LL Buchanan Lake

Yakima, Washington

A lake with floating islands.

Barney's Island
Betty's Island
Betty's Island-2
Betty's Island-3
Pebbles Island
Aerial Photos
Consulting
Neighbors
History
Swans
Birds
Trees
Trees-2
Trees-3
Lake
Links

Three Trumpeter Swan cygnets (young) on the lake a few years ago.

Current 2008 Reports on Betty's Island upgrade moved to the top of Betty's Island-3

This website offers an ongoing account of a private gravel pit pond. Its shore is being affordably planted to an arboretum. The lake and shoreline waterfowl habitat are being enhanced. Floating islands drift around in the middle. The benefits are for waterfowl and trees. The effort is also for the visual enjoyment of people who drive by on the adjacent freeway, and walk by on the adjacent public foot path.

LL Buchanan Lake is a wholly private 60 acre lake located within the east side of Yakima Washington, along the Yakima River, at 2000 East Beech Street. It is Yakima's largest lake. Its unique nature and location adjacent to a beautiful city offers a superlative economic opportunity.

Yakima, located in sunny central Washington, is an irrigated valley of diverse agriculture, including a variety of fruits and fine wine grapes. The Yakima River valley divides the forested Cascade Mountain Range, with its glacier-clad mountains and high alpine lakes, from the agricultural fields and sage lands of the Columbia River Valley and eastern half of the State. The diversity of opportunity is magnificent.

Some number of years ago the lake area was just a rocky piece of land with a few scrub trees, next to the Yakima River. LL Buchanan, one of Yakima's early businessmen, fed livestock there. The area where he fed waste fruit peelings, cores and seeds from canneries, including peach pits, was later amusingly referenced as a peach orchard. A concrete company leased the land. The gravel was handy. Time went by. Yakima grew. A lot of concrete was made. The gravel pit got bigger. It got to be about 60 acres big and a hundred and twenty feet deep. That was all the bigger it could get, so they took out the last load of rocks and turned off the water pumps that were keeping out the water.

Nice lake.

Geese and ducks like it, a lot, especially its floating islands. Trumpeter swans resided on the lake awhile. Bald eagles are often in the area. A pair of ospreys nest at the lake. Herons, pelicans, cormorants and other birds enjoy the lake. Redwing Blackbirds, Goldfinches, and other small birds thrive in the vegetative habitat of two old settling ponds beside the lake. The fine folks in the Yakima Valley Audubon Society have a lot of great bird information for the area.

Beaver enjoy the lake and the willows, much to the apprehension of the better shoreline trees protected by wire screen. Rabbits hop among the bushes. Mink and other critters are occasionally seen.

The depth of the lake maintains a cool thermal mass with a number of advantages, including the upper strata sustaining a clear, beautiful green-blue color, often mentioned by viewers. The adjacent Swan Pond, with its beaver houses, is occasionally less clear when the waterfowl are actively feeding in its shallow depth.

Four small islands near the shore of the lake, and three artificial floating islands, enhance waterfowl nesting protection. The floating islands (Barney's Island, Pebbles Island and Betty's Island) drift around on long anchored tethers. They are growing a few small trees. Barney's Island is visible in the current GoogleEarth photo.

To enhance the lake shore, varied seedling trees are being planted each year, to eventually complement the adjacent Yakima Area Arboretum. The tree planting and vegetation improvement projects benefit the visual esthetics and wildlife habitat. The current tree species list and photos are on the Trees page. The seedling trees are purchased from the good folks at Lawyer Nursery. The arboreal artistry of the LL and Laura Buchanan Lake Habitat is certain to make this one of Yakima's finest areas of the future.

The Yakima Area Arboretum is just across a waterway along the south end of the lake property. The Arboretum has a spacious lawn planted with two of each tree species which can grow in central Washington. With the shrubs, over 2,000 plant species grow at the arboretum. It is a science-based arboretum open to members and the general public. The Japanese garden, visitor center solarium and meeting room are often rented for weddings, events and meetings. It is one of the priority places to visit in Yakima. A Yakima resident would distinguish herself or himself by showing visitors the Arboretum, as a member. A city park is adjacent to the Arboretum.

The Yakima River flows along the east side of the lake, separated by a dike with a paved public foot path offering an elevated view of the lake and river. In view to the west, Mt. Rainier and Mt. Adams are two gem-white, glacier-clad volcanoes in the Cascade Range. The web slave recommends them both. Put them on your must-climb list. The popular recreation path extends for several miles along the Yakima River. The dike is separated from the lake by a small flowing waterway. People using the footpath complement the view of the lake, its untrampled shore, its waterfowl, the other birds and animals, with more natural diversity than the environmentally sterilized parks to the north and south of the lake.

Barney's Island, Betty's Island and Pebbles Island have become a landmark (or watermark) of Yakima. Floating islands are fun. Other projects are planned.

Along the north shore of LL Buchanan Lake are twenty five acres of land and a six acre shallow pond area, in part available for new opportunities. It is leased by Central Premix Concrete Company, offering the latest products and processes. If you need concrete or gravel, you will appreciate the products and service of the Central Premix folks. They have made high standards a fun endeavor.

To the north are Sarge Hubbard Park, a hotel complex, the Washington Fruit Commission office building, a Wal-Mart store, and an auto dealership. The Oxford Inn and Oxford Suites overlook the river, and offer quality lodging for visitors to Yakima. The Greenway Auto Mall offers an extensive line of autos and service.

On the west side of the lake is Interstate 82. Across I-82, is the Yakima Sundome convention center, the Central Washington State fairgrounds, and downtown Yakima. I-82 offers convenient access to the Yakima Airport. Yakima is the hub area for central Washington. As well as points north, south and east, I-82 directly accesses highways to three passes over the Cascade Range, to the Seattle area and western Washington. Two of the passes have downhill skiing facilities.

I-82 also offers convenient access to the Yakima and Columbia valley vineyards and wineries. The ideal growing conditions for wine grapes involve the volcanic soils with abundant sun and irrigation water. With those ideal conditions and no dependency on the timing of rain, vintage years are an annually recurrent event. I recommend the magnificent wines of Tefft Cellars. The other Yakima Valley wineries are worthy of your consideration. You will find wines that match your palate's most favored preference. The unpretentious nature of friendly Yakima valley farmers and vintners puts the winery tours high on the list of reasons to visit the area. You will return, especially if you find Chukar's Cherries, in Prosser, in the lower Yakima Valley. They put dried cherries in chocolate, and make other such things. If you find a better candy, email the web slave. He wants some.

At some point in time, an upscale development will most likely utilize LL Buchanan Lake's unique array of property characteristics. Lease opportunities are available for a portion of the area.

Inquiries regarding this property may be made to Doug at Buchanan.ws (replace at with @).

LL Buchanan Trust wishes you the best in all things.

Barney's Island
Betty's Island
Betty's Island-2
Betty's Island-3
Pebbles Island
Aerial Photos
Consulting
Neighbors
History
Swans
Birds
Trees
Trees-2
Trees-3
Lake
Links