Alamo Lake State Park is a

state park State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural ...

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

, USA, centered on Alamo Lake, a

flood control Flood control methods are used to reduce or prevent the detrimental effects of flood waters."Flood Control", MSN Encarta, 2008 (see below: Further reading). Flood relief methods are used to reduce the effects of flood waters or high water level ...

and recreational

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

. The park is located in western Arizona about north of Wenden. It is accessed via a paved two-lane road off either U.S. Route 60 to the south or

U.S. Route 93 U.S. Route 93 (US 93) is a major north–south United States highway, numbered highway in the western United States. The southern terminus is at U.S. Route 60 in Arizona, US 60 in Wickenburg, Arizona. The northern terminus is at the ...

to the east. Owing to its remoteness, the park is often considered one of the "best kept secrets" of the state park system. Alamo Lake State Park features

camping Camping is an outdoor activity involving overnight stays away from home, either without shelter or using basic shelter such as a tent, or a recreational vehicle. Typically, participants leave developed areas to spend time outdoors in more nat ...

facilities and attracts wildlife enthusiasts, as the park is home to numerous wildlife species including the

bald eagle The bald eagle (''Haliaeetus leucocephalus'') is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known subspecies and forms a species pair with the white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''), which occupies the same niche as ...

. The park's remoteness and distance from cities also makes it a destination for

stargazing Amateur astronomy is a hobby where participants enjoy observing or imaging celestial objects in the sky using the unaided eye, binoculars, or telescopes. Even though scientific research may not be their primary goal, some amateur astronomers m ...

, as it is the darkest sky state park in Arizona.

Alamo Lake

Alamo Lake itself is formed by the Alamo Dam that is part of the Alamo Lake State Park administered by the Arizona State Parks. The lake impounds runoff from the

Bill Williams River The Bill Williams River is a river in west-central Arizona where it, along with one of its tributaries, the Santa Maria River (Arizona), Santa Maria River, form the boundary between Mohave County, Arizona, Mohave County to the north and La Paz C ...

, an intermittent tributary of the

Colorado River The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid drainage basin, watershed that encompasses parts of ...

. The

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...

was constructed in 1968 by the Army Corps of Engineers, primarily for flood control purposes. The dam is an earthfill dam that rises from the streambed. While the Bill Williams River is often dry, heavy seasonal rains maintain the lake's depth. During extreme flood events, the reservoir can fill rapidly; the lake has been recorded to rise in a single night due to extreme flooding. Unusually high flows during the 1970s and 1980s increased the depth and size of the reservoir to unexpected levels, giving birth to recreational and fishing possibilities. Since then, the lake has been stocked with numerous

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

species, including

largemouth bass The largemouth bass (''Micropterus salmoides'') is a carnivorous freshwater gamefish in the Centrarchidae ( sunfish) family, a species of black bass native to the eastern and central United States, southeastern Canada and northern Mexico, but ...

crappie Crappies () are two species of North American freshwater fish of the genus ''Pomoxis'' in the family Centrarchidae (sunfishes). Both species of crappies are popular game fish among recreational anglers. Etymology The genus name ''Pomoxis'' ...

, sunfish,

channel catfish The channel catfish (''Ictalurus punctatus'') is North America's most numerous catfish species. It is the official fish of Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, and Tennessee, and is informally referred to as a "channel cat". In the United States, the ...

flathead catfish The flathead catfish (''Pylodictis olivaris''), also called by several common names including mudcat or shovelhead cat, is a large species of North American freshwater catfish in the family Ictaluridae. It is the only species of the genus ''P ...

and

tilapia Tilapia ( ) is the common name for nearly a hundred species of cichlid fish from the coelotilapine, coptodonine, heterotilapine, oreochromine, pelmatolapiine, and tilapiine tribes (formerly all were "Tilapiini"), with the economically most ...

. The lake is host to fishing tournaments and has been the location of at least one Arizona state fishing record. The park can be accessed by a paved road from Highway 60 at the Wenden turn-off to the north on Alamo Lake Road.

References

External links

*
Arizonan.com ArticleArizona Boating Locations Facilities MapArizona Fishing Locations Map
{{authority control 1969 establishments in Arizona Dams completed in 1968 Dams in Arizona Parks in La Paz County, Arizona Protected areas established in 1969 Reservoirs in La Paz County, Arizona Reservoirs in Mohave County, Arizona State parks of Arizona United States Army Corps of Engineers dams Reservoirs in Arizona