Mormon Lake

Rank in Arizona: #210of 727 ranked
Overall score: Score 45.5 out of 100medium confidence
Most looked up: Julyby Wikipedia readers
Category: Natural Landmark

Mormon Lake is a shallow, intermittent lake in Pleasant Valley in northern Arizona. Its average depth is about 10 feet and its surface area fluctuates seasonally: when full it covers some 12 square miles, making it the largest natural lake in Arizona, and in particularly dry periods it has been known to dry up entirely, leaving a remnant marsh. It lies within the Coconino National Forest, established in 1908, in part of the largest continuous stand of ponderosa pine in North America. The lake is occasionally stocked with bullhead catfish and northern pike, though its intermittent character means it may hold few fish or none after a dry season. Its name commemorates Mormon settlers who migrated to northern Arizona in the 1870s; they established their main communities along the Little Colorado River, and in Pleasant Valley a sawmill in 1876 and a dairy in 1878.

Where it is

Mormon Lake is a natural landmark near Sedona, in Coconino 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 Mormon 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

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