Canyon Lake ~ A 30 minute trip from Mesa, Arizona

I shared some of the photos and history of our day trip to the Lost Dutchman State Park yesterday, so I put together some more photos and dialogue on our continued trip on Highway 88 north and east.

Almost immediately after we exited the Lost Dutchman State Park heading north, I noted a sign indicating that we were eight miles from Canyon Lake. Meanwhile, the desert was in bloom.

Alongside the road, on the hillsides, there were flowers. The desert and cacti looked alive, and it was green everywhere. Blankets of beautiful yellow, purple, orange, white wildflowers, yellow/green moss on the rocks. We so enjoyed seeing the desert so "alive." Everything was so lush and it was clear and slightly breezy in the high 70's.

As we rounded a corner, we came upon Canyon Lake shown below. I've shared some history about this lake for your enlightenment.

Canyon Lake is one of four man-made reservoirs that were formed by the damming of the Salt River in the U.S. state of Arizona.

The lake was formed by the Mormon Flat Dam, which was completed in 1925 after two years of construction.

Canyon Lake, with a surface area of 950 acres (3.8 km²), is the third and smallest of four lakes created along the Salt River. Two others, Apache Lake and Roosevelt Lake are upstream. The fourth, Saguaro Lake, is downstream.

Canyon Lake lies approximately 15 miles (24 km) up the Apache Trail from Apache Junction, Arizona and 51 miles (82 km) east of Phoenix. It is within the Superstition Wilderness of Tonto National Forest and is a popular recreation area for the Phoenix metropolitan area. Nearby amenities include hiking trails, camping, and boating. Canyon Lake is a popular stop on the way to Theodore Roosevelt Dam and Tortilla Flat, Arizona.

Check out this one way bridge to access the Canyon Lake area. There are two of them. One at the beginning and the other one at the marina. There are lots of campers, trailers, boats, and a great recreation area for everyone.

We continued towards the little "town" of Tortilla Flat where I know I can get my hands on a double decker ice cream cone. The prickley pear ice cream is delicious, there is a band playing, a restaurant, and tons of people. It's a favoite place to go for the winter visitors. The band plays from 1-4 and ends after Easter when the winter visitors leave. The town stays open though, and the lake continues to bring in the boaters, the skiers and campers.

After we had a leisurely ice cream, we got back in our car and headed home only to stop at a few other places where I had to take more photographs. Those, I will share another day. I hope you enjoyed your time with me visiting beautiful places in Arizona.

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