Braddock Bay's Unique Landform: the West Spit

Braddock Bay in Monroe County NY is located on the south shore of L. Ontario about 12 miles northwest of Rochester NY.  It is part of the NYS DEC Braddock Bay Wildlife Management Area, a 2,400-acre complex of marsh, ponds, bay and upland. 

At its western mouth a spit occurs due to the littoral or longshore drift that curves around a bend that [by definition] is greater than 30 degrees, thereby depositing soil over the centuries.  The West Spit is privately-owned and is about eight acres of northeast-facing land with underwater sandbars shifting out into Lake Ontario and coming up against the now-defunct Manitou Trolley foundation which extended across the entire bay in the late 1800s.  

Spits are specialized landforms which can protect a bay. The water behind the spit is sheltered from wind and waves and increases the likelihood of marshland being formed. Braddock Bay was formed ~10,000 years ago after the last glacial retreat in New York State and drains a large area of Monroe County extending via Salmon and Buttonwood Creeks as well as West Creek and Little Salmon Creek northwesterly into the towns of Parma, Ogden and Sweden where the terrain slopes upward gradually.