Story and photos by Cheryl Hartz
For a peaceful kayak experience with the potential for big excitement—and sighting rare wildlife always excites me—a small creek off Canyon Lake is your best bet this winter and early spring.
At first look, busy Canyon Lake seems to bely this promise. It’s a popular spot for fishing, especially for walleye, rainbow trout and largemouth bass. Arizona Game and Fish stocks the lake with rainbow trout monthly November through March. The lake boasts a state record for largemouth bass and a world record for yellow bass.
Boaters, jet skiers and water skiers enjoy it, too, especially April through October.
But when you guide a kayak, canoe or paddleboard to the opposite end of the dam, a narrow entrance gives you access to a shallow creek between two sheer red rock walls, where bigger boats can’t go.
Locals will tell you to watch those walls and you could spot bighorn sheep. I have yet to see one in the wild in 39 years living in Arizona. At least you’ll see great blue herons and snowy white egrets resting on boulders among the reeds and tall grasses near the creek.
Winter is the perfect season to visit this man-made reservoir in the Tonto National Forest near Mesa, Arizona.
Average daytime temperatures in January and February are around 45 degrees Fahrenheit, while March average is 53.
Arizona’s sun makes those temperatures seem warmer, I’ve found. So while you won’t need a swimsuit, you won’t get overheated exploring here then, either.
Canyon Lake is the smallest of four lakes connected by the Salt River through the Salt River Project. Saguaro is westernmost, then Canyon, Apache and easternmost, the huge Theodore Roosevelt Lake.
The drive to Canyon Lake on Highway 88 is paved but winding, and on the way to Tortilla Flat, an old-west town and one-time stagecoach stop along the Apache Trail. It’s a short distance from Lost Dutchman State Park, where we were staying when we visited for the first time. We definitely will return.
Hiking the Boulder Canyon Trail—at least some of it—is another opportunity I look forward to on my next visit. The trailhead for the 10.2-mile out-and-back trail starts at Canyon Lake. Elevation gain is 1,965 feet. While some sources state average hike time is 5 to 5.5 hours, that wouldn’t be me on a ten-mile hike, especially one rated hard. Anyway, that’s for a future article.
Canyon Lake will be closed for about sixteen weeks, starting in September 2026, for maintenance and drawdown of the Mormon Flat Dam, which was built in 1925.But you’ve got plenty of time before that happens.
Happy rest-your-feet kayaking!
