Antelope Creek Lakes Research Natural Area Establishment Record

The lakes, numerous meadows, and predominant forest vegetation of red fir and mountain hemlock are the major features of Antelope Creek Lakes Research Natural Area.

In the RNA, both the Butte and the Antelope Creek valleys were heavily glaciated. The four small lakes were created by morainal damming during the Pleistocene. Two lakes each occur in the Antelope and Butte Creek drainages. The Northern Antelope Creek Lake and both Butte Creek lakes appear to be formed by damming of lateral moraines, while the southern Antelope Creek Lake was formed in a cirque bowl following damming by a recessional moraine. Meadows fringe all of the four lakes with those at the Eastern Butte Creek and Northern Antelope Creek lakes being most extensive