Summit Lake (Chugach National Forest) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Summit Lake
Looking across Summit Lake from the edge of Seward Highway near Summit Lodge
Summit Lake Location in Alaska
Location	Chugach National Forest, Alaska United States
Coordinates	60°37′53″N 149°30′31″W / 60.6313°N 149.5085°W / 60.6313; -149.5085
Type	Natural lake
Primary inflows	Canyon Creek & Tenderfoot Creek
Primary outflows	Canyon Creek
Basin countries	United States
Surface area	258 acres (104 ha)
Average depth	48.1 feet (14.7 m)
Max. depth	70 feet (21 m)
Water volume	51,928,350 cubic yards (39,702,070 m3)
Shore length1	3.3 miles (5.3 km)
Surface elevation	1,266 feet (386 m)
1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure.

Summit Lake (or Upper Summit Lake) is located on Canyon Creek in the Chugach National Forest, Alaska, United States and is situated along the Seward Highway (AK-1) 10 miles (16 km) north-northeast of Moose Pass and about 23 miles (37 km) southwest of the Portage area of Anchorage. The lake is fed by Canyon Creek from the southwest and Tenderfoot Creek from the east. The lake empties into Canyon Creek on the northeast, which flows through Lower Summit Lake, into Six Mile Creek, and eventually into the Turnagain Arm of the Cook Inlet. (However, the lake is not connected with the nearby Summit Creek, which runs about 1 mile [1.6 km] from the southwest shore of Summit Lake and whose waters flow southwest from the far side of the summit toward Kenai Lake and Skilak Lake before reaching the Cook Inlet.)

The Summit Lake Lodge is located just off the Seward Highway on the north shore of Summit Lake and the Tenderfoot Creek Campground is located directly south of the lodge, but on the east shore of the lake. A restoration of a former ski area has been proposed for the area as well, but has substantial obstacles that must be overcome before it can be rebuilt.

The lake has a natural population of both Dolly Varden and Lake trout, but is also stocked annually with fingerling Rainbow trout.