Moon Lake is a high mountain

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 south slope of the High Uintas in

Duchesne County, Utah Duchesne County ( ) is a county in the northeast part of the U.S. state of Utah. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 19,596. Its county seat is Duchesne, and the largest city is Roosevelt. History Much of Duchesne County ...

. Recreation management is under the jurisdiction of the

U.S. Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency within the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands covering of land. The major divisions of the agency are the Chief's ...

, as the lake is part of the

Ashley National Forest Ashley National Forest is a United States National Forest, National Forest located in northeastern Utah and southwestern Wyoming. Within the Forest's bounds are (with in Utah and in Wyoming) of vast forests, lakes, and mountains, with elevati ...

. In 1938, the

United States Bureau of Reclamation The Bureau of Reclamation, formerly the United States Reclamation Service, is a federal agency under the U.S. Department of the Interior, which oversees water resource management, specifically as it applies to the oversight and operatio ...

completed the earthen Moon Lake Dam on the Lake Fork River to expand the size of the existing natural lake for irrigation. The dam has a height of 98 feet, and the expanded reservoir a capacity of 49,500

acre-feet The acre-foot is a non- SI unit of volume equal to about commonly used in the United States in reference to large-scale water resources, such as reservoirs, aqueducts, canals, sewer flow capacity, irrigation water, and river flows. An acre- ...

Climate

Lakefork #1 is a

SNOTEL 300px, Data from a SNOTEL site in Elko County, Nevada SNOTEL is an automated system of snowpack and related climate sensors operated by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) of the United States Department of Agriculture in the Weste ...

weather station above Moon Lake, near the peak of Lake Fork Mountain, at an elevation of 10415 feet (3174 m).

Folklore

The Moon Lake Monster, also known as "Moonie," is described as a black, bumpy creature resembling a log with a fin. Witnesses have reported sightings, including an account of a large object following a boat, with water moving over what appeared to be scales. Another story involves the ghost of a young girl said to have drowned in the lake. Witnesses describe her as appearing wet, with blue lips, before disappearing when approached. Some have also reported hearing sounds of crying or splashing near the lake.

References

Reservoirs in Utah Lakes of Duchesne County, Utah Tourist attractions in Duchesne County, Utah Dams in Utah United States Bureau of Reclamation dams Dams completed in 1938 {{Utah-geo-stub

Climate

Folklore

See also

References