Minam Lake

Wallowa County County · Wikipedia Oregon lakes · 59.0 acres

Photo of Minam Lake

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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

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Overview

About this park

Minam Lake is a high-elevation reservoir in the Eagle Cap Wilderness of the Wallowa Mountains in the U.S. state of Oregon. The unusual reservoir, a modified natural lake, has outlets on both its north and south ends. The south outlet drains to the Minam River, and the north outlet is the source of the Lostine River. A natural lake at this spot had only a south outlet. In the early 20th century, the lake was enlarged, and its flow altered by a 14-foot (4.3 m) high dam near the south end of the lake. The dam's purpose was to store additional water and to deflect it north for irrigation of farms in the Lostine Valley. It is said that minam is a word that evolved in the mid-19th century from the native word e-mi-ne-mah. The latter referred to the Minam River Valley, where a kind of plant with edible roots grew in abundance. Mah was a suffix meaning valley or canyon.

- Location: Wallowa Mountains, Wallowa County, Oregon

- Type: [[Trophic state index#Oligotrophic|Oligotrophic]] reservoir

- Shore length: 1.6 mi|km}}

- Surface elevation: 7379 ft|m}}

- Max depth: 28 ft|m}}

Setting

Landscape & setting

Lake facts (Wikipedia):

- Surface area: 59 acre|ha}}

- Inflow: |outflow = Minam River and Lostine River

Access

Access & hours

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

Background

History & notes

List note: reservoir in Eagle Cap Wilderness; source of Lostine and Minam rivers Map / bathymetry image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/%7Ccaption_bathymetry_____%3D?width=1600

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Data quality

Sources

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Confidence score

50/ 100

Wikipedia List of lakes of Oregon

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