After being in dry climates the last 4 years of traveling, we totally forgot about the suckyness of poison oak. We mountain biked around Lost Creek Lake one day and while the trail is gorgeous, poison oak got us.
At it’s max, the lake is 10 miles and the trail is only on one side so you connect it with a paved path through the parks on the other side and then a gravel section and short paved road as well. Lost Creek Dam creates the reservoir and it’s a very popular place in summer for swimming, fishing, camping and boating. It was pretty quite the weekday we were there but it wasn’t summer yet.
The interesting fact I learned is that the technologically advanced and unusual intake tower of the dam regulates water temperature by combining lake water from different depths in a mixing chamber before releasing it downstream. This serves to cool the normally warm summer water of the Rogue River, which improves conditions for fish migration and survival.
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