Burreston Pond
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Burreston Pond is located just south of Mona, Utah (about 35 miles from Provo, 75 from Salt Lake). Click here for map. The pond is about 200 feet wide and 1200 feet long. It forms a circle around a central island, with a small dike splitting the western side of the pond. At the east end of the island, a footbridge spans a small connecting waterway. The north end (the larger arm of the pond) is best for diving. Altitude 4300 feet. Picture: Bruce Argyle, Aug 24, 1998. |
| The Water: Burreston Pond is fed by springs at many
locations along the pond's bottom. Although the sun warms some areas of the pond to a
balmy 70 degrees, the deeper spots near each spring are a chilly 54 degrees. This makes
for a thermally interesting dive. Maximum depth (in the springs) is 13 feet, with most
areas around 8 feet. Visibility is about 15 feet. The bottom is pretty clean -- you'll
have to hunt to find underwater "treasures." Picture:
Antique bottle at 8 feet. |
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Services: There's a chemical toilet at the Pond, and a several picnic tables scattered along the pond's edge. You'll see some fire pits. The nearest dive store is Water World in the University Mall in Orem.
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Thermal protection: We used a full farmer john and
jacket, but no hoods. (A couple of our divers had pain in the ears and head when they
cruised through the spring areas. You might consider a hood.) If snorkeling the shallower
areas, you could get by with a farmer john alone, or a heavy long-sleeved jacket. Brian Argyle cruises past pond weed in foreground. |
| What to see: Around each spring, there's a bare area of
open silt. Other areas are covered by about 18 inches of pond weed. In the springs you can
watch the water "boil" the silt. You'll see other "craters" in the
silt, which are crawdad holes. During the day, you may see a couple of rapidly fleeing
baby fish, and schools of 10-12 inch trout staying just out of camera range. Picture: A small rainbow hugs the bottom. |
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At night the crawdads come out of their holes. They appear well-fed, probably from feasting on the 3-inch trout that you see everywhere on the bottom at night. Larger trout, some up to 18 inches long, will cruise up to your dive light, then flee rapidly. We've done both daytime and night dives. Night is better. If you decide to do both, save the second half of the pond for night -- so the water won't be full of particles. |
| If you're grabbing crayfish to cook, you'll find large ones, but not huge numbers. Click here for crawdaddy recipes! |
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Regulations: Sorry, no spearfishing. But you can scuba-scout the pond to see where the trout are, then paddle over there to catch some. |
| (If you want to see Burreston Pond opened to spearfishing, contact the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. Or send us an email with your name and address, and we'll forward it.) |
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Seasonal variation: Burreston Pond can be dived most of the year. We've heard from divers who've done the pond in late February. Because of the springs, winter water temperatures aren't that bad -- around 50 degrees. Getting out of the pond after a winter dive is another matter. |
| Our recommendation: Do Burreston Pond as a night dive. Take the kiddies and camp there. There's an easy water entry site near every picnic table. Let the kids fish while you fix the hot dogs. Take bug repellant. At dark, it's time to go diving. Cruise about two feet off the bottom, using tiny fin strokes to avoid kicking up debris. Because of the shallow depth, buoyancy control can be a little tricky. You can swim the entire length of the pond and back on one tank. |
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Getting there: Click here for map. Drive south on I-15 to Mona (exit number 236, 35 miles south of Provo). Turn right as you exit the freeway, then drive west a couple of miles into Mona. At the first stop sign (main street) in the middle of Mona, turn left to go south. (This is highway U-41, but there's no marker at the intersection.) Drive south 1.7 miles and turn right (west) on a paved road. After 0.5 mile, it turns to gravel at the railroad tracks. Continue straight across, then either go left to the southwest side of the pond, or continue straight to the east and north sides of the pond. Pick your entry site. The entire shoreline is accessable by road, although some areas have heavy cattails for a few feet on the shore. The south pond is shallow -- go past the "island" to the north end. East shore entry site: GPS N 39° 47.825' W 111° 51.782'. West shore entry site: GPS N 39° 47.821' W 111° 52.022'.
This dive site review was compiled August 1998 by Bruce Argyle, Dominic
Bria, Mike Engberson, Brian Argyle, and Gary Argyle.
