Courtesy Dan Gilmour

Lake Simtustus is one of those wonder-what’s-back-there places.

I can’t count how many times I’ve driven by the turnoff to the lake, either coasting down that long grade into Warm Springs or pushing back up toward Madras, and wondered about the lake with the interesting name.

It turns out, the lake is on an access road about three miles from U.S. Highway 26. It also turns out that I’d been there before, but got there via a gravel back road from Culver. I didn’t remember until it dawned on me that this strong feeling of deja vu really wasn’t.

Anyway, Pelton Dam is a delightful little impoundment brought to you by Portland General Electric and the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, the lowest major man-made obstruction on the Lower Deschutes River before it empties into the Columbia. It is a National Wild and Scenic River and known for its blue-ribbon trout and steelhead fishing.

Bounded by the Warm Springs Indian Reservation to the west, Lake Simtustus is a different animal but a pleasant place in its own right. The part of the lake not governed by a 10 mph speed limit is popular with water skiers, but most of it is a mecca for non-motorized boaters, anglers and wildlife watchers. Those interested in geese, ducks, great blue herons and eagles like the Pelton Wildlife Overlook, just north of Pelton Park. At Pelton Park, operated by PGE, people can camp or picnic in a greenbelt overlooking the lake.

There are also viewing platforms from which you can admire the reservoir and the massive slab of concrete. No matter where you stand on dams, it’s difficult not to come away impressed by human ingenuity and the big-picture engineering it takes to harness a river such as the Deschutes. According to PGE, Pelton Dam allows the utility ”to maintain a relatively constant flow on the Deschutes, mimicking that of a natural river.”

Pelton has become a household word in Central Oregon because of a bold $62 million initiative to move juvenile steelhead and salmon downriver from Lake Billy Chinook. An underwater tower at Round Butte Dam will (hopefully) suck in migrating fish and spit them out on the other side. Trucks will then drive them around the series of dams and release them downstream of Pelton.

It seems the sea-run fish became confused on their downstream migration because of conflicting currents in Lake Billy Chinook.

Upriver passage had been less problematic, even after the dams went in. Adult fish moving upriver could hitch a ride on a set of pulleys and gondolas.

If the tower pans out, the Upper Deschutes, Crooked and Metolius rivers could host runs of anadromous fish for the first time in 50 years. Meanwhile, the seven-mile reservoir behind Pelton Dam is home to kokanee, rainbow trout, brown trout and bull trout. According to PGE, rainbow and bull trout as large as 20 pounds are pulled from the lake each spring.

There are two other campgrounds on Lake Simtustus, Lake Simtustus Campground and Indian Park Campground on the far side of the lake.

From Madras, travel north on U.S. Highway 26, then turn left at the sign two miles south of Warm Springs. The lake is about three miles up the road. Camping at Pelton Park is $16 for a non- electrical space.

Contact: 475-0517

– Jim Witty