Payette Lake is a natural lake in the

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, located in west central

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

at McCall. Formed by glacial activity, it is situated in the upper drainage basin of the

Payette River The Payette River () is an U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed May 3, 2011 river in southwestern Idaho and is a major tributary of the Snake River. Its headwaters originate ...

, which drains into the

Snake River The Snake River is a major river of the greater Pacific Northwest region in the United States. At long, it is the largest tributary of the Columbia River, in turn, the largest North American river that empties into the Pacific Ocean. The Snake ...

. Outflow from the lake at its southwest corner is regulated for irrigation purposes by a small dam completed in 1943. The normal maximum lake surface

elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Vert ...

of above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...

is attained in July; a normal drawdown of is completed by December. The lake's surface area and volume, excluding islands, are and , respectively; mean and maximum depths are and , respectively; and shoreline length is about . The principal tributary and outlet is the North Fork of the

. The lake receives drainage from of heavily forested, mountainous terrain. Further south, the North Fork flows into

Lake Cascade Lake Cascade (formerly Cascade Reservoir), is a reservoir in the western United States, on the North Fork of the Payette River in Valley County, Idaho. Located in the Boise National Forest, it has a surface area of , and is the fourth largest la ...

, the reservoir behind Cascade Dam.

History

Prior to the arrival of

Euro-American European Americans (also referred to as Euro-Americans) are Americans of European ancestry. This term includes people who are descended from the first European settlers in the United States as well as people who are descended from more recent Eu ...

hunters in the 1830s, the area had been inhabited by Native Americans for thousands of years. The discovery of gold in 1862 in the upper drainage of Payette Lake prompted an influx of miners to the area. The townsite of McCall was established on the lake's southern shore in the 1880s. The area became more accessible in 1914 when a railroad and roads were extended to McCall, which was becoming a tourist destination for summer and winter recreation. In 1920, the Idaho State Land Board began leasing vacation homesites around Payette Lake. Increasing recreational demands led to the establishment of Brundage Mountain Ski Area and Ponderosa State Park, both near McCall, in the 1960s. The large Payette Lakes Club was said to be significant in supporting recreation in the area; it was built 1914–15, on a knoll overlooking the lake from the west, and served as an inn, casino, and

Chautauqua Chautauqua ( ) was an adult education and social movement in the United States, highly popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Chautauqua assemblies expanded and spread throughout rural America until the mid-1920s. The Chautauqua bro ...

center. It was surrounded by development of many small cabin lots. With accompanying pictures

In popular culture

In Idaho folklore, a sea serpent much like the

Loch Ness Monster The Loch Ness Monster ( gd, Uilebheist Loch Nis), affectionately known as Nessie, is a creature in Scottish folklore that is said to inhabit Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands. It is often described as large, long-necked, and with one or mor ...

is said to live in the deep waters of Payette Lake; in 1954, the creature was given the name Sharlie. Payette Lake, 2018

References

External links

Payette Lake
Idaho Department of Fish and Game
Geologic Map of McCall (with Payette Lake bathymetry)
{{authority control Lakes of Idaho Lakes of Valley County, Idaho