Mirror Lake at an elevation of 10,050 feet is high in the Uinta Mountains. It is a popular recreation and fishing spot. The lake contains three species of trout: rainbow, brook, and tiger and has a Forest Service campground, picnic facilities, and a boat ramp for non-motorized watercraft. Access to the lake—other than by snowmobile—is by the Mirror Lake Scenic Byway (State 150 out of Kamas). This highway is open only during the summer.

The lake's name comes from the near-perfect reflection of the surrounding mountains and trees seen from a roadside overlook or from the shore. (See cover pic and pic above taken from the shore with my cell phone.) The shoreline is owned by the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest. The water entering the lake is overflow from Pass Lake located just above Mirror Lake. The outflow is the headwaters of the Duchesne River.

Utah today has five major tribes with strong cultural legacies that continue to flourish: Ute, Dine' (Navajo), Paiute, Goshute, and Shoshone. The Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray reservation is located in Northeastern Utah (Fort Duchesne) about 150 miles east of Salt Lake City, Utah. The reservation is in a three-county area, known as the Uintah Basin.

Though not seen as commonly as moose, the Wasatch and Uinta mountain ranges are home to hundreds of black bears.*

*Distilled from the Internet

On Wednesday, June 28th, 2023, Jessica was just home from staffing an Escape Adventures bicycle group on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Because she had a free day and was looking for more adventure Jess invited Jeff, me, and my good friend Carolyn Tuttle on a jaunt to Mirror Lake in the Uinta Mountains.

Jessica’s goal in taking this trip was to convince Mutha that the Uinta Mountains and the Mirror Lake area would be the best place for our next family camping/fishing outing. Thus we explored several campgrounds looking for the perfect spot on the Provo River. The lower Provo is renowned for its fishing.

If you recall, my last “travelogue” was one in which Carolyn and I explored the Uintas as far as Kamas, before a severe storm ushered us back home.

From the Internet: “Less than two hours from the Salt Lake City metro area, Mirror Lake Highway stretches 42 miles along state Route 150 and is one of the most popular mountain driving routes in the state. It begins in Kamas, wanders through the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest, and ascends high into the Uinta Mountains cresting at 10,715 feet at Bald Mountain Pass, and then descends past Hayden Peak, Kletting Peak and Holiday Park Peak before meeting with the Wyoming border. This scenic byway has many overlooks, picnic areas, waterfalls, lakes, trails and campgrounds. This mountain range is one of the few in North America that runs east to west rather than north to south.”

The area is stunning, closer than Flaming Gorge, and dotted with lakes, ponds, reservoirs, and campgrounds, so it took little convincing. I think we will try for a time when it is hot in Salt Lake City. The elevation provides relief from the heat. It was 34°F at our highest elevation—10,025 feet, I think—and we ran into brief, periods of rain, some of it appearing to be sleet. There was snow and also snowbanks at this high elevation, and run-off was rushing downhill and creating roadside waterfalls in places. All of the high-elevation campgrounds were still closed, waiting for snow melt. Jeff was dressed in shorts and a long-sleeved hoodie so was at times uncomfortably cold.

Jeff and I had packed lunch for all: Cucumber sandwiches on Harmons 7-grain bread, (delicious and darker than it looks in the photo) cookies, green grapes, water/Gatorade. We took some basil and parsley from our overflowing garden to Jess and Sarah (Jessica’s downstairs guest) and also took a small container of pesto to the two and to Carolyn. We forgot to give Carolyn hers, so I shall take it to her on the 8th when she and I will join others at Silver Lake for the Brighton Bird Count.

Jess was searching for a campground right on the Provo River that we had discovered when in the area in 2021, shortly after our move to Utah. We drove through many campgrounds searching for that “perfect place” and found many good spots. Jess also mentioned that there were cabins available for rent in the area. Since I write up all of my adventures, look for one titled “Camping & Fishing in the Uintas” come fall.

Unfortunately sections of the forests in the Uintas are dead and gray, killed by the three most damaging native bark beetle species in Utah: Spruce Beetle,  Mountain Pine Beetle, Douglas Fir Beetle. I have read that it will take 300 years for a forest to return if the beetle population can be controlled.

Beetle damage in Uinta forests (Internet)

There was a prescribed burn taking place in one of the areas we drove through. This method of burning dead vegetation and understory debris  helps in controlling the beetles. Many piles of trees and brush to be burned or cleared dotted the forest understory on both sides of Mirror Lake Scenic Byway

I have read that the beetle infestation is particularly bad because of the drought Utah is experiencing, thus the full lakes and rushing snowmelt were welcome sights. Also a good deal of the roadside and mountains in the area were still green and lush.

We stopped at the Lower Provo Falls, stretched our legs and took some pix of these beautiful falls and the river gurgling through the forest. Carolyn was particularly glad to see the falls. She remembered going to them with her husband, Howard. 

We stopped at the Provo River Overlook also. Here we took pix of the river far below and also of some of the flowers in the area.

We also stretched our legs at Trail Lake and at Mirror Lake. At Mirror Lake we walked along the shore on a boardwalk and intermittent dirt trail taking pix of the lake and the flowers along the trail.

We pulled into many campgrounds and explored several lakes before Mirror Lake. The photo below is of Trail Lake at an elevation of 9500 feet. It was dammed at one end and is a popular fishing lake containing brook, cutthroat, rainbow, and tiger trout.

We walked a boardwalk/trail at Mirror Lake for a stretch, taking pix of each other and the wildflowers. The lake was high with meltwater, stranding the tree to the left on its own little island. That is Bald Mountain in the background and below.

The lake is flooded with spring runoff making it appear that this tree is an island. Bald mountain in the background

I have grouped and identified many of the flowers we photographed on the following pages. Glacier lilies were everywhere as were many of the others. False hellebore was just beginning to gain height so I have put in pics I took of it at Silver Lake to show how this plant looks when grown.

THE END