HikeArizona.COM

C.C. Cragin (Blue Ridge) Reservoir, located about 25 miles north of Payson, will be closed starting Sept. 6 to allow for the next phase of the ongoing renovation of boating access facilities.

Forest Road 751 to the lake will be closed just beyond the entrance to the Rock Crossing Campground, with the campground itself remaining open and accessible to the public. Vehicle access to the lake is anticipated to remain closed until spring 2017.

Foot access to the western portion of the lake via approximately 1.5 miles of roadway and the Rock Crossing Trail is allowed, but please note that most of the roadway near the lake is closed to all entry for public safety reasons.

hikeaz wrote:Vehicle access to the lake is anticipated to remain closed until spring 2017.

Ummm? Your mistake, or theirs, or is this old news?

@azbackpackr
The construction is slated to be finished sometime this fall (2017) but they anticipate that the normal winter road closures will have already taken effect by then and subsequently the road won't open until spring when the Rim roads open up after the snow melts (typically sometime in April). That will be 2018.

Official sources:
https://www.azgfd.com/vehicular-access- ... wednesday/
https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/coconino ... EPRD558132

azbackpackr wrote:

hikeaz wrote:Vehicle access to the lake is anticipated to remain closed until spring 2017.

Ummm? Your mistake, or theirs, or is this old news?

Current news, thanks for correcting the oversight. Spring 2018 is correct as far as I can tell.

Thanks!

This is a short term bummer. I did a kayak camp trip up there at the end of June that was fantastic, and I had been thinking about taking another trip up in a few weeks. Hopefully the improved boat launch doesn't make the resovoir even busier...

@The_Dude
I've done a couple of kayak camping trips there, a couple of years ago. The launch ramp was always a mess. But I hear ya, it would be less fun if very busy. Have you been kayaking in East Clear Creek https://hikearizona.com/photoset.php?ID=36337 or Lower Lower Chevelon? (Be sure to see GPS route on this one, which must be done during wet monsoon): https://hikearizona.com/photoset.php?ID=41294

@azbackpackr
Thanks for the other suggestions! I have been looking at doing ECC for a while too, that might have to be on the docket now. I know new ramp will make things better, just me being selfish...

ECC is easy peasy to get in and out of. Lower Lower Chevelon...well, you just have to follow my directions, go to the bridge, look over and see if it will float a boat, then go to the place where you can put in, which is downstream from the bridge, via a dirt road. My GPS route should help. The bad part is that the little lake is actually a lot longer than what you can paddle, but due to an old log jam you can go only partway up. Got any dynamite?

And then there is the main Chevelon Lake. I have an inflatable kayak that fits in a duffel bag, which I plan to lash to an old aluminum backpack frame, and hike the boat down to the lake, then go back for the rest of the gear. This shenanigan has been on my list for a long time. Now that I have moved back to Arizona (from Oregon) I can plan it.

2/22/19-
Five days of winter storms have filled the C.C. Cragin (Blue Ridge) Reservoir, guaranteeing that in April, Payson will start taking delivery of water from its new $54 million pipeline.

Hoping it will be full later in the summer for some kayak camping.