The water Beaver
One reservoir open, two up a closed canyon
Minersville, Puffer and Kents Lake, and which one you can reach.
Beaver sits between three real reservoirs: Minersville, west of town on its own road, and Puffer Lake and Kents Lake, high in the Tushar Mountains east of town. Right now only one of the three is reachable, and I would rather tell you which before you hitch up the boat.
By Scott Buehler, Beaver local
Updated September 2026
The short answer
If you are asking which reservoir near Beaver you can actually reach today, the answer is Minersville, and only Minersville. It sits about 12 miles west of town on State Route 21, on its own stretch of the Beaver River, and it is a Utah state park run as a trophy trout fishery, open year round for fishing, boating and camping. The other two, Puffer Lake and Kents Lake, sit high in the Tushar Mountains east of town, reached from Beaver only by State Route 153, the canyon highway a July 2026 flood washed out. That road is closed while it is rebuilt, so the mountain lakes are cut off from the Beaver side for now. The fish are still up there. The road just is not, so plan your trip around the water you can actually get to.
The reservoirs at a glance
Minersville
12 mi west on SR-21, open year round
Puffer Lake
Near 9,700 ft above Eagle Point, road closed
Kents Lake
About 50 acres near 8,800 ft, road closed
1914
Minersville's Rocky Ford Dam completed
The one that is open
Minersville, west of town on its own road.
Minersville has been the anchor of Beaver County fishing since the Rocky Ford Dam went in on the Beaver River in 1914, and today it is a Utah state park about 12 miles west of town on State Route 21. It is by far the biggest of the three, more than 900 acres when the reservoir is full, with a paved boat ramp, a campground, culinary water, showers and a fish cleaning station. Boats, pedal boats and paddlecraft all launch here, and unlike the mountain lakes it fishes right through the winter, ice fishing included once it freezes.
What makes it worth the drive is how it is managed. Since the 1990s Minersville has been run as a trophy trout fishery rather than a put and take pond: flies and lures only, no scented or salted soft plastics, and a limit of one trout over 22 inches. Anglers here release far more than they keep, which is exactly why the fish grow to the size they do. And because it sits on the Beaver River drainage west of town, a different watershed entirely from Beaver Canyon, nothing that happened up State Route 153 in 2026 touched it.
Minersville Reservoir, at a glance
Check the current rules before you fish or camp. Utah State Parks sets day use and camping fees and can adjust them, and the Division of Wildlife Resources can change the harvest limits at Minersville in a low water year. A quick look at the Utah Fishing Guidebook and the state park page is worth it before a weekend trip.
Up the canyon
Puffer, Kents and the high lakes behind the closure.
Head east instead of west and the story changes. State Route 153 climbs Beaver Canyon into the Tushar Mountains, the third highest range in Utah, and the lakes strung along it sit near and above 9,000 feet. Puffer Lake is the largest natural lake in the range, roughly 65 acres, at about 9,700 feet just above Eagle Point. It is a genuinely pretty piece of water with a catch worth knowing: much of the shoreline is privately owned, and only a small portion is open to the public, so it fishes and paddles differently than a state park does. Kents Lake sits lower and to the west, about 50 acres near 8,800 feet, with a Forest Service campground of around 30 sites and water calm enough for a canoe or a small boat.
They are not the only water up there. Anderson Meadow, a small wake free reservoir near 9,355 feet, and LeBaron Reservoir, the highest sport fishery in the county at 9,905 feet, sit on the same loop and hold rainbow, brook trout and Arctic grayling in a normal summer. All of it, though, hangs off State Route 153, and that is the problem. A July 2026 flood tore out the highway through the lower canyon, and the state has said the full rebuild will not be finished before 2027. So from Beaver, the whole high lake cluster is cut off for now.
Puffer Lake
Kents Lake
Access can change from either end of the canyon as repairs progress. Check UDOT for the current status of State Route 153 before planning a trip to any of the high lakes.
The fish are still up there. The road just is not, and pretending otherwise wastes someone's whole afternoon.
Scott Buehler
Moving Utah About Scott
Quick answers
The water, answered.
Minersville Reservoir, about 12 miles west of town on State Route 21. It is a Utah state park with year round fishing, boating and camping, and it sits on a different watershed from Beaver Canyon, so the July 2026 flood that closed the canyon road never touched it. Puffer Lake and Kents Lake, up State Route 153 east of town, are cut off from the Beaver side for now.
A July 2026 flood washed out State Route 153 through Beaver Canyon, the only road up to them from Beaver. The state has said the full rebuild will not be finished before 2027, and access can change from either end of the canyon as repairs go on, so check UDOT for the current status before you plan a trip.
A trophy trout fishery. Since the 1990s it has been managed with flies and lures only, no scented or salted soft plastics, and a limit of one trout over 22 inches, which is why it produces big fish. Harvest limits can change in a low water year, so check the current Utah Fishing Guidebook before you keep anything.
More than 900 acres when the reservoir is full, which makes it by far the largest and most developed of the three. It has a paved boat ramp, a campground, culinary water, showers and a fish cleaning station, and it is reached on State Route 21 west of Beaver.
Puffer Lake is the largest natural lake in the Tushar Mountains, roughly 65 acres, at about 9,700 feet just above Eagle Point east of Beaver. It holds trout and freezes for ice fishing in winter, but much of the shoreline is privately owned and only a small portion is open to the public. It is reached only by State Route 153, which is currently closed.
A high mountain reservoir of about 50 acres near 8,800 feet in the Fishlake National Forest, with a Forest Service campground of around 30 sites and water calm enough for a canoe or small boat. From Beaver it is about 10 miles up State Route 153 and then a forest road, both closed for now.
Yes. Anderson Meadow, a small wake free reservoir near 9,355 feet, and LeBaron Reservoir, the highest sport fishery in the county at 9,905 feet, sit on the same high loop and hold rainbow trout, brook trout and Arctic grayling in a normal summer. All of them are on the closed State Route 153 side, cut off from Beaver for now.
A lot. Minersville sits on the valley floor at an elevation close to Beaver itself, while Puffer Lake is near 9,700 feet and Kents Lake near 8,800 feet, thousands of feet higher in the Tushar Mountains. That difference means a much shorter open water season and colder nights at the mountain lakes in a normal year.
At Minersville, yes; it runs as a year round fishery at the state park, ice fishing included. The high lakes fish a short summer season at their elevation and freeze for ice fishing in a normal winter, but none of them is reachable from Beaver while State Route 153 is closed.
A market that trades on what is reachable today, not what usually is.
A cabin or lot near any of these three reservoirs is a genuinely different purchase depending on which road serves it, and right now that distinction matters more than usual. I would rather walk through the current access picture with you than let an old listing photo make an outdated case.
Or call me: (435) 357-4345or send me a message
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