4.7 miles away
Skeleton Cave
A cave in the Salt River Canyon Wilderness, site of the 1872 massacre of Yavapai people and listed on the National Register in 1991.
Canyon Lake
The smallest of four Salt River reservoirs, formed by Mormon Flat Dam in 1925 and covering 950 acres in the Superstition Wilderness.
- Rank in Arizona
- #108of 727 ranked
- Overall score
- Score 50.5 out of 100medium confidence
- Category
- Natural Landmark
Canyon Lake is one of four reservoirs formed by the damming of the Salt River as part of the Salt River Project. It was created by Mormon Flat Dam, completed in 1925 after two years of construction, and with a surface area of 950 acres is the third and smallest of the four. Apache Lake and Roosevelt Lake lie upstream and Saguaro Lake downstream. The lake is about 15 miles up the Apache Trail from Apache Junction and 51 miles east of Phoenix, within the Superstition Wilderness of the Tonto National Forest. Its hiking trails, camping and boating facilities are managed by the United States Forest Service, and it lies on the Apache Trail, Arizona State Route 88, which continues past Tortilla Flat to Apache Lake and Roosevelt Lake behind Theodore Roosevelt Dam. In 2022 a fish kill caused by golden algae affected 100,000 fish.
Where it is
Canyon Lake is a natural landmark near Apache Junction, in Maricopa County. It is one of the natural landmarks in this database, and appears in the statewide ranking of Arizona attractions.
How this ranking was reached
No official visitor count is published for Canyon Lake, so its score rests on public interest and tourism significance, and is capped below the level a measured attraction can reach. That is why the medium confidence above is not higher. The weighting is explained in full on the methodology page, and every axis is broken out under Facts and sources at the foot of this page.
Note on the data: No official visitor count is published for this attraction.
Sources
- Public interest: Wikimedia pageviews (en.wikipedia, human traffic), 2024
- Coordinates and designations: Wikidata(opens in a new tab)
- County: U.S. Census geography via FCC Area API, resolved from coordinates
Record last verified 2026-08-12.
More photographs
Beyond My Ken, CC BY-SA 4.0 · licence(opens in a new tab) · source(opens in a new tab) 
Dave's98JeepTJ, CC BY-SA 3.0 · licence(opens in a new tab) · source(opens in a new tab)
Nearby attractions
5.4 miles away
Saguaro Lake
The fourth reservoir on the Salt River, formed by Stewart Mountain Dam and managed within the Tonto National Forest.
6.5 miles away
Lost Dutchman State Park
A 320-acre park at the foot of the Superstition Mountains, named for a lost gold mine of Old West legend.
6.8 miles away
Goldfield Ghost Town
An 1893 mining settlement below the Superstition Mountains, rebuilt in full as a visitor attraction.
7.4 miles away
Superstition Wilderness
Superstition Wilderness, in Pinal County, Arizona, is a Tonto National Forest area covering the Superstition Mountains, with trails and dispersed camping.
7.6 miles away
Superstition Mountain Museum
Superstition Mountain Museum, in Apache Junction, Arizona, spans 12.5 acres and includes the relocated Elvis Memorial Chapel and Audie Murphy Barn.
Facts and sources
Place
- Category
- Natural Landmark
- Destination
- Apache Junction
- County
- Maricopa County
- State
- Arizona
Visitation
- Annual visits
- Not published
Ranking
- Overall score
- 50.5 / 100
- Visitation score
- No published count
- Popularity score
- 41.5
- Significance score
- 58.0
- Confidence
- medium
Visiting
- Coordinates
- 33.5436, -111.4370
- Last verified
- 2026-08-12