Oregon, Deschutes County, near Sisters
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Time Traveler
Welcome to historic Fish Lake.
Now a quiet and peaceful place, it was once filled with the hustle and bustle of people working and traveling across the Cascades.
Nearby is the Fish Lake Remount Depot which has been in continuous use as a U.S. Forest Service station since 1910. The depot was originally developed as a way station and became the most popular stop on the Williamette Valley and Cascade Mountain Wagaon Road, commonly called the Old Santiam Wagon Road.
This road was a pioneering route across the Cascades, becoming a vital link between western and eastern Oregon. Over the years countless footsteps, thousands of hooves, wagon wheels and the churning wheels of early automobiles all shaped the road. In 1905 two cars heading towards Portland to complete the first trans-continental automobile race traveled the length of the road.
The gate in front of you is a reconstruction of one of the toll gates that travelers passed through. The road company built a hotel, saloon, store, barn, blacksmith shop, and corrals to serve travelers.
To this day the depot is actively used by the Forest Service and includes log buildings from the early 1920s, as well as structures built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s. Traces of the wagon road are still visible and a pioneer gravesite remains from the early days of travel on the road.
Please help preserve this historic site.
The Life of a Lake
You are standing on the shore of a lake that may seem old but in geologic terms was formed yesterday. Fish Lake continues to change, seasonally and through the decades.
Around three thousand years ago an eruption of Nash Crater formed Fish Lake by damming Hackleman Creek. Seasonal rains and snow overwhelm this little valley's ability to drain the inflow so that each winter a lake is formed. In the summer, after the last snow melts off the ridges overlooking the valley, the lake quickly disappears and Hackleman Creek vanishes into the lava lakebed.
Grasses that have adapted to the seasonal drying of Fish Lake quickly transformed the lake into a lush meadow. The local Hackleman trout population has adapted to this seasonal disappearance of their lake home. When the temperature of the lake starts to rise, the trout head upstream into the creek where they wait for the arrival of winter and the lake's return.
(Environment • Roads & Vehicles) Includes location, directions, 4 photos, GPS coordinates, map.
Time Traveler
Welcome to historic Fish Lake.
Now a quiet and peaceful place, it was once filled with the hustle and bustle of people working and traveling across the Cascades.
Nearby is the Fish Lake Remount Depot which has been in continuous use as a U.S. Forest Service station since 1910. The depot was originally developed as a way station and became the most popular stop on the Williamette Valley and Cascade Mountain Wagaon Road, commonly called the Old Santiam Wagon Road.
This road was a pioneering route across the Cascades, becoming a vital link between western and eastern Oregon. Over the years countless footsteps, thousands of hooves, wagon wheels and the churning wheels of early automobiles all shaped the road. In 1905 two cars heading towards Portland to complete the first trans-continental automobile race traveled the length of the road.
The gate in front of you is a reconstruction of one of the toll gates that travelers passed through. The road company built a hotel, saloon, store, barn, blacksmith shop, and corrals to serve travelers.
To this day the depot is actively used by the Forest Service and includes log buildings from the early 1920s, as well as structures built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s. Traces of the wagon road are still visible and a pioneer gravesite remains from the early days of travel on the road.
Please help preserve this historic site.
The Life of a Lake
You are standing on the shore of a lake that may seem old but in geologic terms was formed yesterday. Fish Lake continues to change, seasonally and through the decades.
Around three thousand years ago an eruption of Nash Crater formed Fish Lake by damming Hackleman Creek. Seasonal rains and snow overwhelm this little valley's ability to drain the inflow so that each winter a lake is formed. In the summer, after the last snow melts off the ridges overlooking the valley, the lake quickly disappears and Hackleman Creek vanishes into the lava lakebed.
Grasses that have adapted to the seasonal drying of Fish Lake quickly transformed the lake into a lush meadow. The local Hackleman trout population has adapted to this seasonal disappearance of their lake home. When the temperature of the lake starts to rise, the trout head upstream into the creek where they wait for the arrival of winter and the lake's return.
(Environment • Roads & Vehicles) Includes location, directions, 4 photos, GPS coordinates, map.
