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PORT OF PINES LAKE - IN GILA COUNTY, ARIZONA

Point of Pines Lake is a beautiful 34-acre high mountain Lake surrounded by ponderosa pine forest. Travel along Indian Route 8 (1000 road) roughly 50 miles from the junction of Highway 70 to reach this quiet and peaceful Lake. Point of Pines Lake is stocked annually with Rainbow and Brown Trout during the Fall and Winter months with larger Trout being caught as a result of over summer survival in this high elevation lake.

 

Plenty of Camping is available on the south end with all other areas along the lake accessible for day use only.  Must have a permit to use the lake.  Please click on the "more info" link below for details.

Permits

  • Check for latest permit costs at the Recreation & Wildlife Department in San Carlos

  • Permit required for fishing, hunting, or special-use

  • Family permits include parents and children 18 and under

  • Visitors to the Black and Salt Rivers or Bear Wallow Creek must have a special permit

  • No permit is needed for driving through on US 60, US 70, Road 800 to San Carlos, or Road 500 to Coolidge Dam

  • Black and Salt River permit may be used for fishing in those rivers or Bear Wallow Creek; special permit fees per day for ages 12 and up

  • Boat permits are issued on a daily or per calendar year basis; a combined fishing and boat permit can be purchased for a full calendar year

  • Water-skiing/personal watercraft permits are also available for annual access; free if under age 12 with a permit-holding adult

One-day permits are good for 24 hours, from midnight to midnight.

 

For More Info

San Carlos Recreation and Wildlife Department
PO Box 97
San Carlos, AZ 85550
(928) 475-2343

Fish Species

Exclusively Rainbow Trout

Fishing Strategy

Fishing from the shore with worms and small boats work best.  Cowbells work very well trolling at low speeds. 

Boating Options

Small boats electric or people powered boats

Camping Options

There are picnic tables, campsites, and restrooms located at the lake. Overnight camping is avaible in close proximity to the lake. 

Directions

To reach San Carlos Lake, take State Route 70 east from Globe for 25 miles, then turn south at Indian Route 3. Stay on that road for nine and one-half miles to reach the Soda Canyon General Store, where you'll find a 60-foot-wide concrete launch ramp within a mile of the dam itself. The lake is a little over 100 miles east of Phoenix and about 125 miles north of Tucson. The San Carlos Apache Tribe has sovereign rights over the lake and the land, and the tribe has managed water recreation since 1968 under contracts with the U. S. Interior Department.

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