Blue Ridge Reservoir is a small, deep lake set within a steep canyon of conifers and deciduous trees, extending in two long arms from a central primitive boat ramp.a
A few feet of shallow water at the end of the ramp offer the perfect place to launch from and return to dry ground.
Dammed on one end, the lake terminates into a small stream running between two elky meadows at the other.
By Susan Johnson
Blue Ridge Reservoir is a small, deep lake set within a steep canyon of conifers and deciduous trees, extending in two long arms from a central primitive boat ramp.a
A few feet of shallow water at the end of the ramp offer the perfect place to launch from and return to dry ground.
Dammed on one end, the lake terminates into a small stream running between two elky meadows at the other.
The 15-mile shoreline is rimmed with rocks, pine trees and oak trees, and the water’s edge offers much for kayakers and canoeists to see in the form of birds, wildflowers and huge limestone outcroppings.
Great blue herons stand on rocks near the shore, bobbing for frogs, while ospreys circle overhead, ready to dive at the flash of a fin.
Paddling alongside are adult ducks, leading their offspring in impromptu parades, while Blackburnian warblers chatter and dart among the overhanging limbs of oaks, devouring small worms that chew on the leaves.
Picturesque natural rock gardens feature wild columbines, ferns, wild roses and purple-robed locusts, heavy with fragrant flowers during their annual bloom.
Since it’s stocked with trout, this can be a good place to acquire plenty of fish for dinner. With a motor limit of 10 horsepower, the lake is generally quiet, offering perfect conditions for paddling and angling.
On holiday weekends, the boat ramp can seem a busy place, but a little patience and a 15-minute paddle in one direction or the other will usually be enough to find relative solitude.
Although the reservoir is relatively narrow, it is extremely deep in most places.
When the water level drops a few feet during extreme periods of drought, much of the exposed shoreline becomes nearly vertical, offering few places to conveniently exit a boat, except at the meadow end and at the boat ramp.
There are no lifeguards or any other form of rescue personnel in the vicinity, so visitors who find themselves in trouble must be prepared to self-rescue.
For these reasons, life jackets are a must.
It’s also important to take an overnight survival pack on the boat, since the wild weather of the Mogollon Rim can turn the afternoon skies from a robin’s egg blue to seething black in a matter of minutes, complemented by driving rain and hurled bolts of lightning.
During these sudden storms, high winds can make the water difficult to navigate and temperatures can drop quickly.
However, numerous and relatively spacious cantilevered rock outcroppings, high enough for most people to stand up in, provide safe
places to hunker down while waiting for calmer weather to prevail.
Many visitors extend their time here, camping in the meadows along FR 751 or springing for a site at Rock Crossing Campground, two miles above the boat ramp.
Hiking trails offer a close look at ancient alligator
junipers, meandering along the rim and leading up and down the canyon under heavily forested conditions.
Susan Johnson can be reached at 282-7795, Ext. 129 or e-mail sjohnson@larsonnewspapers.com
