Chevelon Canyon Lake is a small

reservoir A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...

located in northern

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

, about northwest of the town of Heber. It is one in a series of small, canyon-bound lakes located on the

Mogollon Rim The Mogollon Rim ( or or ) is a topography, topographical and geological feature cutting across Northern Arizona, the northern half of the U.S. state of Arizona. It extends approximately , starting in northern Yavapai County, Arizona, Yavapa ...

, collectively referred to as the Rim Lakes. It is said to be among the most difficult to access in the region. It is also the second reservoir on Chevelon Creek, downstream from Woods Canyon Lake. The facilities are maintained by

Apache–Sitgreaves National Forests The Apache–Sitgreaves National Forests is a United States National Forest which runs along the Mogollon Rim and the White Mountains in east-central Arizona and into the U.S. state of New Mexico. Formerly two forests, it is currently managed ...

division of the

USDA The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commerc ...

Forest Service.

Description

Chevelon Canyon Lake was constructed in 1965 as part of a flood control and recreational project. It is small and moderately deep, having an average depth of and a surface area of . The long, narrow lake is formed by an earthen

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, aqua ...

impounding the Chevelon Creek in the

eponym An eponym is a noun after which or for which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. Adjectives derived from the word ''eponym'' include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Eponyms are commonly used for time periods, places, innovati ...

ous Chevelon Canyon. Long Tom Tank, Willow Springs Lake, and Woods Canyon Lake, drain into upper Chevelon Creek, which flows into and through Chevelon Canyon Lake. Chevelon Creek drains to the northeast to 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 ...

. The lake is accessible via of unpaved forest road, Forest Road 169 and Forest Road 169B, much of which is difficult or impossible to pass due to heavy winter

snow Snow consists of individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water througho ...

falls between November and April. There is no direct road access to the lake, the final segment being closed to vehicular access and requires a short hike. As the gated road does not allow vehicle access the lake, boating is limited to small, light

canoe A canoe is a lightweight, narrow watercraft, water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using paddles. In British English, the term ' ...

s or personal flotation devices that can be carried to the primitive boat ramp. Boat motors on the lake are restricted to a single gas motor no larger than 10 horsepower. Amenities are limited to semi-primitive campsites with a restroom, located on the west side of the lake.

Fish species

In spite of the lake's remoteness and lack of access, it is a premier fishing location due to its stock of

rainbow A rainbow is an optical phenomenon caused by refraction, internal reflection and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a continuous spectrum of light appearing in the sky. The rainbow takes the form of a multicoloured circular ...

and

brown trout The brown trout (''Salmo trutta'') is a species of salmonid ray-finned fish and the most widely distributed species of the genus ''Salmo'', endemic to most of Europe, West Asia and parts of North Africa, and has been widely introduced globally ...

. The Arizona Game and Fish Department's desired species assemblage in Chevelon Canyon Lake is rainbow trout, brown trout, and Little Colorado sucker. Rainbow trout is stocked once per year, while Colorado sucker reproduce naturally in the lake and brown trout reproduce in the stream entering the lake. It has been proposed that the department resume stocking

Arctic grayling The Arctic grayling (''Thymallus arcticus'') is a species of freshwater fish in the salmon family Salmonidae. ''T. arcticus'' is widespread throughout the Arctic and Pacific drainages in Canada, Alaska, and Siberia, as well as the upper Missou ...

, last stocked in 1990.

References

Sources

* *

Footnotes

External links

Arizona Fishing Locations Map

Arizona Boating Locations Facilities Map
* {{authority control Reservoirs in Coconino County, Arizona Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests Reservoirs in Arizona