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Show Steinaker Reservoir Just around the corner Glorious Steinaker Reservoir, where the young swim and boat and water ski and where the not-so-young fish along the bank and wish they were still young enough to do those things. Located only 7 miles north of Vernal, Steinaker has become an institution in-the in-the life of Vernal residents. While it is not the most beautiful reservoir in the area, and certainly does not provide the finest fishing, its appeal goes beyond all those things, to a much larger fact, the fact that it is there. If a tourist came to Vernal, and asked ask-ed a resident what things should be seen in order to see what Vernal is, the resident would probably say the Museum, the Dinosaur Quarry, the trophy case at the high school with all the wrestling awards, and Steinaker Reservoir in the summer. A typical summer weekend at Steinaker Reservoir includes people camping in the reservation only campground, cam-pground, motor boating, stopping occasionally oc-casionally to fish or drop off a water skier, a couple of sailboats, and the east bank dotted with people fishing and just enjoying the scenery. But, as magical as Steinaker may seem, simply because it is there, the recreational opportunities are a very secondary purpose of the reservoir. The main reason the reservoir was created in the first place was a way to retain water for irrigation purposes. Many of the farmers in Ashley Valley now depend upon Steinaker to store water during the spring runoff to supply supp-ly their irrigation needs later in the summer. An intricate canal system has been devised to carry the water to the various farms. In a way it has become the lifeblood of the agricultural industry in the Ashley Valley. But the true wonder of Steinaker lies simply in its being. It would be interesting in-teresting to know how many people, on a Sunday afternoon, say, "Let's ride up to Steinaker and back." And away they go. They may just ride up the highway and around the reservoir to the other side, or they may stop to climb one of the small hills that become the east side of the reservoir, there to sit and watch the sun reflect on the water. Although people obviously plan weekends for Steinaker, most times the excursion is a spur of the moment type of thing, when there is no time to go elsewhere, but then again, perhaps there is also no need. Dinosaur LaneLj atP JUP FLAM IMG GORGE f I Gre 1 DAM rj m""-" NiJSUAL U1NT&S ! O S Brush Creek Cave I . I G l' ,H Diamond Mountain fe (i X FK1 t 1 ((l ) w a ti E-W" c....,p.V J (Stemtker SW J ' l If C (JDari - ki ) V AV C r FIELD H0USE SteimMRxk ( f I Of H7URl.HI5TORY " I ftV'':T VISITORS CENTER j.VS P I I f ,n M PTo High Uintsi I ).. U $Y f I J f JL HATONA'" wowu'yHT J c f I G Jjj BOATING TOURING jt e I I i I ! f i 5 ... - :..,yt... .. i 0 i I ' I . W- w- - t r i K ' ' I I SAILING IS just one of mjny activities locals and tourists enioy at Steinaker Reservoir. Other activit'es include motoi hoatnu:. water skune.. tis-hm.:. mm,: Ihe icsoivoir Mjs lWm ' ' maik in the Ashley Vallev J |