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Trout Lake is a
lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...
located in southeast San Miguel County,
Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...
, in Uncompahgre National Forest. Trout Lake is a 15-minute drive from
Ophir Ophir (; ) is a port or region mentioned in the Bible, famous for its wealth. Its existence is attested to by an inscribed pottery shard found at Tell Qasile (in modern-day Tel Aviv) in 1946, dating to the eighth century BC, which reads "''go ...
via Colorado State Highway 145 and a 20-minute drive from Telluride.


History

Trout Lake was originally explored by American
fur A fur is a soft, thick growth of hair that covers the skin of almost all mammals. It consists of a combination of oily guard hair on top and thick underfur beneath. The guard hair keeps moisture from reaching the skin; the underfur acts as an ...
- trappers and pioneers, who often used the lake as a stopping point for their expeditions. The population of Trout Lake grew after the construction of the
Rio Grande Southern Railroad The Rio Grande Southern Railroad (reporting mark RGS, also referred to as "The Southern") was a 3 ft gauge railways, 3 ft (914 mm) Narrow gauge railways, narrow-gauge railroad which ran in the southwestern region of the United States, US s ...
and the nearby
Ames Hydroelectric Generating Plant The Ames Hydroelectric Generating Plant, constructed in 1890 near Ophir, Colorado, was one of the first (if not the first) commercial system to produce and transmit alternating current (AC) electricity for industrial use and one of the first AC hy ...
in the 1890s.


Early history

While it is unknown if
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...
, Mexican, or Native American explorers reached Trout Lake previously, the first record of Trout Lake was taken by an American fur trapping expedition. In the spring of 1831, the St. Louis Fur Company employed a party of 60 men under the command of
Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...
William G Walton to trap
beaver Beavers (genus ''Castor'') are large, semiaquatic rodents of the Northern Hemisphere. There are two existing species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers are the second-large ...
s and other fur-bearing animals along the headwaters of the San Juan River. The party spent the summer of 1833 in the valley of the Rio Dolores and at Trout Lake before continuing their journey northward. On June 14, 1882, the first post office in Trout Lake was established. At the time it was described as "a post office, with a small lake near it" and "a miner's camp of about a
score SCORE may refer to: *SCORE (software), a music scorewriter program * SCORE (television), a weekend sports service of the defunct Financial News Network *SCORE! Educational Centers *SCORE International, an offroad racing organization *Sarawak Corrido ...
in number". Between 1875 and 1885, the area around Trout Lake was often visited by
prospectors Prospecting is the first stage of the geological analysis (followed by exploration) of a territory. It is the search for minerals, fossils, precious metals, or mineral specimens. It is also known as fossicking. Traditionally prospecting rel ...
, but after 10 years of searching, no mines were found near Trout Lake and the post office closed. In the 1885 Colorado Census, Trout Lake was recorded as having a population of 40. The post office was reopened between 1890 and 1892 with the construction of the Rio Grande Southern Railroad in 1891. On June 13, 1905, Trout Lake became a part of the newly created Montezuma Forest Reserve with the signing of Proclamation 575 by
Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...
. The Montezuma Forest Reserve became a National Forest on March 4, 1907. On July 1, 1947, Montezuma National Forest as split between
San Juan National Forest The San Juan National Forest is a U.S. National Forest covering over 1,878,846 acres (2,935.7 sq mi, or 7,603.42 km²) in western Colorado. The forest occupies land in Archuleta, Conejos, Dolores, Hinsdale, La Plata, Mineral, Montezum ...
and Uncompahgre National Forest, with Trout Lake becoming part of Uncompahgre National Forest. The 1910 Census recorded Trout Lake as having a population of 62.


Trout Lake Dam

Trout Lake is a natural lake but was expanded in the 1894 with the construction of the Trout Lake Dam by Telluride Power Co. The purpose of the dam was to create additional reserves for the Ames Hydroelectric Generating Plant 3.25 miles downstream. Trout Lake still supplies the Ames Hydroelectric Plant via a
concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...
-encased outlet pipe that transports water from the Trout Lake Dam's Penstock to the Ames Hydroelectric Plant.


1909 Flood

On September 5, 1909, heavy rains and flooding caused the
failure Failure is the social concept of not meeting a desirable or intended objective, and is usually viewed as the opposite of success. The criteria for failure depends on context, and may be relative to a particular observer or belief system. On ...
of the Trout Lake and Middle Dams. A defect in the Middle Dam's outlet, which permitted water to wash away the
soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, water, and organisms that together support the life of plants and soil organisms. Some scientific definitions distinguish dirt from ''soil'' by re ...
under the dam, likely contributed to the flood. The collapse of the dams released approximately 2,000
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- ...
of water downstream, killing
livestock Livestock are the Domestication, domesticated animals that are raised in an Agriculture, agricultural setting to provide labour and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, Egg as food, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The t ...
, destroying miles of
railroad track Railway track ( and International Union of Railways, UIC terminology) or railroad track (), also known as permanent way () or "P way" ( and English in the Commonwealth of Nations#Indian subcontinent, Indian English), is the structure on a Ra ...
, and flooding the nearby towns of Placerville, Sawpit, and Newmire. The Ames Hydroelectric plant remained mostly unharmed. While no one died in the flood, the damage to property was estimated to be $200,000 (approximately $ today). In 1910, the dam was rebuilt with soil and rock instead of the timber used in the previous dam. In 1954, the dam's
spillway A spillway is a structure used to provide the controlled release of water downstream from a dam or levee, typically into the riverbed of the dammed river itself. In the United Kingdom, they may be known as overflow channels. Spillways ensure tha ...
was rebuilt to prevent flooding in Trout Lake. The spillway included two
steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...
siphon A siphon (; also spelled syphon) is any of a wide variety of devices that involve the flow of liquids through tubes. In a narrower sense, the word refers particularly to a tube in an inverted "U" shape, which causes a liquid to flow upward, abo ...
s that discharge water 200 feet downstream from the dam into Lake Fork.


Rio Grande Southern Railroad

Starting in 1891, Trout Lake was used as a watering station for the Rio Grande Southern Railroad (RGS), which used the water from the lake to fill its
steam engine A steam engine is a heat engine that performs Work (physics), mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a Cylinder (locomotive), cyl ...
s. There were 15 similar stations used by the RGS, all of which were serviced by a large force of men called "water service" who maintained the water tanks. While the railroad is no longer in operation, the 50,000 gallon wood watering tank (one of only two left) and a nearby railroad trestle remain. After the railroad was abandoned in 1952 the trestle continued to be used as an automobile
bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...
for several years until a detour was built around it. The trestle was added to the Colorado State Register of Historic Properties on May 14, 1997. The trestle was stabilized in 2004 with grant funds from the Colorado Historical Fund, Intermodel Surface Transportation Efficiency Act, San Miguel County, and
US 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 ...
.


Recreation

Trout Lake had become a popular tourist attraction as early as 1920, especially for fishing. Today, the area around the lake features multiple hiking trails, which in the winter are groomed by the Telluride Nordic Association to be used for
cross-country skiing Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing whereby skiers traverse snow-covered terrain without use of ski lifts or other assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreational activity; however, some still use it as a m ...
. The lake is also used for boating and fishing.


Gallery

File:Sheep Mountain, Trout Lake.jpg, Trout Lake and Sheep Mountain File:Trout Lake Train.jpg, alt=Train passing over bridge, Historic photo of a Rio Grande Southern train passing over the Trout Lake Trestle during winter (date unknown) File:Historical Trout Lake.jpg, alt=Trout Lake, A historical photo of Trout Lake taken between 1898 and 1905 File:Trout lake co.jpg, alt=Trout Lake and mountains in background, Looking east towards trout lake in August 2011 File:Trout Lake 1939.jpg, alt=Lake with mountains in background, A photo of Trout Lake with the
San Juan Mountains The San Juan Mountains is a high and rugged mountain range in the Rocky Mountains in southwestern Colorado and northwestern New Mexico. The area is highly mineralized (the Colorado Mineral Belt) and figured in the gold and silver mining industry ...
in the background, taken in 1939 or earlier File:A River Stream Below The Rio Grande Southern's Trout Lake Trestle.jpg, At the bottom of the Southern's trestle in September 2021


See also

* List of lakes of Colorado * List of lands protected by Theodore Roosevelt through executive action


Notes

* Despite the name, Lake Fork is a river, not a lake.


References

{{reflist Lakes of Colorado Tourist attractions in San Miguel County, Colorado Bodies of water of San Miguel County, Colorado