Cleawox Lake is a submerged remnant of the headwaters of a small coastal stream that existed before the most recent ice age. The lake formed after melting glaciers caused a rise in sea level that drowned the lower reaches of the stream. Sediments from the sluggish stream formed sand dunes, behind which the lake was dammed. The dunes, estimated to be advancing northward at Шаблон:Convert a year, are encroaching on the lake.[2]
Watershed
Covering only Шаблон:Convert, Cleawox Lake's drainage basin is separate from the nearby Woahink–Siltcoos watershed to the east and south. Water enters Cleawox from small surface streams and by seepage, and no surface outflow has been identified. Soils are sandy and well-drained and support mainly pines and shrubs. Although the lake is saltier than most other coastal lakes in Oregon, it is also more transparent.[2]
About Шаблон:Convert of the lakeshore borders Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area, and about Шаблон:Convert borders Honeyman State Park. The rest borders private property, including vacation homes and girl scout Camp Cleawox.[2]
Recreation
Park visitors use the lake for swimming, canoeing, and fishing for warm-water species and rainbow and coastal cutthroat trout.[2] In the state park, picnic tables have been set up in sight of the water.[3] No overnight camping is allowed next to the lake,[2] but nearby areas of the state park have many campsites.[3]