Nice Lakes in Sedona/Flagstaff? (Prescott, Page: camping, pine, horse)

[whatami]

Hello,

So I am wondering if there are any good lakes around sedona/flagstaff/prescott area. I want to take this girl there and just sit by a nice, quiet lake have a picnic and enjoy time together. She really likes pine trees/forrest and I want to stay away from the cactus for awhile too haha. =)

I did search some good lakes, but they are for fishing. Can we still go there even though we are not fishing? Any help would be great.

[buckeyenative01]

Flagstaff hardly has anything I'd consider a lake. Both Lake Mary and Mormon Lake's water levels are ridiculously low (Mormon Lake is the largest natural lake in the state, btw), and Page/Lake Powell is too far north/too inconvenient to get to now with the repairs required to fix US 89.

There's a couple of waterfalls (Navajo Falls, I think one of them's called?) on the Navajo Reservation, but you have to take reservation roads to get to them which can be a hassle in and of itself given the poor quality of some of those roads.

Don't know enough about Prescott to offer any advice.

Sedona has Oak Creek.

[thedirtman]

I would pass up Lake Mary and Mormon Lake for Ashurst Lake. Its 23 miles southeast of Flagstaff. There are picnic areas, but you will see fishing and camping is offered as well.

Ashurst Lake | Near Flagstaff Arizona

I believe buckeyenative01 is referring to Grand Falls, an unusual waterfalls on the Little Colorado River. It will be flowing for another month or so as it slows to a trickle. I went there last week and it was quite impressive. A Niagara Falls of Arizona. The washboard road in varies quite a bit. My first trip in 1994 was terrible. Last week - not so bad.

[blindjesse]

Kaibab Lake just North of Williams is pretty nice

[azdr0710]

you don't have to fish at any lake....many people do like that, so lakes are promoted as fishing lakes....as you google around for lakes, look for ones that mention picknicking is available and try to find pictures that may show the trees you like....as suggested, Oak Creek in the Sedona area is an alternative to a lake and is very pretty, but a few areas may be too close to highway 89 for peace and quiet....Watson and Granite Lakes in the Prescott area are nice, but don't have a lot of trees....

[curly5759]

I would suggest Dogtown or Whitehorse lake in the Williams area.Lots of trees. We used to camp at Whitehorse all the time when my kids were little, we never fished, just camped. JD lake is also near Whitehorse, undeveloped so if you are looking for a little privacy, this might be ideal. There is a RR at JD.

Curly

[KitsuneMoon]

We don't really have lakes or streams in Flagstaff. The ones you see on a map have very low water levels due to the drought and tend to be muddy and smelly.

Oak Creek just north of Sedona is really the only clean, pleasant body of water in the region.

[Greatday]

Originally Posted by KitsuneMoon

We don't really have lakes or streams in Flagstaff. The ones you see on a map have very low water levels due to the drought and tend to be muddy and smelly.

Oak Creek just north of Sedona is really the only clean, pleasant body of water in the region.

You forgot about Lake Mary - just south of Flag

[pokuku]

Originally Posted by Greatday

You forgot about Lake Mary - just south of Flag

Upper Lake Mary is alright.

There are some little lakes south of Williams as well that are nice.

Please do check on current lake conditions before venturing out. For example, Mormon Lake hasn't had much water to speak of for quite some time now, and I don't see how that will change.