MinnesotaNatural lakeBecker County

Detroit Lake

Fed by the North Santiam River, Detroit Lake holds roughly 3,500 acres of water in Oregon. It lies in Marion County. Management is in the hands of USACE Portland District / Oregon State Parks. This guide maps 3 named swimming spots around its shoreline.

Photo: John2165 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

CountiesBecker County

Coordinates46.7898, -95.8277

Surface area3,064 acres

Max depth89 ft

RiverPelican River

Managed byMN DNR / Pelican River Watershed District

Swimming beaches on Detroit Lake

No named swimming beach is mapped yet for this lake. Access is through agency day-use areas and boat ramps listed below. We add beach pages only when we can confirm a name, coordinates and an operating agency.

Detroit Lake on the map

Lake center, swimming spots and access points.

Get directions

Weather and water temperature

Air temperature and wind from Open-Meteo. Water temperature only when the lake has a public sensor.

Weather data by Open-Meteo

What to know before you go to Detroit Lake

The center of the lake is at 44.6950, -122.2069. The surface sits around 1,565 feet above sea level. Water leaves through the North Santiam River. The deepest point on record is about 440 feet.

Public access at Detroit Lake covers 3 named swimming spots. These come from Recreation.gov (RIDB). Detroit Lake, Detroit Ranger District (US Highway 22) and Upper Arm Day Use Area are on the list. Unless the operating agency says otherwise, treat these as unsupervised swimming.

The same station reports water temperature, last read at 66.6 °F. Water quality is monitored unevenly on inland lakes, so posted notices are the most reliable guide. Swimming season in Oregon runs through the warm months, and day-use areas set their own opening dates.

The closest lakes in this guide are Green Peter Lake (Oregon, 20 mi), Blue River Lake (Oregon, 36 mi) and Cougar Reservoir (Oregon, 40 mi). Oregon has 48 lakes on this site in total.

The closest public station is 444306122144600, DETROIT LAKE AT LOG BOOM BEHIND DETROIT DAM, OR, about 2 miles away; it measures a different body of water, so its reading is not a stand-in for this one. There is no live level reading for Detroit Lake. The agencies that run this water do not publish one openly, and we do not estimate what has not been measured. Where an agency publishes a figure, we show it with the time it was taken; here there is none.

Questions about Detroit Lake

Can you swim in Detroit Lake?

Yes. This guide maps 3 named swimming spots around the lake, including Detroit Lake and Detroit Ranger District (US Highway 22). None is staffed by a lifeguard unless the operating agency posts one.

How big is Detroit Lake?

About 3,500 acres. Maximum depth is around 440 feet.

What is the water temperature at Detroit Lake?

The sensor last read 66.6 °F. The page refreshes it from the gauge when you load it.

What other lakes are near Detroit Lake?

The closest in this guide is Green Peter Lake, about 20 miles away in Oregon.