Crescent Lake (Arizona)

Crescent Lake is located approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) north of Big Lake. The lake sits at just over 9,000 feet (2,700 m) elevation on the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests, as such the facilities located here are managed by that authority. Access is restricted in the winter when roads are closed due to snow, generally December to early April.

Crescent Lake
Crescent Lake Show map of Arizona Crescent Lake Show map of the United States
Location	Apache County, Arizona
Coordinates	33°54′32″N 109°25′10″W
Basin countries	United States
Surface area	100 acres (40 ha)
Average depth	15 ft (4.6 m)
Surface elevation	9,040 ft (2,760 m)

Description

Crescent Lake has 100 acres (40 ha), with an average depth of 10 feet (3.0 m). It's a highly productive lake, which allows trout to gain size quickly. However, the lake is shallow, which encourages weed growth and algae blooms, and makes it subject to late summer and winter fish kills. To manage the problem of winter kills, the Arizona Game and Fish stocks the lake with large numbers of catchable rainbow trout and brook trout each spring.

Fish species

• Rainbow trout
• Brook trout

Climate

Maverick Fork is a SNOTEL weather station near Crescent Lake.^[1] Maverick Fork has a dry-summer subalpine climate (Köppen Dsc), bordering on a dry-summer humid continental climate (Köppen Dsb).

Climate data for Maverick Fork, Arizona, 1991–2020 normals, 1988-2020 extremes: 9200ft (2804m)
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high °F (°C)	59 (15)	60 (16)	66 (19)	75 (24)	83 (28)	86 (30)	89 (32)	82 (28)	79 (26)	73 (23)	66 (19)	62 (17)	89 (32)
Mean maximum °F (°C)	54.5 (12.5)	55.4 (13.0)	60.3 (15.7)	64.8 (18.2)	72.6 (22.6)	80.1 (26.7)	80.4 (26.9)	76.0 (24.4)	72.8 (22.7)	67.9 (19.9)	61.1 (16.2)	55.4 (13.0)	81.9 (27.7)
Mean daily maximum °F (°C)	42.0 (5.6)	43.4 (6.3)	48.2 (9.0)	53.4 (11.9)	61.5 (16.4)	71.4 (21.9)	71.9 (22.2)	69.5 (20.8)	65.5 (18.6)	57.4 (14.1)	48.7 (9.3)	41.4 (5.2)	56.2 (13.4)
Daily mean °F (°C)	28.8 (−1.8)	30.3 (−0.9)	34.7 (1.5)	39.7 (4.3)	47.3 (8.5)	56.1 (13.4)	59.1 (15.1)	57.4 (14.1)	52.7 (11.5)	44.3 (6.8)	36.1 (2.3)	28.9 (−1.7)	42.9 (6.1)
Mean daily minimum °F (°C)	15.7 (−9.1)	17.2 (−8.2)	21.2 (−6.0)	26.1 (−3.3)	32.9 (0.5)	40.7 (4.8)	46.2 (7.9)	45.4 (7.4)	39.9 (4.4)	31.1 (−0.5)	23.4 (−4.8)	16.3 (−8.7)	29.7 (−1.3)
Mean minimum °F (°C)	−0.8 (−18.2)	1.2 (−17.1)	6.1 (−14.4)	13.0 (−10.6)	21.8 (−5.7)	30.9 (−0.6)	40.1 (4.5)	39.9 (4.4)	30.9 (−0.6)	17.7 (−7.9)	7.3 (−13.7)	−2.5 (−19.2)	−5.8 (−21.0)
Record low °F (°C)	−17 (−27)	−19 (−28)	−7 (−22)	4 (−16)	16 (−9)	18 (−8)	29 (−2)	28 (−2)	21 (−6)	6 (−14)	−6 (−21)	−21 (−29)	−21 (−29)
Average precipitation inches (mm)	2.78 (71)	2.53 (64)	2.02 (51)	1.11 (28)	0.77 (20)	0.52 (13)	3.79 (96)	4.04 (103)	2.12 (54)	1.92 (49)	2.17 (55)	2.76 (70)	26.53 (674)
Average extreme snow depth inches (cm)	29.1 (74)	31.7 (81)	29.6 (75)	9.6 (24)	1.6 (4.1)	0.3 (0.76)	0.1 (0.25)	0.2 (0.51)	0.2 (0.51)	1.6 (4.1)	5.9 (15)	17.9 (45)	35.9 (91)
Source 1: XMACIS2[2]
Source 2: NOAA (Precipitation)[3]