Woods Canyon Lake is a small

lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...

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 ...

, United States, about east of the city of Payson. It is one in a series of small,

canyon A canyon (; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), gorge or chasm, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tendency t ...

-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 among the more developed and accessible of the Rim Lakes. It is also the first reservoir on Chevelon Creek, upstream from

Chevelon Canyon Lake Chevelon Canyon Lake is a small reservoir located in northern Arizona, about northwest of the town of Heber. It is one in a series of small, canyon-bound lakes located on the Mogollon Rim, collectively referred to as the Rim Lakes. It is sai ...

. Woods Canyon Lake 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 Woods Canyon. It was created primarily for recreational purposes. Woods Canyon Lake Store Arizona

The lake is accessed via paved forest roads that are open most of the year, although access may be restricted due to

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 ...

during winter months from December to April. From April though September the lake is regularly stocked with

rainbow trout The rainbow trout (''Oncorhynchus mykiss'') is a species of trout native to cold-water tributary, tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in North America and Asia. The steelhead (sometimes called steelhead trout) is an Fish migration#Classification, ...

and

tiger trout The tiger trout (''Salmo trutta'' × ''Salvelinus fontinalis'') is a sterile, intergeneric hybrid of the brown trout (''Salmo trutta'') and the brook trout (''Salvelinus fontinalis''). Pronounced vermiculations in the fish's patterning gave rise ...

. A very small self-sustaining

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 ...

population can also be found in the lake. Woods Canyon Lake Inner Tubing

The lake is well developed, having numerous maintained campsites, facilities for

recreational vehicles A recreational vehicle, often abbreviated as RV, is a motor vehicle or trailer that includes living quarters designed for accommodation. Types of RVs include motorhomes, campervans, coaches, caravans (also known as travel trailers and camp ...

, and access for

boat A boat is a watercraft of a large range of types and sizes, but generally smaller than a ship, which is distinguished by its larger size or capacity, its shape, or its ability to carry boats. Small boats are typically used on inland waterways s ...

s on the lake. The facilities are maintained by Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests 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. Woods Canyon Lake Campground

Fish species

Woods Canyon Lake is stocked with catchable-sized

and

. There is a very small self-sustaining

population that can also be found in the lake. Illegally introduced

green sunfish The green sunfish (''Lepomis cyanellus'') is a species of aggressive freshwater fish in the sunfish family ( Centrarchidae) of order Centrarchiformes. The green sunfish does not always grow large enough to be an appealing target for anglers, ...

are abundant in the lake.

Fathead minnow Fathead minnow (''Pimephales promelas''), also known as fathead or tuffy, is a species of freshwater Actinopterygii, ray-finned fish belonging to the Family (biology), family Leuciscidae, the shiners, daces and minnows. The natural geographic ra ...

crayfish Crayfish are freshwater crustaceans belonging to the infraorder Astacidea, which also contains lobsters. Taxonomically, they are members of the superfamilies Astacoidea and Parastacoidea. They breathe through feather-like gills. Some spe ...

bluegills The bluegill (''Lepomis macrochirus''), sometimes referred to as "bream", "brim", "sunny", or, in Texas, "copper nose", is a species of North American freshwater fish, native to and commonly found in streams, rivers, lakes, ponds and wetlands ea ...

and possibly

golden shiner The golden shiner (''Notemigonus crysoleucas'') is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the family Leuciscidae. This fish occurs in Eastern North America. It is the sole member of its genus. Commonly used as a bait fish, it is pr ...

s reproduce in the lake as well.

References

External links

*
Arizona fishing locations map

Arizona boating locations facilities map

Video of Woods Canyon Lake
{{authority control Reservoirs in Coconino County, Arizona Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests Reservoirs in Arizona