When you grow up an easy 10-minute drive from the ocean in California, and you and your pals wear bikini swimsuits under your clothes to high school every day so you can get to the beach quicker without going home first… a few things become a part of your soul – a deep love for the water, and all things watercraft. Also, a nostalgic fondness or surfers, piers, docks, and even the lingering smell and sight of bait and fish.
So, when I moved to Arizona 40 years ago, I searched for a place close enough to my Tucson home to fill my yearning soul, and I found it at one of Arizona’s best-kept treasures, just a short 30-minute drive north of Globe-Miami – Theodore Roosevelt Lake.
Known to locals as just Roosevelt Lake, it stretches more than 15 miles along the Salt
River within the Tonto National Forest. Created in 1911 by the construction of Theodore Roosevelt Dam, the lake was the first major project under the Bureau of Reclamation in the Teddy Roosevelt administration, hence the name of the lake itself as well as the name of the
surrounding town.
The Bureau was tasked with creating reservoirs to store water to help grow crops in the dry western states and help attract families and communities to the western part of the United States. Roosevelt Lake is the second largest lake in Arizona, second only to Lake Powell, and is the largest lake located entirely within the state.
Roosevelt Lake Marina on Highway 188 has been around for over 50 years, and it has
become a premier boating experience. At the marina boat ramp, members can launch everything from fishing and wakesurfing boats to pontoons, jet skis, kayaks, and paddle boards. The marina is a meeting place for everyone and is a community itself, located 30 miles from Globe/Miami, 15 miles from Tonto Basin, and 45 miles from Payson.
Most of the employees at the marina live in these close communities and have a wealth of information about everything available in their hometowns. The shopping, restaurants, bars, and other interesting places and events happening in these adjoining communities are always a big topic of conversation at the marina.
The marina has gone through several renovations over the years. Most recently, in early 2023, it was acquired by Suntex Marina Investors. They are adding all kinds of deluxe improvements, which I’ve seen firsthand, and I believe this place is rapidly becoming a “must see” destination in Arizona.
When I discovered this place years ago, I knew I had found a new home. Okay, so there’s
no salt water, but the water is fresh, clear blue, and most of the year, the perfect
temperature to jump in, get wet, cool off, and float with friends while enjoying the desert
landscape, even when it’s 100-plus degrees.
It’s also true that there are no waves affected by high and low tides to create swells for surfers to ride and beach loungers to watch. But I’ve learned about an amazing water sport called “wakesurfing,” where a rider uses a surfboard to ride the wave created by a boat, without being pulled by a tow rope. The surfer starts with a short rope and then drops it once they find the “sweet spot” in the boat’s wake, riding the continuous wave just like ocean surfing.
The cool thing is that the wave never “ends” like an ocean wave, so riders can surf as long as they maintain their balance. Watching these folks, both young and old, tackle this challenging sport is super entertaining and as fun to watch as any ocean surfers!
Next to swimming and floating in the ocean swells, my favorite activity while growing up
was walking along the long wooden piers that lined the beaches of Southern California,
listening to the banter and excitement of the anglers as they reeled in their catch.
Walking barefoot was always considered to be the “coolest look,” so while walking and
keeping an eye down to check for potential splinters, we spied all the fish flopping
anxiously after the hooks were removed. The buckets of smelly bait and colorful lures
linger in my mind’s eye - and nostrils - today.
I never thought I could find those sights and smells again in the Arizona desert. But I did find them again at beautiful Roosevelt Lake, and let me tell you, it does not disappoint! This lake is a fisherman’s paradise. It’s stocked full of large and smallmouth bass, crappie, catfish, and
sunfish. Several nationally known bass fishing tournaments happen at the lake every year. Locals and out-of-state visitors alike swear it’s one of the very best fishing spots in the United States.
Roosevelt Lake is only 1.5 hours from metro Phoenix and 2.5 hours from Tucson, making it a convenient and easy escape and favorite destination for vacation getaways. You can’t build a home on the banks of the lake, however, because the surrounding land is owned by the Forest Service.
So, speaking of a “new home” for me… Just across the street from the marina on Highway 188 is a mobile home and RV community called Lakeview Park. After many years of building a small
company, raising a kid, and working in Tucson, I finally retired (well, sort of…) and bought
one of the mobile homes in Lakeview Park. It has become my beloved second home
and certainly my “Happy Place.” (And I have lots of tea towels, anecdotal signage, and
doormats to prove it!)
Lakeview was built in the late seventies on leased Tonto Forest Service land as a solution to getting as close to the lake as possible, since ownership of the surrounding land was prohibited. As a result, these 160 mobile homes are prized possessions for their owners, and many have been renovated into showplace vacation residences. The park is family-owned and has a longstanding history. Michael Buckmaster is currently the third-generation owner and continues to make significant improvements to the property.
Lakeview is honestly akin to moving into the dorms your freshman year of college. You
don’t know anyone at first, but you are all there with the same goal and motivation, and
you are all on the same level playing field.
In this case, we all bought vacation mobile homes in the closest place we could get to the lake. We can just drive our golf carts across the street to launch our boats or step onto our watercraft docked in a slip at the marina with the greatest of ease. Naturally, we all eventually meet each other while walking our dogs around the park or run into each other at the marina bar and
share a beer. Many become fast friends, and over time, some even become like family.
Remember the interesting sport of wakesurfing I mentioned earlier? Well, our
very own 16-year-old professional wakesurfer, Cali Nance (aka Mayfield), lives in a
vacation home with her parents and younger sister at Lakeview Park, and practices
year-round across the street.
The waves may be manmade, but her talent is all natural, and who needs California surf when Roosevelt Lake has its own pro riding the wake?
Honestly, there are so many fascinating folks here, each with a story worth sharing. The
Roosevelt Lake Marina and Lakeview Park community are full of remarkable people
and rich characters.
So stay tuned, because there are plenty more tales from the shores here to tell, and “Bob’s your uncle.”***
***A 19th-century British saying. A cheeky way to say “it’s as simple as that.”
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