McPhee Reservoir

McPhee Reservoir
McPhee Dam and Reservoir
Location	Montezuma County, Colorado
Coordinates	37°34′39″N 108°34′20″W / 37.5775°N 108.57222°W / 37.5775; -108.57222Coordinates: 37°34′39″N 108°34′20″W / 37.5775°N 108.57222°W / 37.5775; -108.57222
Lake type	reservoir
Basin countries	United States
Surface elevation	6,893 ft (2,101 m)
Settlements	McPhee, Colorado, a ghost town beneath the lake

Locomotive, Montezuma Lumber Company, McPhee, Colorado, 1947

McPhee Reservoir is located in Montezuma County, Colorado, United States. It is the second largest artificial body of water in Colorado. It was constructed and is operated by the United States Bureau of Reclamation as part of the Dolores Project, and dams the Dolores River to furnish irrigation water for Montezuma and Dolores counties and the Ute Mountain Indian Reservation.

McPhee Reservoir is named for McPhee, Colorado, a company town founded by the New Mexico Lumber Company, that is now submerged under the reservoir. In 1927, the McPhee sawmill produced over half of Colorado's lumber. The town housed up to 1,500 employees. The sawmill closed in 1946. ^[1]

The lake itself may be accessed from near Dolores, Colorado by CO-145 and CO-184, and offers various boat-launching facilities, picnic areas, and campgrounds in the McPhee Recreation Area operated by the US Forest Service. The lake fills the lower end of the Dolores Valley, with the dam completed in 1985 across Dolores Canyon.

References

1. ^ History of McPhee

External links

• Recreation.gov McPhee Reservoir
• Map of McPhee
• History and photographs of McPhee, Colorado at Historic American Buildings Survey
• U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: McPhee Reservoir