Fishlake National Forest - Fremont River District Map
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Lakeshore National Recreation Trail
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Doctor Creek Campground
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Fish Lake Basin - Geologic History
The interesting aspect of the geology of the Fish Lake Basin is not the rocks that underlie it, for they are all basalts that flowed out of fissures as molten lava then simply lay there until they cooled, but in the processes and movements that formed the basin. The basin is a gigantic trough formed when an elongate block dropped down between two faults. We can see the outline of these faults today as the slopes of Mytoge Mountain, on the southeast side of the basin, and Fish Lake Hightop Mountain, on the northwest side. The block extends from near Johnson Valley Reservoir to Windy Ridge, a length of about 10 miles.
Settling of this basin-forming block has not been uniform or continuous. Rather, it has dropped from the level of the two surrounding mountains in a discontinuous series of jumps that produced earthquakes. Between these jumps were long periods of quiet, such as we are enjoying now. Each end of the basin has not settled the same amount with each jump. We know this because at one time in the not too distant prehistory the lake drained out the south end rather than through Lake Creek as it does now. Since the divide in the old stream channel is 50 feet higher than the lake, we know the north end of the basin has recently dropped 50 feet more than the south end.
In addition to faulting, glaciers have also had a big part in shaping the basin. The most prominent one carved out Pelican Canyon and deposited the debris as moraines. These moraines form the low hills at the mouth of the canyon. Pelican Overlook sits on top of these moraines. As the glaciers melted, the waters washed sediment from the moraines out into the lake, forming a fan-shaped deposit. This fan nearly cut the lake in two, but a narrow straight remains at Pelican Point between the main body and Widgeon Bay. Other, less prominent, glaciers occurred near Frying Pan and along the west side of Sevenmile Creek. (Written by Andrew E. Godfrey, Geologist)
Recommended Video On KZfaq: "Off Tracks: Mytoge Road, Fish Lake, Utah”
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