Fall Creek Lake (also known as Fall Creek Reservoir) is a

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 ...

in Lane County, in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

. It is about southeast of

Eugene Eugene may refer to: People and fictional characters * Eugene (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Gene Eugene, stage name of Canadian born actor, record producer, engineer, composer and musi ...

on Fall Creek, immediately upstream from

Unity Bridge The Unity Bridge (sometimes called "Unity Bridge 1") across Ruvuma River at Negomano, Mozambique, between Tanzania and Mozambique, was proposed as early as 1975, shortly after History of Mozambique#Independence, Mozambique's independence. It was ...

, a covered bridge. The communities of

Unity Unity is the state of being as one (either literally or figuratively). It may also refer to: Buildings * Unity Building, Oregon, Illinois, US; a historic building * Unity Building (Chicago), Illinois, US; a skyscraper * Unity Buildings, Liverpoo ...

, at the bridge site, and Lowell, south of Unity, are near the lake. The unincorporated community of

Jasper Jasper, an aggregate of microgranular quartz and/or cryptocrystalline chalcedony and other mineral phases, is an opaque, impure variety of silica, usually red, yellow, brown or green in color; and rarely blue. The common red color is due to ...

is further downstream, below the confluence of Fall Creek with the

Middle Fork Willamette River The Middle Fork Willamette River is one of several forks that unite to form the Willamette River in the western part of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is approximately long, draining an area of the Cascade Range southeast of Eugene, which is at th ...

. Fall Creek Dam, high, impounds up to of water in the reservoir. The

embankment dam An embankment dam is a large artificial dam. It is typically created by the placement and compaction of a complex semi-plastic mound of various compositions of soil or rock. It has a semi-pervious waterproof natural covering for its surface ...

is of the rockfill type with a gated concrete spillway and outlet controls for regulating lake levels. The lake includes two arms, one along the Fall Creek

main stem In hydrology, a main stem or mainstem (also known as a trunk) is "the primary downstream segment of a river, as contrasted to its tributaries". The mainstem extends all the way from one specific headwater to the outlet of the river, although t ...

and one along Winberry Creek, a tributary entering from the south.

History

Fall Creek Lake is one of 13 multi-purpose water projects managed by the United States Corps of Engineers in the

Willamette Valley The Willamette Valley ( ) is a valley in Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The Willamette River flows the entire length of the valley and is surrounded by mountains on three sides: the Cascade Range to the east, the ...

. The reservoir, completed in 1966, functions mainly to control downstream flooding on the Willamette River but is also heavily used for recreation when the lake is full. The Corps keeps water levels high—up to — in the lake during the spring and early summer but draws them down by up to below maximum in late summer through winter. This creates storage capacity for potential flood water in the rainy season. Mud flats that appear during the drawdown make recreational uses less feasible.

Recreation

In addition to a variety of campsites, amenities at the lake include picnic tables, boat ramps, swimming areas, toilets, and a fishing pier. Activities on the lake also include waterskiing and jet-skiing. Winberry Creek Road runs along the Winberry arm and meets Lowell–Unity Road (Lowell–Jasper Road) near the covered bridge. Big Fall Creek Road and Peninsula Road branch off Winberry Creek Road and, along opposite shores, follow the Fall Creek arm upstream to the end of the lake. Each road leads to one or more of the many day-use sites and campgrounds around the lake. Forest Road 18 begins at the head of the lake and follows Fall Creek upstream for many miles to other campgrounds and hiking trails in the

Cascade Range The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington (state), Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as m ...

In Popular Culture

The dam and release gates were used as a filming location in the 1976

Irwin Allen Irwin Allen (born Irwin O. Cohen; June 12, 1916 – November 2, 1991) was an American film and television producer and director, known for his work in science fiction, then later as the "Master of Disaster" for his work in the disaster film genr ...

TV film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a terrestr ...

, ''

Flood! ''Flood!'' is a 1976 American made-for-television adventure film directed by Earl Bellamy. Plot A large freshwater lake above the small town of Brownsville, Oregon is a popular tourist attraction and fishing destination, which provides the town ...

References

External links

Middle Fork Willamette Watershed Council
{{authority control 1966 establishments in Oregon Dams in Oregon Lakes of Lane County, Oregon Protected areas of Lane County, Oregon Reservoirs in Oregon United States Army Corps of Engineers dams