Lookout Point Lake (also Lookout Point Reservoir) is a large

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 ...

on 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 ...

in Lane County,

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 ...

, United States. It was created in 1953 with the construction of Lookout Point Dam. The downstream end of the reservoir 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 ...

. It lies immediately upriver from Dexter Lake, another reservoir. The city of Lowell is nearby, along the north shore of Dexter Lake.

Oregon Route 58 Oregon Route 58 (OR 58), also known as the Willamette Highway No. 18 (see Oregon highways and routes), is a state highway in the U.S. state of Oregon. The route, signed east–west, runs in a southeast–northwest direction, connecting U.S ...

follows the lake's southern shore and Boundary Road the northern shore. The lake, about long, continues upriver to within about of Oakridge. Lookout Point Dam, high, impounds up to of water. It helps control flooding, generates electricity, and provides a place for boating and other outdoor recreation.

History

The two reservoirs, Lookout Point and Dexter, were created in the early 1950s, when the

United States Army Corps of Engineers The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is the military engineering branch of the United States Army. A direct reporting unit (DRU), it has three primary mission areas: Engineer Regiment, military construction, and civil wo ...

finished building the dams that contain them. Dexter exists partly as a re-regulating basin that controls water surges from Lookout Point Lake. The pair of dams work together to prevent downstream flooding. Both dams are equipped with powerhouses that generate electricity. Lookout Point Dam has three generating units that can produce a combined 120,000 kilowatts of power. Water levels in the dam are usually high from May through August. To supply demands for water downriver, a gradual drawdown of lake water begins in July and extends through September. After September, the lake is emptied more rapidly to make room for high river flows that enter the lake during the winter. The Lookout Point and Dexter projects are among 13 built by the Corps 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 ...

Recreation

Recreation on or near the lake includes boating and fishing, camping and picnicking. Large populations of

rough fish Rough fish (or the slang trash fish or dirt fish) is a term used by some United States state agencies and anglers to describe fish that are less desirable to sport anglers within a defined region. The term usually refers to larger game fish speci ...

such as

northern pikeminnow The Northern pikeminnow, Columbia River dace or colloquially Squawfish (''Ptychocheilus oregonensis'') is a large member of the minnow family, Leuciscidae. This predatory freshwater fish is native to northwestern North America, ranging from the N ...

s and suckers limit the catch of fish such as

rainbow trout The rainbow trout (''Oncorhynchus mykiss'') is a species of trout native to cold-water tributary, tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in North America and Asia. The steelhead (sometimes called steelhead trout) is an Fish migration#Classification, ...

considered desirable by sports fishers. Strong winds, big waves, and annual fluctuations in the lake level also make fishing more difficult. Several picnicking and boat launches run by the county, the state, or the

Willamette National Forest The Willamette National Forest is a United States National Forest, National Forest located in the central portion of the Cascade Range of the U.S. state of Oregon. It comprises . Over 380,000 acres (694 mi2, 1,540 km2) are National Wil ...

are located around the lake. Some of the ramps become disconnected from the lake when the water is low, but the ramps near Lowell and the dam remain operational all year. Camping spots are available at Black Canyon Campground, managed by the

United States Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency within the United States Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture. It administers the nation's 154 United States National Forest, national forests and 20 United States Natio ...

, near the southeast end of the lake.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lookout 1950s establishments in Oregon Buildings and structures in Lane County, Oregon Lakes of Lane County, Oregon Protected areas of Lane County, Oregon Reservoirs in Oregon Willamette National Forest

History

Recreation

See also

References