Strawberry Lake is a natural high-elevation body of water in the

Strawberry Mountain Wilderness Strawberry Mountain Wilderness is a wilderness area of the Strawberry Mountain Range, within Malheur National Forest in the Blue Mountains of east Oregon. The area comprises , including mountain peaks and several lakes, and contains more than o ...

in the U.S. state of Oregon. Located about south of Prairie City in Grant County, the shallow lake covers about surrounded by forest. Recreational activities in the lake basin include hiking, backpacking, skiing, and fishing.

Geology and geography

Stratovolcano A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a conical volcano built up by many layers (strata) of hardened lava and tephra. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile with a summit crater and per ...

es erupting about 14.7 million years ago in the Miocene covered about of what later became Grant County with andesite lavas and mudflows. The Strawberry Mountains are eroded remnants of the mountains created by those volcanoes and by intrusions of igneous rock. Strawberry Lake is the largest of the small

glacial lake A glacial lake is a body of water with origins from glacier activity. They are formed when a glacier erodes the land and then melts, filling the depression created by the glacier. Formation Near the end of the last glacial period, roughly 10,0 ...

s found in the Strawberry Mountain Wilderness. The surface of the lake is more than above sea level. Occupying part of a valley carved by ice in the Pleistocene, the lake formed behind a landslide dam across Strawberry Creek. Water from the lake does not flow over the dam except in high water but seeps through the landslide to re-form the creek several hundred yards (meters) downstream. Strawberry Lake has an average depth of and a maximum depth of . The length of its shoreline is about . Despite water-quality problems stemming from recreational activity in the lake's drainage basin, the water remains transparent enough that the lake bottom is visible from the surface even at the lake's deepest point.

History

Nathan W. Fisk homesteaded in the area in 1870 and named local features Strawberry Butte (now Strawberry Mountain) and Strawberry Creek for the abundance of wild strawberries in the area, and the name spread to encompass Strawberry Valley and Strawberry Lake.

Recreation

Hiking, backpacking, and camping are among the recreational activities available near the lake. Strawberry Camp, downstream from the lake along Strawberry Creek, is connected to the lake by a hiking trail. The trail continues upstream from the lake to Strawberry Falls and then another to Little Strawberry Lake. Another trail leads from Strawberry Falls to the peak of Strawberry Mountain.Sullivan, pp. 247–52 Winter sports enthusiasts visit the lake in winter even though the access road, County Road 60, from Prairie City to the edge of this part of the wilderness is unplowed and blocked by snow downstream from Strawberry Camp. The lake, frozen Strawberry Falls, and Little Strawberry Lake can be reached by

cross-country skiers Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing where skiers rely on their own locomotion to move across snow-covered terrain, rather than using ski lifts or other forms of assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreation ...

and snowshoers. Fishing in the lake is allowed all year, though snow makes access difficult in winter. Many

brook trout The brook trout (''Salvelinus fontinalis'') is a species of freshwater fish in the char genus ''Salvelinus'' of the salmon family Salmonidae. It is native to Eastern North America in the United States and Canada, but has been introduced elsewhere ...

inhabit the lake as well as some

rainbow trout The rainbow trout (''Oncorhynchus mykiss'') is a species of trout native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. The steelhead (sometimes called "steelhead trout") is an anadromous (sea-run) form of the coasta ...

, with fish present due to being stocked.

References

Works cited

* Bishop, Ellen Morris (2003). ''In Search of Ancient Oregon: A Geological and Natural History''. Portland, Oregon: Timber Press. * Sullivan, William L. (2009). ''Atlas of Oregon Wilderness''. Eugene, Oregon: Navillus Press.

External links