Lake Verona
Lake Verona is located at the east end of Main Street (SR-64 E) within the city limits of Avon Park, Florida. While the lake covers only 41 acres (17 ha), it is considered the deepest natural lake in peninsular Florida (at ~80 feet), with very steep banks, and a rapid drop-off. The lake gets deep quickly, and many people unaware of its dangers have drowned in the dark depths of its waters.
| Lake Verona | |
|---|---|
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  Lake Verona  Lake Verona | |
| Location | Avon Park, Florida |
| Coordinates | 27.598°N 81.497°W |
| Basin countries | United States |
| Surface area | 41 acres (17 ha) |
| Max. depth | 80 ft (24 m) |
A boat ramp and turn-around exists where Church Street terminates at the lake shore adjacent to historic Donaldson Park. Picnic tables, shelter-houses, bathrooms, and barbecue grills are available. A broad white sand beach and public swimming area are present, although the lake is highly dangerous due to its depth and steep drop off. Life guards were once on duty, but due to general deterioration of the community, public safety measures are no longer present!
Lake Verona is an entirely natural, land-locked, ancient, "collapse sink hole" lake, with white-sand beaches and clear water. It is the prominent feature and most important component of the City of Avon Park. The magnificent vista from Main Street north to the high, unspoiled banks and beaches of the north shore, fringed along the hill-side boulevard with ancient sand live oaks and cabbage palms (sable palms), is a memorable and indelible trademark of the city. No canals, seawalls, fences, boathouses, or other man-made deformities offend its natural beauty and hill-side setting. The lake is the primary, central, and only remaining asset of a once grand, but now blighted community.
The lake is extremely important to science as it is one of the oldest lakes in the United States, estimated at 33,000+ years old (possibly much older). This has been established through radio-carbon dating of core samples from the bottom of the lake. Lake Tulane, its "sister" lake, located a short distance south, is dated at 60,000+ years old and, depending on the water levels at any given time, sometimes alternates title as the deepest lake in peninsular Florida.