Applegate Lake is located about 25 miles west of Medford, through Jacksonville, near the town of Applegate. It's another one of Soutern Oregon's man-made lakes, cut into the steep Applegate river valley. It was built for flood control purposes.
For diving, it's not a real good site, but since people do dive it (as I have), I'll include it here. We went in at the main park, just down from the picnic area. There is a pay parking lot here, with restrooms and a boat ramp. Aside from diving, it's a nice place to spend the day. Many people enjoy boating and fishing here.
The entry area at this spot is a sloping lawn, which turns to clay once in the water. Vis was okay at shallow depths, turning very murky once below 30 feet. There's really not much to see here - mostly just clay, some logs, maybe a few small fish.
Surface temperature gets up to the low 60's in mid-summer, but there is always a thermocline, and it's generally 50-55 degrees below it. You won't last long at depth without a full wetsuit. During the winter, count on surface temps. in the upper 40's to low 50's.
