About Eagle Nest Lake State Park
Located on the Enchanted Circle Scenic Byway, Eagle Nest Lake is surrounded by the stunning scenery of the high mountains of the Moreno Valley. The lake itself is a man-made reservoir created when the Cimarron River was impounded by the Eagle Nest Dam in 1918. The Dam's purpose was to store the surplus water of the Cimarron River for irrigation. Most of the labor for building the dam was provided by the Taos Pueblo Indians. The largest privately constructed dam in the United States, the concrete structure is 400 feet wide, stands 140 feet above the river bed, and is 9.5 feet thick at its crest and 45.2 feet thick at its base. Supposedly, eagles built nests on the sides of the new dam and that's how it got its name. The lake became an official State Park on July 3, 2004. Its main attraction is a 2,400-acre lake which is popular for fishing and boating in the summer, and ice fishing and snowmobiling in the winter. The lake offers excellent fishing. In the winter, anglers wander out onto its frozen surface, drill a hole and try their hand at landing kokanee salmon, rainbow trout and cutthroat trout. The lake is home to several species of fish, including rainbow trout, brown trout, cutthroat trout, kokanee salmon, smallmouth bass, yellow perch, common carp, white sucker, channel catfish, sunfish, and northern pike, which were accidentally introduced into Eagle Nest Lake (the park recommends anglers to keep the pike, because of their threat to the lake's gamefish populations). Eagle Nest State Park offers a visitor center, camping, allows horseback riding (in designated areas), group shelters, restrooms, boating/boat ramps, fishing, trails, and has R.V. Pull through sites. he park offers a cool retreat from the summer heat for fisherman, boaters, campers, hikers and wildlife enthusiasts. An abundance of animals make Eagle Nest Lake an ideal location for wildlife viewing. Make a reservation on the New Mexico State Parks reservation website.
