Horse Lake near Parks: Fishing Spots, Seasons and Access

• Overview

  Horse Lake is a Coconino County water, Arizona side. It sits at 6,785 feet above sea level. At about 81 acres, a day is enough to walk the shoreline properly. Parks at 4.4 miles is the nearest place to stop. After that come Williams at 13 miles and Kachina Village at 17 miles. Nearest other option: Scholz Lake 2.2 miles, Duck Lake within 6.1 miles, White Horse Lake 6.2 miles, Reservoir Number Two within 7.3 miles and Davenport Lake 7.4 miles. No county line comes close, which keeps the paperwork simple.

• Where to Fish on Horse Lake

  Open data we checked carries no depth for this water. Still water like this holds fish on the edges rather than out in the open. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Records held for Coconino County cover brown trout, common carp, flannelmouth sucker and bluehead sucker. These are county-wide records, so not all of them will be in this water. Horse Lake repays a walk before the first cast.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The seasonal spread runs 30°F to 67°F. A long season, with weather mattering more than the month. It is not guaranteed even in a cold spell, so check yourself. Spring and autumn carry the year; summer squeezes it into the ends of the day. That shapes the year on Horse Lake. The first warm days of the year bring fish shallow quickly.

• Tackle & Baits

  Access is not recorded for this water. It is recorded as intermittent, which means the basin empties in dry spells. We find no slipway, car park or made path within a short radius, so treat access as rough. For the trout, small spinners and a box of nymphs cover both approaches. A phone call first saves an afternoon. Where the way in crosses private ground, ask first. For a change of water, Scholz Lake is 2.2 miles distant. Check the position on Horse Lake before loading the car.