Cooper Lake (Washington) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Cooper Lake |
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 Cooper Lake
Location in Washington (state)
Cooper Lake
Location in the United States
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| Location | Kittitas County, Washington |
| Coordinates | 47°25′39″N 121°10′39″W / 47.42750°N 121.17750°W |
| Primary inflows | Cooper River |
| Primary outflows | Cooper River |
| Basin countries | United States |
| Max. length | 1 mile (1.6 km) |
| Max. width | 0.2 miles (0.32 km) |
| Surface area | 129 acres (0.52 km2) |
| Surface elevation | 2,792 ft (851 m) |
Cooper Lake is a beautiful freshwater lake high up in the mountains. It's found in the southern part of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness in Kittitas County, Washington. People love to visit Cooper Lake because it's close to other big lakes like Cle Elum Lake and Kachess Lake. It's a super popular spot for hiking, camping, and especially fishing!
You can even use two fishing poles here, which is pretty cool. The lake is filled every year with fish like Kokanee salmon and different kinds of trout. Cooper Lake is also a great starting point for trails that lead to other amazing alpine lakes nearby, such as Pete Lake and Spectacle Lake.
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Where is Cooper Lake?
Cooper Lake is located about 3.5 miles off Salmon La Sac road. This is east of Snoqualmie Pass and The Summit at Snoqualmie on Interstate 90. If you want to hike to other lakes, the trail starts past the Owhi Campground. This campground is on the northwest side of the lake, along the Cooper River.
Cooper Lake is part of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. This means it's a protected natural area. The land around the lake is managed by the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest.
Nature Around the Lake
Cooper Lake sits in a long valley. The lake itself is about 1 mile long and 0.2 miles wide. The Cooper River flows into the lake from the northwest side. This river brings water from smaller mountain lakes, like Escondido Lake, which are along the Pacific Crest Trail.
The Cooper River also flows out of Cooper Lake. It then becomes a smaller river that joins the Cle Elum River. Cooper Lake and the Cooper River are very important natural areas. They are protected under a special law called the Shoreline Management Act. Most of the smaller streams in this area flow into Cooper Lake and the Cooper River. Then they all eventually reach Cle Elum Lake.
The Cooper River flows through the Cascade Mountain Range. This means it has very steep sides in some places. In the past, mining and building dams on the Cle Elum River made it harder for salmon to live there. But since the late 2000s, salmon have been returning to the Cle Elum River!
Fish in Cooper Lake
Long ago, in 1904, dams were built on the rivers. These dams made it impossible for many types of salmon, like sockeye salmon, coho salmon, Chinook salmon, and steelhead trout, to swim upstream to their natural homes.
But there's good news! Since 2005, the Yakama Nation has been working to bring coho salmon and sockeye salmon back. They want to make the river ecosystem healthier for these fish. They have released thousands of adult salmon into Cle Elum Reservoir and Cooper Lake. These fish were caught from Priest Rapids Reservoir.
You can fish in Cooper Lake all year round. You might catch brook trout, rainbow trout, brown trout, kokanee salmon, and cutthroat trout. However, you are not allowed to fish for bull trout here. You can fish from the shore at the US Forest Service campground. But remember, motorboats are not allowed on the lake. And yes, you can use two fishing poles!
History of the Area
In 1984, a very old stone tool called a Clovis point was found at the bottom of Cle Elum Reservoir. This suggests that Indigenous peoples of the Northwest Plateau might have lived in this area a very long time ago. Perhaps they were part of the Clovis culture. Some people think they might have been the Wenatchi People. They are one of the tribes that make up the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation. This land is also part of the traditional lands of the Yakama Nation.
Even though the Clovis point was found, experts haven't found other old tools or buildings to confirm it. The water levels haven't gone down enough since 1984 to look for more clues. However, in the Salmon La Sac area, there are other old Native American sites. These include places where tools were left behind, petroglyphs (rock carvings), and areas where people gathered food. There are also places where people set up seasonal camps to catch salmon. These sites likely belonged to the Kittitas or other groups of the Yakama Nation.
Weather Around the Lake
Cooper Lake is in a type of climate that has cool, dry summers and mild, wet winters. This is often called a "Mediterranean" climate. The tall Cascade Mountains play a big role in the weather here.
Two main weather systems affect the Cascades in Washington. One is the North Pacific High, which brings high pressure. The other is the Aleutian Low, which brings low pressure in the summer. In both cases, the air and storms usually come from the northwest side of the Cascades.
