Bear Canyon Lake
Coconino County, Arizona65 acresView mapDirections
No nutrient or algae sampling on record from ADEQ for this lake.
- 16 ft max depth
- Public access
- Limited data
Bear Canyon Lake in Coconino County, Arizona has water-quality measurements published by ADEQ, shown here as reported. Surface area: 65 acres.
Bear Canyon Lake is a 65-acre lake in Coconino County, Arizona with an estimated average depth of about 16 feet. Water clarity is declining over recent sampling years. Limited fish-species data available. Public access is available with 1 public boat landing.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, ADEQ, last sampled 2025-11-07. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Bear Canyon Lake covers about 65 acres in Coconino County. It has one public boat landing. Vrbo is where to look for cabins and lake homes around Bear Canyon Lake, and Booking.com and Expedia search hotels near the lake for your dates.
What Bear Canyon Lake is good for
From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.
- Boat launch1 documented ramp
- Camping1 public campground nearby
Swimming conditions
No readingLimited data
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Bear Canyon Lake is safe to swim in today is a call for the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Bear Canyon Lake
These are the measurements ADEQ publishes for Bear Canyon Lake, shown as reported. The condition class beside each reading is the EPA National Lakes Assessment class for this lake’s ecoregion.
No clarity data.
Ask about Bear Canyon Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~16 ft est.
Surface area
65 acres
Public access
Yes
Listed by ADEQ
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Arizona has not published bathymetry for Bear Canyon Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
3 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
0.9 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
7,585 ft
Size, shoreline, and watershed area from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS). Mean depth here is modelled, not surveyed — HydroLAKES v1.0 estimates lake depth from surrounding terrain rather than from soundings. Treat it as an approximation, and prefer a state bathymetric survey where one exists.
Recreation & Access
- Bear Canyon LakePublic
Named access points in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory, within about 3 miles. More lakes with boat ramps
Public campgrounds near Bear Canyon Lake
- Promontory Pit Road2.8 km
Nearest public campgrounds in the USGS National Map inventory, within about 3 miles. An empty list means USGS records no campground that close, which is not the same as camping being unavailable. Where the source gives an official reservation link, it is used; the cabin and hotel search does not cover campsites. More camping lakes
Stays via Stay22
Stays near Bear Canyon Lake
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Bear Canyon Lake in Coconino County, Arizona — live availability and prices for your trip. Switch the map to Satellite to see the lake and how close each stay is to the water.
Top-rated places to stay near Bear Canyon Lake
Prices for Oct 30–Nov 1, 4 adults. Change dates on the map below.
Availability and prices from Stay22 partners (Booking.com, Vrbo, Expedia). We may earn a commission from bookings, at no extra cost to you.
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Fishing Bear Canyon Lake
Water Quality Trend: Stable
Based on 4 years of monitoring (2013–2020).
Water clarity
Worsening4 years
Phosphorus
Improving-7.9 µg/L/yr2 years
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Bear Canyon Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Bear Canyon (completed 1929), built primarily for fish and wildlife pond on the Bear Creek; earth-type dam, 50 ft tall and 345 ft long.
- Surface area
- 65 ac
- Normal storage
- 1,430 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 1,638 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 2 sq mi
- Hazard class
- Low
- Owner
- ARIZONA GAME & FISH DEPARTMENT
All listed purposes: Fish and Wildlife Pond;Recreation.
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID AZ00130 · Operator website
Nearby Lakes in Coconino County
Frequently asked questions about Bear Canyon Lake
Where is Bear Canyon Lake?
- Bear Canyon Lake is a lake in Coconino County, Arizona. Its water-quality measurements are published by ADEQ and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Bear Canyon Lake?
- Bear Canyon Lake in Coconino County, Arizona has water-quality measurements published by ADEQ, shown here as reported. Surface area: 65 acres.
Is Bear Canyon Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Bear Canyon Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Bear Canyon Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 16 feet, but that is a modelled estimate derived from surrounding terrain rather than a measurement on the water, so treat it as approximate. The lake covers 65 acres.
Are there boat ramps on Bear Canyon Lake?
- Bear Canyon Lake has 1 documented boat landing in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory. Named access points include Bear Canyon Lake. Public access is listed as yes.
Can I fish at Bear Canyon Lake?
- Bear Canyon Lake has 1 documented boat landing in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory. Seasons, size and bag limits, and whether you need a license are set by Arizona's fish and wildlife agency, so check its current regulations before you go.
Are there campgrounds on Bear Canyon Lake?
- Bear Canyon Lake has 1 public campground from USGS The National Map within 5 km, including Promontory Pit Road. This is a location join, not a booking. Cabins and hotels are listed separately; campsite reservations use the official link when the source provides one.
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Where this data comes from
7 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2021–2025. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- Great Lakes Environmental Center
GLEC7 samples · 2021–2025
Analytical methods
- 4500 P E ~ Phosphorus in Water by Colorimetry- Ascorbic Acid Method
- 300.0 ~ EPA; Determination of Inorganic Anions by Ion Chromatography
Monitoring station identifiers (1)
EPA condition classes from the National Lakes Assessment (EPA 841-R-24-006, Table 6-3), applied by ecoregion. See where the data comes from and data sources.
Other records on this page
Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)
Named boat-access points from the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory
Public campgrounds from USGS The National Map Structures, within about 3 miles