A working field guide to more than 20 lakes and reservoirs in the White Mountains of Arizona scattered across nearly 3,500 feet of elevation change-- where they sit, how big they run, and what's swimming in them.
Ask a longtime local which lake is the best one and you'll get a different answer depending on what they're after: a quiet evening walk with a rod, a serious trout on a fly, or a dock the grandkids can wade off of. The White Mountains hold more than two dozen lakes and reservoirs, from Lyman Lake's wide, warm water at 6,000 feet to Lee Valley Lake gasping for air at 9,420 feet under the shoulder of Mount Baldy. What follows is grouped the way most people actually reach these places — in and around town, up in the high country, around Greer, and out toward Springerville, Eagar and Alpine.
In and around Pinetop–Lakeside and Show Low
Close to home. The easiest lakes to get to, and the ones most residents fish on a random Tuesday. All are managed by Arizona Game and Fish and are open to anyone with a state license.
Fool Hollow Lake
6,300 ft elevation | 150 acres | 23 ft average depth
Where — Just north of downtown Show Low, inside the Fool Hollow Recreation Area, jointly run by Arizona State Parks, the Forest Service, Game and Fish, and the city.
Fish — Rainbow trout stocked spring through summer, alongside a self-sustaining mix of largemouth and smallmouth bass, walleye, black crappie, sunfish, and carp — with the occasional northern pike or channel catfish turning up too. It's one of the few lakes nearby where a family can chase trout in the morning and bass by afternoon without moving the truck.
Show Low Lake
6,500 ft elevation | 100 acres | 27–50 ft depth (avg–max)
Where — Five miles south of downtown Show Low, co-managed by Game and Fish and the city.
Fish — Stocked rainbow trout — the stocking window has shifted earlier in recent years, roughly March through July, to keep hatchery fish out of the warmest water — plus a self-sustaining population of walleye, largemouth and smallmouth bass, bluegill, and green sunfish.
Woodland Lake
6,890 ft elevation | 10–18 acres (drawdown varies)
Where — The centerpiece of Woodland Park, right in the heart of Pinetop-Lakeside.
Fish — Mostly stocked rainbow trout in spring and early summer, with channel catfish added as the water warms and a few largemouth bass mixed in. It's shallow and nutrient-rich, managed more as an easy, put-and-take community fishery than a trophy water — a good spot for a kid's first fish.
Rainbow Lake
6,700 ft elevation | 116 acres | 7–14 ft depth (avg–max)
Where — Just outside town near Lake of the Woods; most of the shoreline is privately owned, with a small public landing maintained on the northwest side.
Fish — Catchable rainbow trout stocked in spring and early summer, plus largemouth bass, channel catfish, bluegill, green sunfish, and northern pike that were introduced without permission and have stuck around ever since. Because the banks are private, most people fish it from a boat.
Scott Reservoir
6,720 ft elevation | 80 acres | 10 ft average depth
Where — An irrigation reservoir on Porter Creek just outside Pinetop-Lakeside — the least developed of the in-town lakes.
Fish — Rainbow trout stocked in spring, early summer, and fall, with occasional channel catfish and a few largemouth bass. The water runs a little turbid, which keeps algae down and makes for steady conditions through the season.
The high country: Sunrise, Big Lake, and the reservation
Up the mountain. Most of these sit at 8,000–9,400 feet on the White Mountain Apache Reservation, along the SR 260/273 corridor east of Pinetop, and close under snow roughly December through early April. Fishing here requires a tribal recreation permit, sold in Hon-Dah and Whiteriver, in place of or alongside a state license.
Hawley Lake
8,200 ft elevation | 260–300 acres
Where — Fort Apache Reservation, about 30 miles east of Show Low off SR 260 and SR 473.
Fish — Rainbow, brook, cutthroat, and brown trout. Motors are limited to electric only, and it's one of the state's few reliable ice-fishing spots come winter.
Horseshoe Cienega Lake
8,100 ft elevation | 120 acres | 30 ft average depth
Where — Fort Apache Reservation, visible from SR 260 about 18–20 miles east of Pinetop; permits available in Hon-Dah.
Fish — Rainbow trout, rainbow-Apache hybrids, brown trout, and Apache trout. It once held the state-record brown trout, at just over 16 pounds, before that record moved elsewhere. Unlike most high-country lakes, it's accessible year-round, ice fishing included.
A-1 Lake
8,900 ft elevation | 24 acres
Where — Reservation water about 22 miles east of Pinetop off SR 260; open mid-May through mid-September.
Fish — Rainbow and brook trout in a small, scenic setting.
Christmas Tree Lake
8,200–8,400 ft elevation | 41 acres
Where — Reservation lake south of Hawley Lake, built in 1965 at the junction of Sun Creek and Moon Creek; access requires a special reservation permit that limits how many anglers are on the water at once.
Fish — Apache trout, Arizona's state fish, and one of the waters most closely tied to the species' recovery after it was listed as endangered in 1969. Live bait isn't allowed here.
Sunrise Lake
9,100 ft elevation | ~900 acres — the largest in the area
Where — Reservation water about 30 miles east of Pinetop via SR 260 and 273, near Sunrise Park Resort.
Fish — Rainbow trout that regularly reach 15–20 inches, plus Arctic grayling — an unusual find anywhere in Arizona.
Crescent Lake
8,900–9,000 ft elevation | 130 acres
Where — About two miles north of Big Lake, roughly 41 miles southeast of Pinetop via SR 260 and 273.
Fish — Brook and rainbow trout, popular with fly anglers when the wind lies down. Boat motors are capped at 10 horsepower, and camping is handled at nearby Big Lake.
Big Lake
9,000 ft elevation | 400–575 acres | 16 ft average depth
Where — Apache County, about 26 miles south of Springerville and Eagar via Highways 260 and 261, at the base of Mount Baldy — among the highest-elevation lakes in the state.
Fish — Predominantly rainbow trout, with brook and cutthroat mixed in; Game and Fish stocks hundreds of thousands of fingerling and sub-catchable trout here every year. Five campgrounds, a marina, and three boat ramps make it the most developed of the high-country lakes, though motors are still capped at 10 horsepower.
Lee Valley Lake
9,420 ft elevation — the state's highest reservoir | 35 acres
Where — Near Mount Baldy, about 35 miles from Pinetop-Lakeside via SR 260, SR 273, and Forest Road 113.
Fish — Sits at the meeting point of three Apache trout recovery streams, so it's managed specifically for the state fish, with Arctic grayling also present.
The lakes above the village of Greer
Greer. Two small reservoirs a mile or so north of Greer, both known more for size of fish than size of water.
River Reservoir
8,200 ft elevation | 120 acres
Where — About a mile north of Greer, off Forest Road 245.
Fish — Known for large brown trout, alongside rainbow trout.
Bunch Reservoir
8,200 ft elevation | 44 acres
Where — Also about a mile north of Greer.
Fish — Rainbow and brown trout.
Springerville, Eagar, and Alpine
Farther east. Lower and warmer than the reservation lakes, and a genuinely different mix of water — from a fly-only trophy fishery to a 1,400-acre reservoir that fishes nothing like a trout lake.
Becker Lake
6,900 ft elevation | 85–107 acres | 10–21 ft depth (avg–max)
Where — Two miles northwest of Springerville, part of the 622-acre Becker Lake Wildlife Area — one of the oldest reservoirs in the White Mountains, built around 1880.
Fish — Managed as a trophy, catch-and-release fishery — artificial flies and lures only from October through May — for rainbow and Apache trout, with brown trout that migrate in from the Little Colorado River and native Little Colorado suckers.
Luna Lake
7,890 ft elevation | 75–120 acres
Where — Three miles southeast of Alpine — the easternmost lake in the White Mountains, and the headwaters of the San Francisco River.
Fish — Rainbow, cutthroat, and brook trout. The state-record cutthroat trout came out of this lake.
Lyman Lake
6,000 ft elevation | 1,400 acres
Where — Seventeen miles north of Springerville off US 191, home to Lyman Lake State Park.
Fish — A genuinely mixed warm-water fishery — rainbow trout, channel catfish, crappie, largemouth bass, walleye, bluegill, and sunfish all show up here, a real contrast to the cold, trout-only water higher in the mountains.
Nelson Reservoir
7,400 ft elevation | 100 acres
Where — Five miles south of Nutrioso off US 191, with an accessible fishing area for anglers with disabilities.
Fish — Rainbow, cutthroat, brook, and brown trout.
A few things worth knowing before you load the boat
Lakes on the White Mountain Apache Reservation — Hawley, Horseshoe Cienega, A-1, Christmas Tree, Sunrise, Crescent, and Lee Valley among them — require a tribal recreation permit in addition to, or instead of, an Arizona state license. Permits are sold in Hon-Dah and Whiteriver. Arizona Game and Fish Department manages the rest, and its stocking schedule can shift from year to year, so it's worth checking before a trip.
Elevation matters here more than distance on a map. A lake twenty minutes from Pinetop-Lakeside by road can sit two thousand feet higher and stay locked in snow into April, while another lake the same distance away never closes at all. When someone asks what the water's like "up at the lake," the honest answer is: which one?