| Address | Clarkdale, AZ 86324 |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 34.7818, -112.0374 |
| Category | Waterfront |
| Nearest city | Clarkdale |
| Region | Arizona, USA |
| Sources | geonames |
Pecks Lake Travel Guide
Pecks Lake is a lake in Arizona. The nearest service base is Clarkdale, roughly 4 km away.
Pecks Lake at a Glance
- What it is: lake (travel destination)
- Where it is: Clarkdale, AZ 86324 — coordinates 34.7818, 112.0374
- Why it is listed: a source-verified entry in the CollabsTravel master database, matched against official gazetteer and geographic records before publication
- Time needed: a couple of hours
- Best season: May to September
Quick Facts
| Place type | Lake |
| Also good for | Waterfront |
| Region / state | Arizona |
| Postal address | Clarkdale, AZ 86324 |
| Nearest city | Clarkdale |
| Coordinates | 34.7818, -112.0374 |
| Nearest base town | Clarkdale (4 km) |
Why Pecks Lake Is Worth Visiting
Pecks Lake earns its place in this guide for a simple reason: it is a verified destination in Arizona,. Its position 4 km from Clarkdale also makes it an easy add-on rather than a detour that costs half a day. Visitors book it for waterfront as much as for destination. And unlike listicle recommendations, everything on this page - coordinates, category, sources - was checked against official records before publication.
About Pecks Lake
In plain terms, Pecks Lake is a lake in the Arizona area of Arizona that travellers book around destination trips. Beyond its main draw, the record tags it for waterfront too, so it rewards more than one kind of visit. Functionally it belongs to Clarkdale - the town most maps and locals will reference when describing how to reach it. Everything stated on this page comes from that verified record; where background history is quoted, the source is named at the end of the section.
The Story of Pecks Lake: History & Background
Pecks Lake is a small reservoir, fed by water from the adjacent Verde River, near Clarkdale in the U.S. state of Arizona. The name of the nearby Tuzigoot National Monument comes from an Apache word, Tuzigoot, meaning crooked water. The "crooked water" reference is to Pecks Lake, established in a cutoff meander of the river.
The shallow lake gets most of its water from the river through a tunnel on the northwest corner of the property, downstream from a large slag heap from the former copper smelter at Clarkdale. Overflow from the lake passes over a weir at the east end of the lake into Tavasci Marsh. The surrounding area includes the capped and re-vegetated tailings pond of the smelter, which processed ore from the United Verde copper mine at Jerome.
Lead passage from the Wikipedia article "Pecks Lake", reused under CC BY-SA 4.0 with a coordinate-verified name match; the source article carries the full referenced history.
The Beauty of Pecks Lake
What people mean when they call Pecks Lake beautiful is usually the setting itself - the land, water and sky that put the place on maps. The light does most of the work: low-latitude light keeps greens deep and skies dramatic; the difference between hours, not seasons, drives the look. The seasons restyle everything around it - each season repaints it - plan the visit around the colour you want in your photos. And the beauty compounds with context: with 8 other verified places nearby, the Arizona area reads as one continuous landscape rather than a single viewpoint, which is worth more than any filter on the photos you take here.
Getting There
Pecks Lake sits at 34.7818, 112.0374 in Arizona. Most visitors reach it by car, regional rail or local transit; pin the coordinates above rather than only the name - Pecks Lake names repeat across regions, and rural entries often lack street addresses.
Base yourself in Clarkdale and make this a half-day trip; services, fuel and lodging are easiest there. The run from Clarkdale is about 4 km (2 mi) each way, so allow Clarkdale as your anchor for the day.
Best Time to Visit
the desert Southwest runs hot from June to September, so spring (March–May) and fall (September–November) are the most comfortable months for hiking and outdoor plans.
Pecks Lake Season by Season
- Summer (Jun-Aug) - peak season: the warmest, longest days and everything open, which also makes it the priciest and busiest window
- Autumn (Sep-Nov) - shoulder season: crowds drain away, the light turns photographic, and lodging rates typically fall
- Winter (Dec-Feb) - off-season: cheapest beds and empty viewpoints, but check for closures, snow or rain before committing
- Spring (Mar-May) - rebuild season: wildflowers, newborn wildlife and reopened facilities - the best balance if the weather holds
Things to Do
Planning what to actually do at Pecks Lake comes down to the setting it sits in:
- Arrive with the exact coordinates (34.7818, -112.0374) pinned in your maps app — rural place names repeat across states
- Give the site one unhurried hour before adding anything else to the day
- Pair it with the nearest named attraction on this page to make a full loop
- Chain the stop with what is nearby — see the list below before fixing your day route
None of this needs a rigid schedule - the honest pattern at Pecks Lake is one anchor at the nearest anchor town, one longer stop, and the rest of the time left for whatever looks better from the car window. That flexibility is what separates a good half-day from a rushed one.
A Perfect Day in Pecks Lake
Morning (start early). Have breakfast at Clarkdale and roll out before mid-morning - the light is softer, parking is open, and Pecks Lake is at its quietest before the day-trippers arrive. Give the main stop its full due first rather than saving it for later.
Midday. From Pecks Lake, Clarkdale is only 4 km away - pair the two rather than driving home for lunch; a picnic beats a reservation near most of these spots.
Afternoon. Keep going to Cottonwood (6 km) if the group still has legs; it is the standard second half of this loop.
Golden hour. End at the main viewpoint, waterfront or main street as the light drops; this is the hour Pecks Lake is genuinely famous for locally, and it costs nothing.
Evening. Sleep at Clarkdale unless the road out is long - leaving at dusk is the one mistake that can flatten an otherwise perfect day.
Know Before You Go to Pecks Lake
- Save the pin (34.7818, -112.0374) offline - reception in Arizona is exactly as good as it needs to be and no better
- Check the official source listed at the bottom of this page for current hours, fees and closures before driving out
- Visit on weekdays: at most verified spots weekends triple the local traffic
- Bring the basics - water, layers, power bank - because facilities at this kind of place are self-service
Nearby Places Worth Combining
Pecks Lake does not sit in isolation - these verified places are all within a short hop and combine into a full loop:
- Clarkdale — place, about 4 km (3 mi) away
- Cottonwood — place, about 6 km (4 mi) away
- Jerome — place, about 7 km (5 mi) away
- First View — place, about 10 km (6 mi) away
- Black Mountain — place, about 13 km (8 mi) away
- Cornville — place, about 13 km (8 mi) away
- Mingus Mountain — place, about 13 km (8 mi) away
- Packard Mesa — place, about 13 km (8 mi) away
Planning More of Your Trip
See all destinations in Arizona on the Arizona state hub.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Pecks Lake worth visiting?+
Yes, if you are in the area for more than a single day. Pecks Lake is a verified lake in Arizona that most drive-by lists miss, and the official-record provenance behind this page means the location, name and access facts are checked rather than guessed. Give it a couple of hours.
Where exactly is Pecks Lake?+
Pecks Lake sits at Clarkdale, AZ 86324, coordinates 34.7818, -112.0374. The postal locality is Clarkdale - use the coordinates rather than the name alone, because place names repeat across regions and a map pin beats a keyword search.
How far is Pecks Lake from the nearest city?+
Pecks Lake is about 4 km (2 mi) from Clarkdale, which is an easy out-and-back day trip - most visitors base themselves in Clarkdale and make the run in well under an hour each way.
What is the best time to visit Pecks Lake?+
May to September. Book the shoulder months either side of that window for the same scenery at lower prices, and check seasonal closures before fixing dates.
How long do you need at Pecks Lake?+
Plan on a couple of hours for a first visit - the highlights at a normal pace without rushing. Add another half day if you want to combine it with the nearby places listed above.
Is Pecks Lake good for families with kids?+
It works with kids who have patience for the setting; judge it by your shortest-attention traveller and keep the visit to the first highlight.
Does Pecks Lake cost anything to visit?+
Most public places like this have no entry fee, but parking, guided programs and seasonal shuttles are the usual small costs. Confirm current fees with the official source cited on this page - they change more often than guidebooks do.
What is near Pecks Lake?+
The closest verified neighbour is Clarkdale; the nearby list above has the full set with distances, and combining two or three of them is the standard way to fill a day around Pecks Lake.
Is Pecks Lake open to visitors, and do you need a permit?+
Public places listed here are visitable by default; the permit exceptions are usually specific activities (backcountry camping, drones, commercial photography) rather than the visit itself. Check the cited official source for anything activity-based.
Should you visit Pecks Lake in bad weather?+
Rain reshapes rather than ruins the day - viewpoints become cloud-scapes and trails get muddy. Keep Pecks Lake as a fair-weather item on your trip and swap in the covered alternatives from the regional list when the forecast turns.
What makes Pecks Lake different from other places like it?+
Its exact combination: a lake in Arizona with verified coordinates and, where listed, an official designation. The difference is usually the setting and the access pattern rather than the category label - the facts table on this page shows that specifically.
Can you visit Pecks Lake as a day trip?+
Yes - at a couple of hours on site, a day loop is realistic: morning at Pecks Lake, one nearby stop, and home by evening. The Perfect Day section above has the hour-by-hour version.
What is Pecks Lake known for?+
In the wider record, lake-class place: Pecks Lake is a small reservoir, fed by water from the adjacent Verde River, near Clarkdale in the U. This guide adds the practical layer - verified coordinates, access, seasonality and what to combine it with.
What is the most beautiful thing about Pecks Lake?+
The honest short answer is in The Beauty of Pecks Lake section above, but distilled: what people mean when they call pecks lake beautiful is usually the setting itself - the land, water and sky that put the place on maps. Come for the light and the setting rather than a single checklist object.
Is Pecks Lake crowded?+
Pecks Lake sits below the headline-name tier in its region, so crowding is an event-and-weekend problem rather than a standing one. Weekday mornings in the shoulder season are the quietest version of the visit.
What is the history of Pecks Lake?+
The History & Background section above quotes the coordinate-verified Wikipedia lead for Pecks Lake, which is the shortest trustworthy path into its past - dates, name origin and the events that shaped it, with the full referenced article linked there. ## Source Verification This guide's facts come from official public datasets: [Geonames record 5308405](https://www.geonames.org/5308405). Location data is reviewed in per-state batches before publication.
Nearby destinations
Clarkdale
Town · Arizona
Cottonwood
City · Arizona
Jerome
Town · Arizona
First View
Mountain · Arizona
Black Mountain
Mountain · Arizona
Cornville
City · Arizona
Mingus Mountain
Mountain · Arizona
Packard Mesa
Mountain · Arizona