Goose Lake is a large

alkaline lake A soda lake or alkaline lake is a lake on the strongly basic side of neutrality, typically with a pH value between 9 and 12. They are characterized by high concentrations of carbonate salts, typically sodium carbonate (and related salt complexe ...

in the

Goose Lake Valley The Goose Lake Valley is located in south-central Oregon and northeastern California in the United States. It is a high valley at the northwestern corner of North America's Great Basin. Much of the valley floor is covered by Goose Lake (Oregon ...

on the

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 ...

–

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

border in the United States. Like many other lakes in the

Great Basin The Great Basin () is the largest area of contiguous endorheic watersheds, those with no outlets to the ocean, in North America. It spans nearly all of Nevada, much of Utah, and portions of California, Idaho, Oregon, Wyoming, and Baja Californi ...

, it is a

pluvial lake A pluvial lake is a body of water that accumulated in a basin because of a greater moisture availability resulting from changes in temperature and/or precipitation. These intervals of greater moisture availability are not always contemporaneous ...

that formed from precipitation and melting glaciers during the

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''ice age, Ice Age'') is the geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fin ...

epoch.Green, p. 75 The north portion of the lake is in

Lake County, Oregon Lake County is one of the List of counties in Oregon, 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 8,160. Its county seat is Lakeview, Oregon, Lakeview. The county is named after ...

, and the south portion is in

Modoc County, California Modoc County () is a county (United States), county located in the far northeast corner of the U.S. state of California. Its population is 8,700 as of the 2020 census, down from 9,686 from the 2010 census. This makes it California's third-least ...

. The mountains at the north end of the lake are part of the

Fremont National Forest The Fremont–Winema National Forest, Fremont-Winema National Forest of south central Oregon is a mountainous region with a rich geological, ecological, archaeological, and historical history. Founded in 1908, the Fremont National Forest was origi ...

, and the south end of the lake is adjacent to

Modoc National Forest Modoc National Forest is a National forest (United States), U.S. national forest in Northeastern California. Geography The Modoc National Forest protects parts of Modoc County, California, Modoc (82.9% of acreage), Lassen County, California, L ...

lands. Most of the valley property around the lake is privately owned agricultural land, though

Goose Lake State Recreation Area Goose Lake State Recreation Area is located on Stateline Road, between New Pine Creek, Oregon and Goose Lake in Lake County, Oregon. It is on the east side of Goose Lake, on the Oregon–California California () is a U.S. state, s ...

is on the Oregon side of the lake. Goose Lake is the center of a semi-closed

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

. Its watershed is normally

endorheic An endorheic basin ( ; also endoreic basin and endorreic basin) is a drainage basin that normally retains water and allows no outflow to other external bodies of water (e.g. rivers and oceans); instead, the water drainage flows into permanent ...

, but sometimes flows into the

Pit River The Pit River is a major river draining from northeastern California into the state's Central Valley. The Pit, the Klamath and the Columbia are the only three rivers in the U.S. that cross the Cascade Range. The longest tributary of the Sa ...

, part of the

Sacramento River The Sacramento River () is the principal river of Northern California in the United States and is the largest river in California. Rising in the Klamath Mountains, the river flows south for before reaching the Sacramento–San Joaquin River D ...

watershed, during periods of high water following heavy rainfall or snowmelt. During the 1970s and 1980s, the

USGS The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an government agency, agency of the United States Department of the Interior, U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geograp ...

defined Goose Lake as part of the Sacramento's watershed, but has redefined Goose Lake's watershed as a closed basin.

ArcExplorer ArcExplorer is a lightweight data viewer from ESRI for maps and GIS data in these formats: * ESRI Shapefile * ArcInfo coverages * ArcSDE layers * Images * ArcIMS Services (e.g.Geography Networksources) ArcExplorer performs a variety of basic ...

GIS A geographic information system (GIS) consists of integrated computer hardware and software that store, manage, analyze, edit, output, and visualize geographic data. Much of this often happens within a spatial database; however, this is not ...

data viewer.

Background

Goose Lake is part of a geological trough which runs from Oregon southward past

Death Valley Death Valley is a desert valley in Eastern California, in the northern Mojave Desert, bordering the Great Basin Desert. It is thought to be the Highest temperature recorded on Earth, hottest place on Earth during summer. Death Valley's Badwat ...

, the

Walker Lane The Walker Lane is a geologic trough roughly aligned with the California/Nevada border southward to where Death Valley intersects the Garlock Fault, a major left lateral, or sinistral, strike-slip fault. The north-northwest end of the Walker ...

. Goose Lake State Recreation Area includes a campground with various amenities. The park attracts wildlife watchers, campers, and boaters. The campground is open mid-April to mid-October. It is habitat to many flora and fauna including

western grebe The western grebe (''Aechmophorus occidentalis'') is a species in the grebe family of water birds. Folk names include "dabchick", "swan grebe" and "swan-necked grebe". Western grebe fossils from the Late Pleistocene of southwest North America we ...

, long-billed curlew, and a large herd of

mule deer The mule deer (''Odocoileus hemionus'') is a deer indigenous to western North America; it is named for its ears, which are large like those of the mule. Two subspecies of mule deer are grouped into the black-tailed deer. Unlike the related whit ...

which spend much of the time in the 48-site campground. Recreational activities on or around the lake include kayaking, canoeing, and hunting, but not fishing. When the lake is full, it has a maximum depth of . The lake is located near the historic Fandango Pass route that 19th century settlers used to enter California. In the mid-19th century, particularly during the

California Gold Rush The California gold rush (1848–1855) began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California from the rest of the U ...

, the ''Applegate-Lassen Cut-Off'' of the

California Trail The California Trail was an emigrant trail of about across the western half of the North American continent from Missouri River towns to what is now the state of California. After it was established, the first half of the California Trail f ...

left the main route of that Trail near present-day

Rye Patch Reservoir The Rye Patch Reservoir is a reservoir on the Humboldt River in the U.S. state of Nevada. It is located about northeast of the town of Lovelock, and is managed by the Pershing County Water Conservation District. The reservoir stores water for t ...

, and crossed the

Black Rock Desert The Black Rock Desert is a semi-arid region (in the Great Basin shrub steppe ecoregion) of lava beds and Dry lake, playa, or alkali flats, situated in the Black Rock Desert–High Rock Canyon Emigrant Trails National Conservation Area, a silt ...

, on the way to Goose Lake and the California gold fields. The ''Lassen Cut-Off'' continued down the

into California's Central Valley, while the Applegate Cut-Off went into southern Oregon along the Lost River. The lake completely dried up in the years 1851, 1852, 1926, 1929–1934, 1992, 2009, and 2013-2015. Goose Lake overflowed into the Pit River watershed in 1868. Formerly, Goose Lake was the regular source of the Pit River, but water diversion has caused the lake level to drop below its outlet. The Pit River's source is now south of Goose Lake, and the lake's salinity is increasing, threatening fish populations. During rare high water levels, Goose Lake still spills into the Pit River.

References

Works cited

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Goose Lake (Oregon-California) Glacial lakes of the United States Lakes of Modoc County, California Lakes of Oregon Lakes of the Great Basin Lakes of Lake County, Oregon Modoc Plateau Pit River Lakes of Northern California Lakes of California

Background

See also

References

Works cited