Cougar Reservoir

Lane County County · USDA Forest Service · 1,129 acres

Photo of Cougar Reservoir

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Essentials

At a glance

Published hours and a quick amenity skim — confirm on the official page before you go.
Hours

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On site

Visitor amenities

Grouped from public park records — confidence may vary by source.

…stay a while

  • Restroomfacility

…near water

  • Boat Launchwater
  • Fishingwater
  • Swimmingwater

Park size map

Official park boundary from GIS.

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Overview

About this park

Cougar Reservoir (also known as Cougar Lake) is a reservoir on the South Fork McKenzie River in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is in Lane County, 46 miles (74 km) east of Eugene and about 3 miles (5 km) south of the community of Rainbow in the Willamette National Forest. In 1963 the United States Army Corps of Engineers built Cougar Dam on the river primarily to generate hydroelectricity and control flooding, and the reservoir formed behind the dam. The lake is also used for recreation, including boating, fishing, swimming, and waterskiing. The United States Forest Service maintains three campgrounds—Cougar Crossing, Slide Creek, and Sunnyside—near the reservoir, with opportunities for hiking and picnicking as well as camping. Other campgrounds in the general vicinity include French Pete and Delta. Terwilliger Hot Springs is along Rider Creek just west of the lake. Cougar Reservoir supports populations of stocked rainbow trout and stocked landlocked Chinook salmon as well as naturally reproducing cutthroat trout. Fishing for rainbow trout, especially in winter, is said to be "fair". The lake also supports bull trout, but it is not legal to catch and keep them.

- Location: Lane County, Oregon

- Type: Reservoir

- Shore length: 18 mi|km}}

- Surface elevation: 1558 ft|m}}

- Max depth: 425 ft|m}}

Setting

Landscape & setting

Lake facts (Wikipedia):

- Inflow: South Fork McKenzie River

- Outflow: South Fork McKenzie River

Access

Access & hours

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cougar_Reservoir (Wikipedia / Wikimedia, CC BY-SA). Verify access, seasons, and regulations with the land manager before visiting.

Background

History & notes

List note: an impoundment of the McKenzie River created by Cougar Dam Map / bathymetry image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/%7C_caption_bathymetry_____%3D?width=1600

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Data quality

Sources

Check the official source for current hours and closures. Amenities are from public park records and may change seasonally. The agency page remains the source of record.

Confidence checks: coordinates · website · image · hours · amenities (and last verified when known).

Confidence score

78/ 100

BLM OR Hydrography Waterbody (Lakes)

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  • coordinates
  • amenities
  • hours
  • image
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