Saguaro Lake
Mesa, AZ
A reservoir on the Salt River formed by Stewart Mountain Dam, surrounded by towering red and orange canyon walls. The Butcher Jones Recreation Area provides beach access with saguaro-studded cliffs rising directly from the shoreline. Wild horses from the Salt River herd are frequently seen along the lake's shores and surrounding desert.
Photography Guide
- Best Time
- golden hour
- Crowds
- Moderate
- Shot Types
- widelandscapereflectionportrait
- Best Seasons
- springfallwinter
Author's Comments
The first time I came to Saguaro Lake I made the mistake of arriving at noon in June, and what I remember is mostly glare and the sense that I had missed something I could not name. I came back in November, an hour before sunset, and understood. The canyon walls do not really begin to work until the sun is low enough to rake across them, and when that happens the orange in the rock turns almost theatrical. The water below goes still in the late afternoon if you have any luck with the wind, and the reflection doubles everything - the saguaros on the cliffs, the warm stone, the occasional silhouette of a heron at the waterline. Butcher Jones is the obvious access point and I will not pretend otherwise. Arrive early on a weekend or do not arrive at all. But the photograph I keep chasing here is not from the beach itself. It is from the small coves a short walk east, where the shoreline bends and the cliffs rise more steeply, and where the wild horses sometimes come down to drink in the last hour of light. I have waited entire afternoons for them and seen nothing. I have also turned a corner and found six of them standing in shallow water with the canyon glowing behind them, and on those days the camera almost feels incidental. Winter mornings are underrated here. The light is colder, the water is glass, and the crowds thin to almost nothing on a Tuesday in January. Bring a longer lens than seems reasonable. The horses do not like to be approached, and the best frames are the ones that respect that distance.
Gallery
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Nearby Places
Mesa, AZ
Salt River Wild Horse Area
An area along the Lower Salt River near Bush Highway where herds of wild horses roam freely along the riverbanks. The Salt River wild horses are descendants of horses released or escaped over the past century and are protected by Arizona state law. The horses are frequently seen grazing, crossing the river, and interacting in family bands.
Mesa, AZ
Phon D Sutton Recreation Area
A recreation area along the Lower Salt River below Saguaro Lake Dam where the river flows through a cottonwood-lined channel. The area provides access to shallow river crossings popular with wild horses and wading birds. Desert cliffs and riparian cottonwood forest create a striking contrast at the desert's edge.
Mesa, AZ
Canyon Lake
A narrow reservoir on the Salt River along the Apache Trail, surrounded by dramatic volcanic cliff walls rising hundreds of feet. The lake fills a steep-sided canyon in the Superstition Wilderness with minimal shoreline development. The Dolly Steamboat offers guided tours through the inner canyon for unique water-level perspectives of the cliffs.