Roper Lake State Park

Beautiful skies, desert vegetation, a peaceful 32 acre lake, swimming, an island beach, fishing, a view of Mount Graham and a natural hot springs.

What more could you ask for?

The lake was built by a man named Mr. Winifred Roper. (Winnie, to his friends)

As a kid, growing up in Texas, he was chased off by a farmer while fishing in a small remote pond. After working for many years as a prospector and making his fortune with gold, silver, and copper he sold it all and in 1959 he "scooped out" his own lake.

This beautiful private oasis only kept his rich man interest for a few years and in 1969 the lake was sold and opened to the public.

Through the years there have been a lot of improvements and now it is a wonderful state park with camping and RV sites, cabins, docks, trails, an island, and a hot tub.

A man at the hot tub this morning told me this was one of the parks to be closed down, I guess during the Bush years, and is only open now because of volunteers.

For $23.00 I decided to spend the night. The weather here is a little cool. It may get down to 28 degrees tonight so a little electricity will not hurt.

This is the island. It really is grand if it wasn't so cold.

The hot tub is great until you have to get out.

 For now I won't think of the getting out part.

This is the view from one of the hiking trails. That is me, the white spot way, way down there towards the right.

This is the view looking down the trail.

 This is looking behind me.

The view from one window.

The view from the other window.

The weather changes rapidly here. For right now, the sun is setting and the sky is kind of blue. The wind is not rocking the house van. That tells me it is time to head to the hot tub again.