Honey Lake

Honey Lake is an endorheic sink in the Honey Lake Valley in northeastern California, near the Nevada border. Summer evaporation reduces the lake to a lower level of 12 square kilometers (3,000 acres) and creates an alkali flat.Honey Lake dries almost completely in most years.

Honey Lake recreational activities include bird watching, picnicking, hiking, camping, warm-water fishing, and waterfowl hunting. The lake is part of the Honey–Eagle Lakes watershed of 2,770 sq mi (7,200 km2) which includes the Honey Lake Basin of 2,201 sq mi (5,700 km2).

The lake received its name from the honeydew produced by the abundant aphids inhabiting the area.

During the Pleistocene, Honey Lake and the entire Honey Lake Valley were part of Lake Lahontan in western Nevada, with a lake water level of 1,332 m (4,370 ft) a level of approximately 115 m (377 ft) higher than the 1984 level of Honey Lake. The connection to Lake Lahontan was through Astor Pass north of the Virginia Mountains into Pyramid Lake and through Sand Pass into the Smoke Creek Desert portion of Lake Lahontan to the northeast. Both passes are at approximately 1,224 m (4,016 ft) elevation.

Toward the end of the Civil War, the California Volunteer Cavalry used the route from Camp Bidwell (Chico, California) through the Honey Lake and Surprise Valley areas as a line of protection for silver mine output in the Owyhee district of Idaho.