Coyote Lake (Santa Clara County, California)

Coyote Lake
Aerial view of Coyote Lake
Location	Santa Clara County, California
Coordinates
Type	reservoir
Primary inflows	Coyote Creek
Primary outflows	Coyote Creek
Catchment area	119.8 sq mi (310 km2)
Basin countries	United States
Max. length	3.5 mi (6 km)
Max. width	0.5 mi (0.8 km)
Surface area	635 acres (2.6 km2)
Water volume	23,666 acre⋅ft (29,192,000 m3)
Surface elevation	774 feet (236 m)
References

Coyote Lake (also known as Coyote Reservoir) is an artificial lake in Santa Clara County, California, north of Gilroy.

The lake is impounded by Coyote Dam, a 140-foot (43 m) high, 980-foot (300 m) long, earth and rock dam built in 1936. The Santa Clara Valley Water District owns the dam.

A 4,595-acre county park ("Coyote-Bear") surrounds the reservoir, and provides camping (RVs and tents), fishing ("catch-and-release"), picnicking, and hiking activities. Power boating, jetskiing, waterskiing, sailing, canoeing/kayaking and fishing are all allowed in the reservoir. Swimming is not allowed by order of the Santa Clara Valley Water District. The boat launch ramp is located two miles north of the visitor center. It has two docks, a 3-lane concrete ramp, paved parking and a restroom. For fisherman, the lake contains bluegill, black crappie, channel catfish, carp and black bass. The lake is closed to all boating between mid-October and mid-April.

See also

• Coyote Lake (disambiguation) for other lakes of the same name
• List of lakes in California
• List of lakes in the San Francisco Bay Area
• List of reservoirs and dams in California