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 about , making it the largest natural lake in Arizona. In particularly dry times, the lake has been known to dry up, leaving behind a remnant marsh. The surrounding area, which lies within Coconino National Forest, established in 1908, is part of the largest continuous stand of ponderosa pine in North America, often hosting campers and hikers. The lake itself is occasionally stocked with fish species such as bullhead catfish and northern pike, but due to its intermittent nature, it may contain few or no fish following dry seasons. The name of the lake commemorates Mormon settlers who migrated to northern Arizona in the 1870s. The settlers, who located their main communities along the

Little Colorado River The Little Colorado River () is a tributary of the Colorado River in the U.S. state of Arizona, providing the principal drainage from the Painted Desert region. Together with its major tributary, the Puerco River, it drains an area of about in ...

, established various cottage industries in Pleasant Valley: a sawmill in 1876, a dairy in 1878, and a tannery in 1879. All were abandoned when the Little Colorado colonies were disbanded. The Coconino National Forest archaeologists recorded the remains of the mill site, little more than a foundation and piles of rocks, about southeast of Mormon Lake, in 1978. Two small settlements, Mormon Lake Village and Lakeview, were developed along the lakeshore in wetter years, but lie a distance south of the average shoreline. On the north and west bluffs overlooking the lake are over 80 private

USFS recreation residences Recreation Residences or "Forest Service Cabins" are private residences enabled by the 1915 Occupancy Permits Act on land that later became the US Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of ...

in four tracts named, north to south, Rockledge, Dairy Springs, Montezuma Lodge, and Double Springs. They are built on National Forest parcels, and are not Coconino County subdivisions. While these are generally used as summer homes; some may be occupied through the heavy winter snows, but water must be "hauled-in" with more consideration as their residential water storage is not winterized. The Forest Service operates older standard, "nostalgic" public campgrounds at Double Springs and Dairy Springs. Peaks from Mormon Lake

References

External links

Mormon Lake (Arizona Handbook)

Arizona Boating Locations Facilities Map

Arizona Fishing Locations Map

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