Summit Lake Kayak 7-25-25

Summit Lake Kayak…

About a week ago Deb and I did a loop, tagging Cowhorn and Sawtooth mountain. While up on both summits, we were looking down at Summit Lake, and thought it would be a good kayak lake, with lots of islands, coves, and peninsulas.

Yesterday we loaded up the boats, and drove to Summit Lake. Neither one of us had been there before. We ended up taking the Crescent Lake route just to experience the road we had heard about. While this route is shorter than the Timpanogas Lake route, the road is crappy and slow going from Crescent Lake. The better way is definitely taking the 21 to Timpanogas, with a very short crappy road section. The road into Summit Lake definitely limits the crowd.

Summit Lake is a great paddle. We ended up paddling the perimeter, exploring all the nooks & crannies. We found a few small sandy beaches along the way. The water is so clear. This lake does not have an inlet, and is only fed by snow melt and rain. The outlet is at the NE corner of the lake, and is the head waters of Summit Creek, which is one of a few creeks that empties into Crescent Lake, which drains into Crescent Creek, which merges with the Little Deschutes River…

After 4 hrs and 7 miles, we were back at the boat ramp (Summit Lake campground). The mosquitoes were still pretty hungry, mainly near, and on shore. Not too bad while actively paddling.

At the Summit Lake boat ramp…