McPhee Reservoir is located in Montezuma County, Colorado

Montezuma County, Colorado

Montezuma County is the southwesternmost of the 64 counties of the state of Colorado of the United States. The county population was 23,830 at U.S. Census 2000...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. It is the second largest artificial body of water in Colorado

Colorado

Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

. It was constructed and is operated by the United States Bureau of Reclamation

United States Bureau of Reclamation

The United States Bureau of Reclamation , and formerly the United States Reclamation Service , is an agency under the U.S...

 as part of the Dolores Project

Dolores Project

The Dolores Project, located in the Dolores and San Juan River basins in southwestern Colorado, uses water from the Dolores River for irrigation, municipal and industrial use, recreation, fish and wildlife, and production of hydroelectric power. It also provides flood control and aids in economic...

, and dams the Dolores River

Dolores River

The Dolores River is a tributary of the Colorado River, approximately 250 mi long, in the U.S. states of Colorado and Utah....

 to furnish irrigation water for Montezuma

Montezuma County, Colorado

Montezuma County is the southwesternmost of the 64 counties of the state of Colorado of the United States. The county population was 23,830 at U.S. Census 2000...

 and Dolores

Dolores County, Colorado

Dolores County is the seventh least populous of the 64 counties of the State of Colorado of the United States. The county population was 1,844 at U.S. Census 2000. The county seat is Dove Creek.- History :...

 counties and the Ute Mountain Indian Reservation

Ute Tribe

The Ute are an American Indian people now living primarily in Utah and Colorado. There are three Ute tribal reservations: Uintah-Ouray in northeastern Utah ; Southern Ute in Colorado ; and Ute Mountain which primarily lies in Colorado, but extends to Utah and New Mexico . The name of the state of...

.

McPhee Reservoir is named for McPhee, Colorado, a company town

Company town

A company town is a town or city in which much or all real estate, buildings , utilities, hospitals, small businesses such as grocery stores and gas stations, and other necessities or luxuries of life within its borders are owned by a single company...

 founded by the New Mexico Lumber Company, that is now submerged under the reservoir. In 1927, the McPhee sawmill produced over half of Colorado's lumber. The town housed up to 1,500 employees. The sawmill closed in 1946.

The lake itself may be accessed from near Dolores, Colorado

Dolores, Colorado

The town of Dolores is a Statutory Town in Montezuma County, Colorado, United States. The population was 936 at the 2010 census. It is one of three incorporated municipalities in the county....

 by CO-145 and CO-184, and offers various boat-launching facilities, picnic areas, and campgrounds in the McPhee Recreation Area operated by the US Forest Service. The lake fills the lower end of the Dolores Valley, with the dam completed in 1985 across Dolores Canyon.

External links

• Recreation.gov McPhee Reservoir
• Map of McPhee
• History and photographs of McPhee, Colorado at Historic American Buildings Survey
  Historic American Buildings Survey
  The Historic American Buildings Survey , Historic American Engineering Record , and Historic American Landscapes Survey are programs of the National Park Service established for the purpose of documenting historic places. Records consists of measured drawings, archival photographs, and written...