Fall Creek Lake (also known as Fall Creek Reservoir) is a

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 ...

in Lane County, in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

. It is about southeast of Eugene on Fall Creek, immediately upstream from

Unity Bridge Unity may refer to: Buildings * Unity Building, Oregon, Illinois, US; a historic building * Unity Building (Chicago), Illinois, US; a skyscraper * Unity Buildings, Liverpool, UK; two buildings in England * Unity Chapel, Wyoming, Wisconsin, US; a ...

, a covered bridge. The communities of

Unity Unity may refer to: Buildings * Unity Building, Oregon, Illinois, US; a historic building * Unity Building (Chicago), Illinois, US; a skyscraper * Unity Buildings, Liverpool, UK; two buildings in England * Unity Chapel, Wyoming, Wisconsin, US; a h ...

, at the bridge site, and Lowell, south of Unity, are near the lake. The unincorporated community of

Jasper Jasper, an aggregate of microgranular quartz and/or cryptocrystalline chalcedony and other mineral phases,Kostov, R. I. 2010. Review on the mineralogical systematics of jasper and related rocks. – Archaeometry Workshop, 7, 3, 209-213PDF/ref> ...

is further downstream, below the confluence of Fall Creek with the

Middle Fork Willamette River The Middle Fork Willamette River is one of several forks that unite to form the Willamette River in the western part of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is approximately long, draining an area of the Cascade Range southeast of Eugene, which is at th ...

. Fall Creek Dam, high, impounds up to of water in the reservoir. The

embankment dam An embankment dam is a large artificial dam. It is typically created by the placement and compaction of a complex semi-plastic mound of various compositions of soil or rock. It has a semi-pervious waterproof natural covering for its surface and ...

is of the rockfill type with a gated concrete spillway and outlet controls for regulating lake levels. The lake includes two arms, one along the Fall Creek

main stem In hydrology, a mainstem (or trunk) is "the primary downstream segment of a river, as contrasted to its tributaries". Water enters the mainstem from the river's drainage basin, the land area through which the mainstem and its tributaries flow.. A ...

and one along Winberry Creek, a tributary entering from the south.

History

Fall Creek Lake is one of 13 multi-purpose water projects managed by the

United States Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

in the

Willamette Valley The Willamette Valley ( ) is a long valley in Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The Willamette River flows the entire length of the valley and is surrounded by mountains on three sides: the Cascade Range to the east, ...

. The reservoir, completed in 1966, functions mainly to control downstream flooding on the Willamette River but is also heavily used for recreation when the lake is full. The Corps keeps water levels high—up to — in the lake during the spring and early summer but draws them down by up to below maximum in late summer through winter. This creates storage capacity for potential flood water in the rainy season. Mud flats that appear during the drawdown make recreational uses less feasible.

Recreation

In addition to a variety of campsites, amenities at the lake include picnic tables, boat ramps, swimming areas, toilets, and a fishing pier. Activities on the lake also include waterskiing and

jet-skiing A personal watercraft (PWC), also called water scooter or jet ski, is a recreational watercraft that a rider sits or stands on, not within, as in a boat. PWCs have two style categories, first and most popular being a runabout or "sit down" whe ...

. Winberry Creek Road runs along the Winberry arm and meets Lowell–Unity Road (Lowell–Jasper Road) near the covered bridge. Big Fall Creek Road and Peninsula Road branch off Winberry Creek Road and, along opposite shores, follow the Fall Creek arm upstream to the end of the lake. Each road leads to one or more of the many day-use sites and campgrounds around the lake. Forest Road 18 begins at the head of the lake and follows Fall Creek upstream for many miles to other campgrounds and hiking trails in the

Cascade Range The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as the North Cascades, ...

References

External links

Middle Fork Willamette Watershed Council
{{authority control 1966 establishments in Oregon Dams in Oregon Lakes of Lane County, Oregon Protected areas of Lane County, Oregon Reservoirs in Oregon United States Army Corps of Engineers dams