Marion Lake is a subalpine lake located in Linn County of 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 ...

. The lake is in central Oregon's Cascades within the

Mount Jefferson Wilderness The Mount Jefferson Wilderness is a wilderness area located on and around Mount Jefferson in the central Cascade Range of Oregon in the United States. The wilderness lies within the Willamette National Forest and Deschutes National Forest. The wi ...

. The lake is approximately , at an elevation of . It is the largest lake in an Oregon wilderness area and the largest lake not accessible by automobile. With the exception of large

Waldo Lake Waldo Lake is a natural alpine lake in the Cascade Mountains of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is the second largest natural non-alkali lake in Oregon with just under of water surface and a maximum depth of . The lake is named after Oregon politic ...

, it is the largest natural lake in the

Willamette National Forest The Willamette National Forest is a National Forest located in the central portion of the Cascade Range of the U.S. state of Oregon. It comprises . Over 380,000 acres (694 mi2, 1,540 km2) are designated wilderness which include seven ...

on the west slope of the Central

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, ...

. Marion Lake was named in 1874 by John Minto's Marion County road-viewing party in 1874. Marion County, in turn, had been named for General

Francis Marion Brigadier-General Francis Marion ( 1732 – February 27, 1795), also known as the Swamp Fox, was an American military officer, planter and politician who served during the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War. During the Ameri ...

of Revolutionary War fame. It is the headwaters of Marion Creek, a tributary of the

North Santiam River The North Santiam River is a tributary of the Santiam River in western Oregon in the United States. It drains of the Cascade Range on the eastern side of the Willamette Valley east of Salem. It rises in the high Cascades in eastern Linn count ...

. The

rough-skinned newt The rough-skinned newt or roughskin newt (''Taricha granulosa'') is a North American newt known for the strong toxin exuded from its skin. Appearance A stocky newt with rounded snout, it ranges from light brown to olive or brownish-black on t ...

(''

Taricha granulosa The rough-skinned newt or roughskin newt (''Taricha granulosa'') is a North American newt known for the strong toxin exuded from its skin. Appearance A stocky newt with rounded snout, it ranges from light brown to olive or brownish-black on t ...

'') is found at Marion Lake during the

amphibian Amphibians are tetrapod, four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the Class (biology), class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terres ...

's breeding season.

References

Lakes of Oregon Lakes of Linn County, Oregon Willamette National Forest Protected areas of Linn County, Oregon {{LinnCountyOR-geo-stub

See also

References