Malheur National Forest Lakes

A complete list of lakes in Malheur National Forest with links to the posts of the ones I've been to.

Malheur National Forest is located in Oregon. According the the National Forest website it is 1.7 million acres and includes the Strawberry Mountain range. The national forest is broken into four ranger districts: Bear Valley Ranger District, Burns Ranger District, and Prairie Valley Ranger District, and Emigrant Creek Ranger District.

Prairie Valley Ranger District includes Strawberry Mountain Wilderness.

Emigrant Creek Ranger District was formerly known as Snow Mountain Ranger District and used to be a part of Ochoco National Forest. Now it has a new ranger district name and is administered by Malheur National Forest. It was hard to find information about this change, and the 2016 Forest Service layer on CalTopo doesn't reflect this change. I've struggled to find Forest Service maps that are more current but have been unsuccessful in that regard. On the Forest Service website Emigrant Creek R.D. is referenced. Wikipedia does reference the change even though that isn't the most reliable source.

Malheur National Forest is in the high desert and has a limited number of lakes compared to the national forests in the cascade range. High lakes are mostly located in Strawberry Mountain Wilderness, while very small reservoirs are plentiful in Emigrant Creek Ranger District.

From my research, I have listed 43 lakes. My list is as complete as I could get it, but I could be missing a few. There are also a few lakes that I'm not sure if they exist, so the number is subject based on their existence.

How I classify lakes

I am not very picky about the criteria I use for marking a body of water as a lake. I use the word “lake” loosely and as an all encompassing word. It includes lakes, reservoirs, glacier tarns, ponds, seasonal bodies of water, etc.

I also mark lakes that don’t have names and I title them Lake:Coordinates (ex. Lake 44.7875, -121.8075). While I list all lakes alphabetically I keep unnamed lakes together at the bottom of my spreadsheets and don’t list them under L for lake.

My main requirement is that I’m able to see a body of water on a satellite map, or the appearance of there having been one if it seems dry. I add it to my list to explore and check out.

Disclaimer

Not all lakes are accessible to the public. I try to note when certain ones aren’t accessible such as due to a fire closer, not available to public access, or if off trail is not legal to access.

As such it is your responsibility to double check legalities of accessing different areas of federal land since legalities can change.

Ranger Districts, administration, and other such information can be difficult to find even from federal management. So there is the possibility that some information is inaccurate, but it is as accurate as it can be with the information I have available.

Even though I am a large proponent of ethically and responsibly exploring off trail, it’s important to do so only when legal and in places that aren’t heavy usage. Some lakes are inaccessible due to terrain, having to access through private property, and other such limitations. So it might not be possible to access each lakes edge.

For more information on bushwhacking and recreating responsibly check out my disclaimer page.

How it all began

This all began when I was trying to find lakes in Mount Hood National Forest and wasn’t able to find a complete list so I made my own. Now I’ve used that same system to makes lists of lakes in other national forests like this one. I scour paper maps and different map layers on CalTopo (main resource) to cross reference and find lakes, I add that info to a spreadsheet, and then research each individual lake online to try and find any information on them. I also reference ODFW resources to try and add info on lakes that are stocked. So the list of lakes below is the result of numerous hours of research.

Once I visit a lake I include ALL the information I wanted before visiting it so hopefully this will be a useful resource for others.

There are multiple ways to explore the lakes list:

• By name - in alphabetical order or by ranger district

• Spreadsheet - with all pertinent information

• Map

Progress: 0%

Below are all the lakes in Malheur National Forest. I made two tabs where you can either look for a lake in alphabetical order or by ranger district.

Lakes

List of Lakes (alphabetically)

• Big Meadow Reservoir

• Blue Bucket Reservoir

• Buck Spring Reservoir

• Canyon Meadows

• Dead Bull Reservoir

• Dead Mule Reservoir

• Delintment

• Dicks Reservoir

• Dry Mountain Reservoir

• Egley Reservoir

• Egypt Creek Reservoir

• Frog

• Gravelly Flat Reservoir

• High

• Kings Hole Reservoir

• Little Mud

• Little Slide

• Little Strawberry

• Magone

• Meadow Reservoir

• Mud

• O'Keefe Reservoir

• Pats Reservoir

• Roadslide Reservoir

• Slide

• Strawberry

• Three Pines Reservoir

• Twin Reservoir

• Twin Spring Reservoir

• Yellowjacket

• Lake 43.8830, -119.6209

• Lake 43.9661, -119.6248

• Lake 44.0123, -118.7724

• Lake 44.0741, -118.5610

• Lake 44.0763, -119.2457

• Lake 44.0772, -119.2476

• Lake 44.0853, -119.1717

• Lake 44.0862, -119.1720

• Lake 44.0946, -119.2308

• Lake 44.0961, -119.2286

• Lake 44.2428, -118.8674

• Lake 44.2697, -118.6512

• Lake 44.7298, -118.9503

List of Lakes (by ranger district or wilderness area)

Bear Valley Ranger District

• Canyon Meadows

• Lake 44.0763, -119.2457

• Lake 44.0772, -119.2476

• Lake 44.0853, -119.1717

• Lake 44.0862, -119.1720

• Lake 44.0946, -119.2308

• Lake 44.0961, -119.2286

Burns Ranger District

• Dead Mule Reservoir

• Dicks Reservoir

• Yellowjacket

• Lake 44.0123, -118.7724

Emigrant Creek

• Big Meadow Reservoir

• Blue Bucket Reservoir

• Buck Spring Reservoir

• Dead Bull Reservoir

• Delintment

• Dry Mountain Reservoir

• Egley Reservoir

• Egypt Creek Reservoir

• Gravelly Flat Reservoir

• Kings Hole Reservoir

• Meadow Reservoir

• O'Keefe Reservoir

• Pats Reservoir

• Roadside Reservoir

• Three Pines Reservoir

• Twin Reservoir

• Twin Spring Reservoir

• Lake 43.8830, -119.6209

• Lake 43.9661, -119.6248

Prairie Valley Ranger District

• Frog

• Magone

• Lake 44.0741, -118.5610

• Lake 44.7298, -118.9503

Strawberry Mountain Wilderness

• High

• Little Mud

• Little Slide

• Little Strawberry

• Mud

• Slide

• Strawberry

• Lake 44.2428, -118.8674

• Lake 44.2697, -118.6512

Resources

Spreadsheet & CalTopo Map

I created a spreadsheet with all the detailed information on the lakes. I haven't put in any trail or distance information unless it's one I've been to so that it's as accurate as possible. I linked the list below.

The Google Maps further down the page is the easiest way to navigate to posts and get basic information by map, but I also have a map of lakes in CalTopo which is a better platform for planning routes and printing maps which I linked below as well.

• Malheur National Forest Lakes - Spreadsheet

• Malheur National Forest Lakes - CalTopo

Forest Service & ODFW

The best place to find information about trails, roads, closures, and each ranger district is from the forest service website.

There is only one lake listed on the ODFW map that's stocked.

• ODFW - Northeast Zone Map

Map

Yellow - Lakes I have been to and I have a post about

Red - Lakes I haven't been to yet or don't have a post about

Orange - Lakes I haven't been to due to fire closures

My Wild Adventure is not responsible for your safety, any possible injury, or anything that happens if you choose to follow anything on this website. Maps are not intended to be used for navigational purposes, but to give an overview of the route taken. By going outdoors you are solely responsible to know your strengths and limitations, be aware of current conditions and proceed with the appropriate caution. My Wild Adventure is not responsible for your choices and the outcome. Reference my disclaimer for more information on being responsible outdoors.