I know that Saddlebag Lake in Calif is the highest elevation "drive to" lake at 10,087 feet. Does anyone know the highest named lake is in CA? And what about Colorado, Montana, Utah, etc?

using the magic of google


http://www.highestlake.com/highest-lake-usa.html

this google site is pretty cool you should check it out some time

I did but it appears to me that he isn't certain about all of his info.

"Panguitch Lake, (Utah) at 8,208 is 2nd highest Lake in Utah. Highest is Navajo Lake at 9042 feet. Utah Lake is at an elevation of 4,489 feet. Wasatch Lake is at an an elevation of 6,000 feet. Great Salt Lake is at 4200 feet.

But.. I always wondered how high " Greg Lake " was ???

I think that Tulainyo is the highest named lake in California.

What about Crater Lake in Oregon? I wouldn't call that a pond.

Fletch wrote:Doesn't a lake have to have an inlet and outlet (I mean technically)?

No, endorheic lakes have no outlet (closed drainage basins). Some of the largest lakes on earth are endorheic.

Fletch wrote:Otherwise it's a pond, right?

There is no uniformally accepted definition for pond and lake, but let's say that size matters...

I agree with OOG, this google site is pretty cool you should check it out some time...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake#Types_of_lakes
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endorheic_basin

I had thought it was Tulainyo, and while fact checking on the internet, came across this:

http://www.peterhemming.com/Journ.html

These guys lugged scuba gear up the North Fork Lone Pine Creek trail - a new multisport challenge for the divers + hikers/climbers on here!

PS @Lcarreau - with titles like "Brain Salad Surgery" to his credit I'd say Greg Lake was probably one of the highest in the US.

"Panguitch Lake, (Utah) at 8,208 is 2nd highest Lake in Utah. Highest is Navajo Lake at 9042 feet.

Those aren't even remotely close to the highest lakes in Utah. Almost all of the lakes in the Uinta Mountains (and many in the Wasatch Range, Boulder Mountain, La Sal Mountains, Tushar Mountains, etc). The Uinta Mountains themselves have ~2000 lakes and nearly all of them are higher than that.

I would be very surprised if Navajo or Panguich lakes even make the top 3000.

Even the largest natural lake in the Uinta Mountains (with the possible exception of Grandaddy) is Red Castle at 11,295 feet. It's 175 acres and 105 feet deep.

The highest lake in Utah I know of is at 12,305 feet and is located east of South Kings Peak. I don't think there's a photo of it on SP(?). Many other lakes are above 11,500 feet.

Zee Jay's photo below shows the Red Castle Lakes:



The one on the left is Upper Red Castle Lake at 11,542 feet. The one on the right is Red Castle Lake at 11,295 feet. Several lakes in the Uintas are higher than Upper Red Castle, though you would have to dig through the SP photos to find photos of them.

Dmitry does have a photo of Roberts Lake on my King-Emmons Ridge page:



That lake is at 11,550 (October photo-it does ice off in late summer). The un-named lakes around Mount Emmons are even higher.

A high tarn just below Trail Rider Lake is just visible in this photo, but the highest lake I know of (elevation 12,305 mentioned above) in Utah is located in the bowel (top center of the photo) above the bench with the cliffs:



Here is Trail Rider Lake (elevation 11,760) from above (lower left):



The highest lake in Oregon is supposed to be the one in the crater of South Sister (Teardrop Pool), though it's pretty small and is more a pond and usually frozen (Gordon Swenson photo):



The highest lake I've actually been to in Nevada is Johnson Lake in Great Basin National Park. It is at 10,750 feet. The one on Mount Jefferson is just higher (10.780), but it's smaller and might be considered a pond. These may be the highest lakes in Nevada, but I'm not sure about that and it's just a guess on my part that they might be.

It's possible that Goat Lake (the one near Standhope Peak in the Pioneer Mountains) Idaho might be the highest named lake in the state (?) at 10,432, but there certainly higher tarns than that.

Goat Lake (Mtybumpo photo):



I don't know what the highest lake in Wyoming is, but it's almost certainly in the Wind River Mountains. There are several lakes above 11,000 feet in the Wind River Mountains.

Not 100% sure Scott, but I'm thinking Knoll (Finis Mitchell's Noel) Lake, which is located atop Horse Ridge, just across from Gannett Peak, is the highest in the Winds at 12,165.

This is probably the highest lake in Montana, on the southern slopes of Mount Wood in the Beartooths, @ 11,780 feet.



Idaho's highest body of water is either Goat Lake or Lonesome Lake in the White Clouds, both around 10,400' elev.

Pacific Tarn (13,400+) is Colorado's highest lake.

California's highest lake is on the northern slope of Caltech Peak, just above 12,800'.

Washington is a little more difficult, perhaps, but the lakes in Enchantment Basin are pretty high. I don't think pools of water in the ice on top of Mount Rainier count :-p.

If we get Canadian provinces into the mix, it gets more interesting. I'd definitely like to find out in particular what the highest lakes in Alberta and British Columbia are. My guess is perhaps somewhere in the Canadian Rockies or eastern slopes of the Coast Mountains (Where it's dryer and less chance of being glaciated). I bet both provinces have something from 8,000-9,000 feet.....

I'm pretty sure the winner for New Mexico would be the unnamed lake at 12,024 a little south of Lake Fork Peak and the Wheeler Peak Wilderness boundary. I don't see anything higher in the Pecos, Latir or Costilla groups, and together with Wheeler, those four areas comprise all the really high terrain in the state. Looks like it's on Taos Pueblo land, so no public access.

Aaaaaa ... I copied this off the internet, so COULD be wrong.

"Lee Valley Lake is Arizona's highest elevation reservoir,situated at 9,420 feet (2,870 m) in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest near Mount Baldy."

Bruno_Tibet wrote:

Fletch wrote:Doesn't a lake have to have an inlet and outlet (I mean technically)?

No, endorheic lakes have no outlet (closed drainage basins). Some of the largest lakes on earth are endorheic.

Fletch wrote:Otherwise it's a pond, right?

There is no uniformally accepted definition for pond and lake, but let's say that size matters...

I agree with OOG, this google site is pretty cool you should check it out some time...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake#Types_of_lakes
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endorheic_basin

Check out Devils Lake in North Dakota:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devils_Lake_(North_Dakota)

It's slowly swallowing up the nearby towns! I see a good Hollywood movie idea here

Speaking of lakes/ponds/seas etc, I assumed it had to do with size, inlet/outlet (or lack thereof) and salinity. I always was taught the Great Salt Lake was actually a sea. Similarly, the Salton Sea in southern California, although I guess it could be an endorheic lake. Endorheic... I like that word.

There's probably a lot of local custom at work when naming bodies of water.