Fishing Elk Lake

Elk Lake is not known as a destination trout fishery like many of its neighboring Cascade lakes. But the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife stocks Elk Lake with 50,000 trout fingerlings — 30,000 brooks, 20,000 cutthroat — each year in late June or early July, according to Erik Moberly, an ODFW fish biologist based in Bend. The lake also supports naturally reproducing kokanee, but the main catch is the brook trout, ranging from 12 to 18 inches in length. Aside from the fishing at Elk Lake, the views are about as good as they get in the Central Oregon Cascades.

Getting there: From Bend, travel about 35 miles southwest on Century Drive and Cascade Lakes Highway to Elk Lake Resort. The resort and several campgrounds offer boat ramps.

— Mark Morical