Buckhorn Lake
Perry County, Kentucky1,230 acresView mapDirections
Kentucky DOW publishes the water-quality measurements for Buckhorn Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Public access
- Limited data
Buckhorn Lake in Perry County, Kentucky has water-quality measurements published by Kentucky DOW, shown here as reported. Phosphorus: 10 µg/L. Surface area: 1230 acres.
Buckhorn Lake is a 1,230-acre lake in Perry County, Kentucky. Limited fish-species data available. Public access is available.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, KY DOW, last sampled 2013-08-07. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Buckhorn Lake covers about 1,200 acres in Perry County. If you are planning to stay, you can search lake houses and cabins around Buckhorn Lake on Vrbo, or look for a hotel room near the lake on Booking.com or Expedia.
What Buckhorn Lake is good for
From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.
- Big water1,230 acres
Swimming conditions
No readingLimited data
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Buckhorn Lake is safe to swim in today is a call for the Kentucky Division of Water and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Buckhorn Lake
These are the measurements Kentucky DOW publishes for Buckhorn Lake, shown as reported. The condition class beside each reading is the EPA National Lakes Assessment class for this lake’s ecoregion.
No clarity data. Phosphorus 10 µg/L. TSI 37.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | No reading How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. | |
| Total phosphorus | 10µg/L | Measured, not scored The nutrient that most limits algae growth in freshwater. More phosphorus, more algae potential. |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | No reading The green pigment in algae — a direct measure of how much algae is in the water. | |
| Trophic state (TSI)Carlson's 0–100 index of how much algae a lake can support, from clarity, phosphorus and chlorophyll-a. | 37 | Oligotrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
Low nutrients, clear water. No reading is a swimming clearance.
Ask about Buckhorn Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Surface area
1,230 acres
Public access
Yes
Listed by Kentucky DOW
No bathymetric survey has been published for Buckhorn Lake, so its depth is not documented here.
Stays via Stay22
Stays near Buckhorn Lake
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Buckhorn Lake in Perry County, Kentucky — live availability and prices for your trip. Switch the map to Satellite to see the lake and how close each stay is to the water.
Top-rated places to stay near Buckhorn Lake
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Fishing Buckhorn Lake
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Buckhorn Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Buckhorn Dam (completed 1960), built primarily for flood risk reduction on the Middlefork Kentucky River; rockfill-type dam, 160 ft tall and 1,020 ft long.
- Surface area
- 1,230 ac
- Normal storage
- 32,100 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 167,900 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 408 sq mi
- Hazard class
- High
- Owner
- USACE - Louisville District
All listed purposes: Flood Risk Reduction;Recreation.
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID KY03027 · Operator website
Nearby Lakes in Perry County
Frequently asked questions about Buckhorn Lake
Where is Buckhorn Lake?
- Buckhorn Lake is a lake in Perry County, Kentucky. Its water-quality measurements are published by Kentucky DOW and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Buckhorn Lake?
- Buckhorn Lake in Perry County, Kentucky has water-quality measurements published by Kentucky DOW, shown here as reported. Phosphorus: 10 µg/L. Surface area: 1230 acres.
Is Buckhorn Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
Can I fish at Buckhorn Lake?
- Public access to Buckhorn Lake is listed as yes on the lake record. Seasons, size and bag limits, and whether you need a license are set by Kentucky's fish and wildlife agency, so check its current regulations before you go.
Explore Buckhorn Lake across LakeQuality
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Where this data comes from
6 measurements from 3 monitoring stations, 2013. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- KY WQX
21KY_WQX6 samples · 2013
Analytical methods
- Phosphorus by Colorimetry
Monitoring station identifiers (3)
EPA condition classes from the National Lakes Assessment (EPA 841-R-24-006, Table 6-3), applied by ecoregion. See where the data comes from and data sources.