Woods Canyon Lake

Woods Canyon Lake is a small lake in northern Arizona, about 30 miles east of Payson. It is one of the Rim Lakes, a series of canyon-bound lakes on the Mogollon Rim, and among the more developed and accessible of them. It is the first reservoir on Chevelon Creek, upstream of Chevelon Canyon Lake. Long and narrow, it is formed by an earthen dam impounding the creek in Woods Canyon, and has a surface area of 55 acres and an average depth of 25 feet. It was created primarily for recreation. Paved forest roads reach it for most of the year, though snow may restrict access between December and April. It is stocked with rainbow and tiger trout from April to September, and holds a small self-sustaining population of brown trout.

Where it is

Woods Canyon Lake is a natural landmark near Payson, 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 Woods 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.