Castaic Lake (

Chumash Chumash may refer to: *Chumash (Judaism), a Hebrew word for the Pentateuch, used in Judaism *Chumash people, a Native American people of southern California *Chumashan languages, indigenous languages of California See also * Chumash traditional ...

: ''Kaštiq'') 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 ...

formed by

Castaic Dam Castaic Dam is an embankment dam in northwestern Los Angeles County, California, in the unincorporated area of Castaic. Although located on Castaic Creek, a major tributary of the Santa Clara River, Castaic Creek provides little of its water. T ...

Castaic Creek Castaic Creek (Chumash: ''Kaštiq'') is a , accessed March 16, 2011 stream in the Sierra Pelona Mountains, in northeastern Los Angeles County, California. It is a tributary of the Santa Clara River. Castaic Lake Castaic Dam on the creek form ...

, in the

Sierra Pelona Mountains The Sierra Pelona, also known as the Sierra Pelona Ridge or the Sierra Pelona Mountains, is a mountain ridge in the Transverse Ranges in Southern California. Located in northwest Los Angeles County, the ridge is bordered on the north by the San An ...

of northwestern

Los Angeles County, California Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the List of the most populous counties in the United States, most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, ...

, United States, near the town of

Castaic Castaic () (Chumash: ''Kaštiq''; Spanish: ''Castéc'') is an unincorporated community in the northwestern part of Los Angeles County, California. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 19,015. For statistical purposes the Census Bureau ...

. The

California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment The Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, commonly referred to as OEHHA (pronounced oh-EEE-ha), is a specialized department within the cabinet-level California Environmental Protection Agency ( CalEPA) with responsibility for evaluatin ...

has issued a safety advisory for any fish caught in Castaic Lake and Castaic Lagoon due to elevated levels of mercury and PCBs.

Description

The lake, with a surface elevation of approximately above sea level, is the terminus of the West Branch California Aqueduct, though some comes from the Castaic Creek watershed above the dam. Castaic Lake is bisected by the

Elderberry Forebay Dam Elderberry Forebay Dam is a dam located in the Sierra Pelona Mountains of northwestern Los Angeles County, California. The dam partitions Elderberry Forebay from Castaic Lake. It forms the headwater reservoir for Castaic Power Plant, a pumped-sto ...

, which creates the adjacent

Elderberry Forebay Elderberry Forebay is a small reservoir in Los Angeles County, California, which serves as the pumping forebay of the Castaic Power Plant. It located at the upper end of the larger Castaic Lake and is separated from the lake by Elderberry Fore ...

. The aqueduct water comes from Pyramid Lake through the

Angeles Tunnel The Angeles Tunnel is a , water tunnel located in the Sierra Pelona Mountains in Los Angeles County, California, about north of Los Angeles."Angeles Tunnel", U.S. Geological Survey.''Pyramid Lake'' 2000, p. 1.American Society 1970, p. 131. It ...

and is used to power

Castaic Power Plant Castaic Power Plant, also known as the Castaic Pumped-Storage Plant, is a seven unit pumped-storage hydroelectric plant, operated by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, which provides peak load power from the falling water on the Wes ...

, a

pumped-storage hydroelectric Pumped-storage hydroelectricity (PSH), or pumped hydroelectric energy storage (PHES), is a type of hydroelectric energy storage used by electric power systems for load balancing. The method stores energy in the form of gravitational potential ...

facility on the northern end of the forebay. Water is mostly powering the turbines, rather than being pumped by them.

Castaic Lake State Recreation Area

Castaic Lake State Recreation Area 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 ...

located in northwestern

Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, with 9,861,224 residents estimated as of 2022. It is the ...

near the community of

, north of

Santa Clarita Santa Clarita (; Spanish for "Little St. Clare") is a city in northwestern Los Angeles County in the U.S. state of California. With a 2020 census population of 228,673, it is the third-largest city by population in Los Angeles County, the 17t ...

. It is controlled by the

California Department of Parks and Recreation The California Department of Parks and Recreation, more commonly known as California State Parks, manages the California state parks system. The system administers 279 separate park units on 1.4 million acres (570,000 hectares), with over 280 ...

. The recreational area is adjacent to the

Angeles National Forest The Angeles National Forest (ANF) of the United States Forest Service, U.S. Forest Service is located in the San Gabriel Mountains and Sierra Pelona Mountains, primarily within Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County in southern Calif ...

. The park was established in 1965. The area encompasses Castaic Lake. Primary access is via

Interstate 5 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels through the states of Califor ...

at exits 176A and 176B at the town of Castaic.

Distribution

Water from the lake is distributed throughout the northern portion of the

Greater Los Angeles Area Greater Los Angeles is the second-largest metropolitan region in the United States with a population of 18.5 million in 2021, encompassing five counties in Southern California extending from Ventura County in the west to San Bernardino Coun ...

. Some water is released into Castaic Lagoon below the dam, to maintain its water level for recreation. Castic Lagoon drains into Castaic Creek, which flows south until it meets the Santa Clara River, a few miles west of

Lake activities

Castaic Lake has a lower lagoon with a swim beach that is open from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day weekend annually. This lake also offers bass fishing in the upper and lower lake year-round and float tube fishing in the lower lake.

In popular culture

Castaic Lake was one of the main filming locations for the ''

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers ''Mighty Power Rangers'' (''MMPR'') is a superhero television series that premiered on August 28, 1993, on the Fox Kids programming block. It is the first entry of the ''Power Rangers'' franchise, and became a 1990s pop culture phenomenon along ...

'' series. Many of the action scenes were recorded here. Castaic Lake was the starting point for ''

The Amazing Race 26 ''The Amazing Race 26'' is the twenty-sixth season of the American reality television show ''The Amazing Race''. In this season, eleven teams of dating couples (six existing couples and five blind date teams who met for the first time at the star ...

'' on November 12, 2014. NBC's ''

Fear Factor ''Fear Factor'' is an American stunt/ dare game show that first aired on NBC from 2001 to 2006 and was initially hosted by comedian and UFC commentator Joe Rogan. The show was adapted by Endemol USA from the original Dutch series titled ''Now or ...

'' was also shot there.

References

External links

Castaic Lake State Recreation Area
*
Castaic Lake State Recreation Area
{{authority control Reservoirs in Los Angeles County, California California State Water Project Sierra Pelona Ridge Reservoirs in California Reservoirs in Southern California