Stoneman Lake is a small

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

located in northern

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 ...

, about south of the city of Flagstaff. Like the nearby

Mormon Lake Mormon Lake is a shallow, intermittent lake located in northern Arizona in Pleasant Valley. With an average depth of only , the surface area of the lake is extremely volatile and fluctuates seasonally. When full, the lake has a surface area of ...

, it is one of the few natural lakes in Arizona. Stoneman Lake is small and shallow, with an average surface area of less than and depth of less than . As such, it is subject to considerable fluctuations due to local rainfall and snowmelt conditions, and may even dry up completely. Due to the lake intermittently drying up, the availability of

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 ...

in the lake is unreliable. Nevertheless, in wet years

northern pike The northern pike (''Esox lucius'') is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus '' Esox'' (the pikes). They are typical of brackish and fresh waters of the Northern Hemisphere (''i.e.'' holarctic in distribution). They are known simply as a ...

and

yellow perch The yellow perch (''Perca flavescens''), commonly referred to as perch, striped perch, American perch, American river perch or preacher is a freshwater perciform fish native to much of North America. The yellow perch was described in 1814 by Samu ...

are stocked here, and the lake is the location of the state record yellow perch caught in 1984. Recreational activities are generally limited to boating, wildlife viewing and camping. Of particular interest to

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althou ...

s and of some minor debate is the origin of the lake. The lake fills a nearly circular basin in a region with some historical volcanic activity, leading to the possibility that the lake is either a crater lake or a filled in

sinkhole A sinkhole is a depression or hole in the ground caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer. The term is sometimes used to refer to doline, enclosed depressions that are locally also known as ''vrtače'' and shakeholes, and to openi ...

. Evidence exists to support both conclusions, as the lake lies in the middle of the Mormon volcanic field. In Stoneman Lake, there are some traces of

fungal prion A fungal prion is a prion that infects fungal hosts. Fungal prions are naturally occurring proteins that can switch between multiple, structurally distinct conformations, at least one of which is self-propagating and transmissible to other prion ...

s. They aren't too harmful to the environment or to the tourists who go into the lake.

References

External links

Arizona Boating Locations Facilities Map

Arizona Fishing Locations Map

Video of Stoneman Lake
{{authority control Lakes of Arizona Lakes of Coconino County, Arizona Coconino National Forest