Thorn Lake (Lake County, Oregon)

Thorn Lake
Thorn Lake is located in Oregon
Thorn Lake is located in Oregon
Thorn Lake
Location of Thorn Lake in Oregon
Thorn Lake is located in Oregon
Thorn Lake is located in Oregon
Thorn Lake
Thorn Lake (the United States)
LocationLake County, Oregon, United States
Coordinates43°08′45″N 120°50′38″W / 43.14583°N 120.84389°W / 43.14583; -120.84389[1]
Basin countriesUnited States
Surface area319.7 acres (129.4 ha)
Shore length14.2 miles (6.8 km)
Surface elevation4,301 feet (1,311 m)[1]
1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure.

Thorn Lake is a dry high-desert lake in Lake County in the U.S. state of Oregon. The Atlas of Oregon Lakes lists its surface area at about 320 acres (130 ha) and its shoreline at about 4 miles (6.4 km) but provides no other details.[2]

Thorn Lake has been dry for many years, Doctor E. D Cope, a scientist traveling through the area in 1889, noted that Thorn Lake was a dry playa at that time.[3] A 2008 topographic map of Oregon indicates that Thorn Lake is dry.[4]

The lake is about 8 miles (13 km) east of the unincorporated community of Silver Lake and about 2 miles (3.2 km) north of the intermittent lake called Silver Lake near Oregon Route 31.

  1. ^ a b "Thorn Lake". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. November 28, 1980. Retrieved April 15, 2019.
  2. ^ "Thorn Lake (Lake)". Atlas of Oregon Lakes. Portland State University. 1985–2019. Retrieved April 15, 2019.
  3. ^ Hatton, Raymond R., High Desert of Central Oregon, Binford and Mort, Portland, Oregon, 1977, p. 133; quoting E. D. Cope’s The American Naturalist pp. 981-982.
  4. ^ Oregon Atlas and Gazetteer (Map). Yarmouth, Maine: DeLorme. 2008. p. 80.