Applegate Lake
Reservoir in Jackson County, Oregon, USA
title: "Applegate Lake" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["reservoirs-in-oregon", "rogue-river-(oregon)", "lakes-of-jackson-county,-oregon", "rogue-river-siskiyou-national-forest", "protected-areas-of-jackson-county,-oregon", "dams-in-oregon", "buildings-and-structures-in-jackson-county,-oregon", "united-states-army-corps-of-engineers-dams", "dams-completed-in-1980", "1980-establishments-in-oregon"] description: "Reservoir in Jackson County, Oregon, USA" topic_path: "technology/web" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Applegate_Lake" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Reservoir in Jackson County, Oregon, USA ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox body of water"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Applegate Lake |
| image | Applegate Lake Oregon.jpg |
| alt | Applegate Lake on the Applegate River in Jackson County, Oregon |
| caption | Applegate Lake |
| location | Jackson County, Oregon |
| coords | |
| type | reservoir, mesotrophic |
| inflow | Applegate River |
| outflow | Applegate River |
| catchment | 223 mi2 |
| basin_countries | United States |
| area | 988 acre |
| depth | 83 ft |
| max-depth | 225 ft |
| volume | 82200 acre.ft |
| residence_time | 7 months |
| shore | 18.5 mi |
| elevation | 1985 ft |
| pushpin_map | Oregon#USA |
| pushpin_label_position | top |
| pushpin_map_alt | Applegate Lake is located in Oregon |
| pushpin_map_caption | Location of Applegate Lake in Oregon, USA. |
| reference | |
| :: |
| name = Applegate Lake | image = Applegate Lake Oregon.jpg | alt = Applegate Lake on the Applegate River in Jackson County, Oregon | caption = Applegate Lake | image_bathymetry = | caption_bathymetry = | location = Jackson County, Oregon | coords = | type = reservoir, mesotrophic | inflow = Applegate River | outflow = Applegate River | catchment = 223 mi2 | basin_countries = United States | length = | width = | area = 988 acre | depth = 83 ft | max-depth = 225 ft | volume = 82200 acre.ft | residence_time = 7 months
| shore = 18.5 mi | elevation = 1985 ft | islands = | cities = | pushpin_map = Oregon#USA | pushpin_label_position = top | pushpin_map_alt = Applegate Lake is located in Oregon | pushpin_map_caption = Location of Applegate Lake in Oregon, USA. | website = | reference = Applegate Lake is a 988 acre reservoir located in the Rogue River–Siskiyou National Forest about 27 mi southwest of Medford in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is 16 mi south of Oregon Route 238 along Applegate River Road and slightly north of the Oregon–California border. The lake is an impoundment of the Applegate River about 46 mi from its confluence with the Rogue River.
History
The United States Congress authorized construction of the Applegate Dam in 1962 as part of a flood-control project. In 1976, the Corps of Engineers began work on the dam, which was finished in 1980 at a final cost of $96 million. In addition to controlling floods, the dam was intended to store water for irrigation and recreation.
Applegate Dam, 1300 ft long and 242 ft high, created a lake stretching 4.6 mi upstream. As the reservoir filled with water, it inundated the remnants of Copper, a community that had once had a post office and a few buildings. Since then, when water levels in the lake fall sufficiently, the highway that formerly ended at Copper reappears at the south (upstream) end of the lake and serves as the lower end of a boat ramp. Over 5,000 ounces of gold were recovered in the final two years of construction and proceeds were split between the federal government and two engineering firms involved.
Applegate Lake holds up to 82200 acre.ft of water. It and Lost Creek Lake, on the main stem of the Rogue River, are the only large multi-purpose Corps of Engineers reservoirs in the Rogue River basin.
The lake, the dam, and other entities in this region were named for Lindsay Applegate. In 1848, he led a party of settlers through the Rogue River Valley on the way to mines in California.
Recreation
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c5/USACE_Applegate_Dam_Oregon.jpg" caption="isbn=0-916473-15-5}}"] ::
The United States Forest Service maintains campgrounds as well as places along the shore for fishing, picnicking, and swimming as well as boating. Mountain biking is allowed on one of the trails, and horses are allowed on three.
References
References
- "Applegate Lake Feature Detail Report". [[USGS]].
- Johnson, Daniel M.. (1985). "Atlas of Oregon Lakes". Oregon State University Press.
- (1985–2012). "Atlas of Oregon Lakes: Applegate Lake (Jackson County)". Portland State University.
- Miller, Bill. (2008-12-14). "Underwater Ghost Town". Mail Tribune.
- "Applegate Dam and Lake". [[United States Army Corps of Engineers]].
- Byrne, Evelyn. (Winter 2010). "Back in Time: Applegate Dam". Applegater.
- (2008). "Lost Creek Lake and Applegate Lake Oregon". U.S. Corps of Engineers.
- "Two firms building a dam on the Applegate River...".
- McArthur, Lewis A.. (2003). "[[Oregon Geographic Names]]". Oregon Historical Society Press.
- Sheehan, Madelynne Diness. (April 2005). "Fishing in Oregon: The Complete Oregon Fishing Guide". Flying Pencil Publications.
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::