Reflection Lake

In the late 1800s, the lake was lower in level and more indicative of a pond and was aptly named, Mud Lake. To attract more people to the area, a channel was dug to divert water from nearby Manzanita Creek into Mud Lake. Trout were planted in the lake with an increased water level. For a few years, people paid the landowner to fish in the lake. Eventually, trout planting ceased.[1]

In 1926, park benefactor Benjamin Franklin Loomis purchased 40 acres, which included the lake. Reflection Lake was one location that Loomis captured photographs of the 1914-1915 Lassen Peak eruptions. Loomis and his wife Estella donated their 40 acres, the Loomis Museum, and the adjacent seismograph building to the park in 1929.[1]

A healthy population of native tui chub fish thrive in the warmer water. Fish stocking ended completely in the park in the early 1990s to preserve natural riparian ecosystems. As a result, the lake attracts water birds such as Canada geese, great blue heron, snowy egret, and kingfisher.[1]

Low levels of dissolved oxygen have been recorded in the lake.[2]

A half-mile route (not a defined trail) circles the lake and is a shorter alternative to the 1.8-mile Manzanita Lake Loop. The western shore offers unobstructed views of Chaos Crags and Lassen Peak, which are often reflected in the still lake. The route overlaps with the half-mile Lily Pond Interpretive Trail on the eastern shore of Reflection Lake.[1]