Tag / arizona lakes

by kritterspaw

Land of a hundred Lakes

Lake Mary, outside of Flagstaff

You wouldn’t think it, but Arizona hosts 128 lakes and 5 major rivers. Many know of the big popular lakes like Lake Powell, Havasu, Lake Pleasant, Apache and Roosevelt lakes. But there are a lot more obscure lakes throughout Arizona.

Ashurst Lake, outside of Mormon Lake
Big Lake, near Greer

Some are not much more than dry mud holes during the summer season, but can be flush with water after heavy snowfall or a particularly productive monsoon seasons.

Horseshoe Cienga, north of Pinetop-Lakeside
Potato Lake, along the Mogollon Rim

The lakes offer popular fishing spots, boating and water sports opportunities, and make for beautiful respites from the heat of Phoenix.

Luna Lake, near Alpine
Carnero Lake in Greens Peak

We love them for their photogenic nature, reflections, and gorgeous sunrise and sunsets.

Aker Lake near Hannigan’s Meadow
Lee Valley Reservoir, south of Greer
by kritterspaw

Snowbirds

Tourists seeking warmer weather aren’t the only ones wintering in Arizona.

An increasingly common sight from Avondale to Tucson are the American white pelicans, normally seen in coastal waters around Mexico and California. These large clumsy birds normally migrate to Great Salt Lake and the west coast of Mexico, but hurricane storms, mild temperatures, and man made lakes & ponds stocked with fish have made Arizona a desirable stopover.

The pelicans typically head to their breeding grounds in Canada and Upper Midwest in March, but more are expected to migrate to the Phoenix area in winter months.

Even the more ‘out of place’ brown pelicans have been found to escape coastal storms and enjoy Arizona’s mild climate.

We saw these brown and white pelicans hanging out enjoying ‘chilling’ in the waters of Alamo Lake. They seemed out of place in AZ, but apparently are becoming more commonplace, as they too find being a snowbird in AZ has its advantages.