1.9 miles away
Granite Dells
Exposed granite bedrock and boulders north of Prescott, eroded into a rippled form and holding Watson and Willow lakes.
Watson Lake
A reservoir among the Granite Dells at Prescott, dammed in the early 1900s and bought by the city in 1997 as recreational land.
- Rank in Arizona
- #196of 727 ranked
- Overall score
- Score 46.3 out of 100medium confidence
- Category
- Natural Landmark
Watson Lake is one of two reservoirs at the Granite Dells in Prescott, Arizona. It was formed in the early 1900s when the Chino Valley Irrigation District built a dam on Granite Creek. The City of Prescott bought the reservoir and the surrounding land in 1997 in order to preserve it as recreational land. Climbers use the granite cliffs above and beside the lake for top-roping and lead climbing, and the water is used by the TriCity Prep rowing crew, a high school team and the only rowing team in northern Arizona.
Where it is
Watson Lake is a natural landmark near Prescott, in Yavapai 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 Watson 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
- Official site: https://www.prescott-az.gov/recreation-area/watson-lake-park/(opens in a new tab)
Record last verified 2026-08-12.
More photographs
John Fowler, CC BY 2.0 · licence(opens in a new tab) · source(opens in a new tab) 
cogdogblog, CC BY 2.0 · licence(opens in a new tab) · source(opens in a new tab)
Nearby attractions
2.2 miles away
Heritage Park Zoological Sanctuary
A non-profit Prescott animal sanctuary, also known as the Prescott Animal Park Association, protecting native and exotic species.2.5 miles away
The Phippen Museum of Western Art
The Phippen Museum of Western Art, in Prescott, Arizona, is named after artist George Phippen and hosts exhibits of western art.
2.8 miles away
Fort Whipple
A former United States Army post in Arizona, first sited at Del Rio Springs and later moved to a permanent site near Prescott.3.6 miles away
Museum of Indigenous People (formerly Smoki Museum of American Indian Art and Culture)
A Prescott museum of regional Native American history and culture, founded in 1935 out of a settler group that had staged imitation Hopi rituals.
4.3 miles away
Sharlot Hall Museum
An open-air museum in Prescott, opened in 1928 in the former Territorial Governor's Mansion by its founder, Sharlot M. Hall.
Facts and sources
Place
- Category
- Natural Landmark
- Destination
- Prescott
- County
- Yavapai County
- State
- Arizona
Visitation
- Annual visits
- Not published
Ranking
- Overall score
- 46.3 / 100
- Visitation score
- No published count
- Popularity score
- 32.2
- Significance score
- 58.0
- Confidence
- medium
Visiting
- Official website
- prescott-az.gov(opens in a new tab)
- Coordinates
- 34.5869, -112.4230
- Last verified
- 2026-08-12