extent of what they did here. Additionally, there were only small boats operated on LPO, nothing large enough to fire torpedoes.”
Diving skills also serve a more serious purpose. A few local divers are also deputies with the Bonner County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue team, responding to incidents across major waterways, including Lake Pend Oreille, Priest Lake and sections of the Pend Oreille and Clark Fork rivers. Equipped with drysuits, full-face masks and diver-to-surface communication systems, the unit is trained to recover drowning victims, vehicles, firearms and other evidence. While the sheriff’s Marine Division handles patrols, the dive team investigates underwater incidents and coordinates with neighboring dive units when needed.
Yet for all these divers, the lake holds more than duty and technique. Beneath the surface lies a world of calm, mystery and discovery that contrasts sharply with the busy shoreline above. Even on the busiest summer days, when boats crowd the docks and noise fills the air, a completely different realm waits just below, a place where time slows, history rests and the natural world feels vast and undisturbed.
“We still don’t know what’s down there,” Bartels said. “And that’s the best part.”
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