5 Towns That Built Their Identities Around Lake Monsters
There is something about a deep lake that invites the imagination to wander. Perhaps you spot a strange wake crossing otherwise calm water. Maybe you perform a double take when a large shadow comes out of nowhere and suddenly disappears beneath your boat. Scary. Could it be one of those lake monsters you’ve heard about?
Yep, that sort of thing fires the imagination. And sometimes an entire cottage industry.
Across the country, lake monsters have evolved from mysterious and even fearsome beasts into hometown celebrities. They inspire festivals, statues, souvenirs, and sporting events. Boaters will find that such colorful stories add another dimension to exploring new waters.
After all, if you’re going to search for lake monsters, particularly in one of these five places, there’s no better place to do it than from a boat.
Port Henry, New York
Lake Champlain: Meet Champ
Lake Champlain has one resident who is considerably more famous than the rest. Champ, the giant serpentine creature said to inhabit the 120-mile lake between New York and Vermont, has been the subject of reported sightings for generations.
Port Henry, New York, on the lake’s western shore, has embraced its resident monster more enthusiastically than perhaps any other lakefront community.
The town declared its waters a safe haven for Champ in 1981, and Bulwagga Bay has become a hotspot for reported sightings. It erected signage, a waterfront statue, and a Legends & Lore marker. Plus, it hosts an annual Champ Day, which brings vendors, carnival games, music, and a cardboard boat race to Bridgeview Harbour Marina.
Often depicted with a horse-like or reptilian head, Champ has become part of this former iron-mining community’s identity. It’s one more reason to explore Lake Champlain from the water. Cruise into Bulwagga Bay, and you’re in the heart of Champ country—just keep an eye out for unexplained wakes.
Cornelius, Davidson, Huntersville, North Carolina
Lake Norman: Meet Normie
Lake Norman’s monster is much younger than Champ or the Bear Lake Monster, but then again, so is Lake Norman. The sprawling reservoir north of Charlotte, North Carolina, dates to the early 1960s and is now one of the state’s major recreational boating destinations.
Over the years, boaters and anglers began reporting strange things in the water, from enormous fish to something more serpentine. Eventually, the cryptid acquired a suitably local name: Normie.
The story gained traction in the early 2000s, when Lake Norman enthusiast Matt Myers created a website to collect reports of unusual sightings. Today, the official Visit Lake Norman tourism organization promotes Normie as part of local culture. Visitors can purchase plush toys and even a children’s book.
And the creature has recently received an additional stamp of legitimacy with a 2026 Legends & Lore marker. For a creature that made a name for himself in a human-made lake, Normie has done remarkably well among lake monsters.
Newport, Vermont
Lake Memphremagog: Meet Memphre
At the southern end of Lake Memphremagog, the community of Newport, Vermont, has found an ambitious way to celebrate its resident lake monster. Go out and look for it.
Memphre is the serpentine creature said to inhabit this long, narrow lake that extends north from Newport across the international border into Canada. In 2011, organizers launched “In Search of Memphre,” a 25-mile open-water swim between Newport and Magog, Quebec. They say they created the event to promote cross-border friendship, and of course to search for the elusive beast.
The search continues today. Experienced swimmers attempt the crossing during three-day weather windows throughout the summer, departing from the Newport City Docks and Boat Ramp. A pontoon boat with an experienced captain and co-captain accompanies each swimmer.
Along the lake, you’ll find plenty of towns selling monster souvenirs. Newport just happens to send swimmers and boats 25 miles across an international lake to look for the real deal.
Garden City, Utah
Bear Lake: Meet the Bear Lake Monster
The Bear Lake Monster might be one of America’s oldest examples of cryptid-based tourism. Folklore surrounding the beast goes back more than 150 years, with the story told and retold over many generations.
In 1868, local settler Joseph C. Rich published an account in the Deseret News of a massive, crocodile-like serpent in Bear Lake, which straddles the Utah-Idaho border. Rich later acknowledged making up the story. That didn’t stop other contemporary reported sightings, and more in the decades that followed helped keep the legend alive.
Today, Bear Lake is a popular summer playground for recreational boaters, anglers, and watersports enthusiasts, all of whom have opportunities to watch for unusual activity on the water. But the monster really gets its moment in the spotlight after boating season ends.
Each winter, Garden City hosts the annual Bear Lake Monster Winterfest. Attendees can take part in a costume parade, the Monster Plunge, and the Monster Dance. Really ambitious folks can enter the Monster Cardboard Boat Regatta at Bear Lake State Park Marina.
Lake Tahoe, California and Nevada
Lake Tahoe: Meet Tahoe Tessie
If any American lake looks as though it should contain a monster, Lake Tahoe makes a convincing case. The immense alpine lake reaches 1,645 feet at its deepest point, leaving plenty of cold, blue water in which something mysterious might hide.
Enter Tahoe Tessie, the creature that has become Lake Tahoe’s answer to Scotland’s Nessie. Like so many lake monsters, including the others on this list, she is described as serpentine, and she has evolved into a friendly regional mascot that frequently appears in stories and on souvenirs around the lake.
In fact, her legend has become familiar enough that scientists have put Tessie to work. The UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center developed “Find Tahoe Tessie,” an augmented-reality experience that allows users to search for a virtual monster while learning about climate change and the lake’s aquatic ecosystem.
It’s an unusual evolution for a lake monster: from mysterious and potentially sinister beast to ambassador for understanding and protecting the lake itself.
Keep Watching the Water for Lake Monsters
It doesn’t matter whether they began with an unexplained sighting, an old story, or some creative marketing. America’s lake monsters have become part of their waterfront communities. That’s ultimately what makes them so interesting.
Just don’t be too quick to dismiss them as mere folk tales. After all, a strange wake looks a little different when the sun dips toward the horizon and yours is the only boat around.
Heather Steinberger
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