Herrington Lake
Boyle County, KentuckyView mapDirections
Kentucky DOW publishes the water-quality measurements for Herrington Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Impaired · Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen)
- 66 ft max depth
- Public access
- Limited data
Herrington Lake in Boyle County, Kentucky has water-quality measurements published by Kentucky DOW, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 3.3 ft visibility.
Herrington Lake is a lake in Boyle County, Kentucky with an estimated average depth of about 66 feet. Overall water quality is improving over recent sampling years. Limited fish-species data available. Public access is available with 5 public boat landings.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, KY DOW, last sampled 2020-06-13. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
What Herrington Lake is good for
From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.
- Boat launch5 documented ramps
Swimming conditions
No readingLimited data
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Herrington Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen), oxygen depletion (low DO), pCBs. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Herrington 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 Herrington Lake
These are the measurements Kentucky DOW publishes for Herrington Lake, shown as reported. The condition class beside each reading is the EPA National Lakes Assessment class for this lake’s ecoregion.
Very murky, less than 3.3 ft of visibility. TSI 60.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 3.3ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | No reading 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. | 60 | Eutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity
Ask about Herrington Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~66 ft est.
Public access
Yes
Listed by Kentucky DOW
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Kentucky has not published bathymetry for Herrington Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
437 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Surface area
1,799 acres
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
60.9 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
771 ft
Size, shoreline, and watershed area from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS). Mean depth here is modelled, not surveyed — HydroLAKES v1.0 estimates lake depth from surrounding terrain rather than from soundings. Treat it as an approximation, and prefer a state bathymetric survey where one exists.
Recreation & Access
- Bryants CampPublic
- Keys LandingPublic
- Kings MillPublic
- Millers LandingPublic
- Gwinn IslandPublic
Named access points in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory, within about 3 miles. More lakes with boat ramps
Stays via Stay22
Stays near Herrington Lake
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Herrington Lake in Boyle 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 Herrington Lake
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Fishing Herrington Lake
Water Quality Trend: Improving
Based on 4 years of monitoring (2017–2020).
Water clarity
Improving4 years
EPA Impairment Status
Herrington Lake is officially listed as impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) in the 2024 EPA reporting cycle (IR category 5).
Causes of impairment
Designated uses not supporting: Aquatic life, Fish consumption.
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit KY-919 · Official waterbody report
Nearby Lakes in Boyle County
Frequently asked questions about Herrington Lake
Where is Herrington Lake?
- Herrington Lake is a lake in Boyle County, Kentucky. Its water-quality measurements are published by Kentucky DOW and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Herrington Lake?
- Herrington Lake in Boyle County, Kentucky has water-quality measurements published by Kentucky DOW, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 3.3 ft visibility.
Is Herrington Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Herrington Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen), oxygen depletion (low DO), pCBs. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Herrington Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Herrington Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 66 feet, but that is a modelled estimate derived from surrounding terrain rather than a measurement on the water, so treat it as approximate.
Are there boat ramps on Herrington Lake?
- Herrington Lake has 5 documented boat landings in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory. Named access points include Bryants Camp, Keys Landing, Kings Mill, Millers Landing, among others. Public access is listed as yes.
Can I fish at Herrington Lake?
- Herrington Lake has 5 documented boat landings in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory. 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 Herrington Lake across LakeQuality
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Where this data comes from
130 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2017–2020. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- North American Lake Management Society
NALMS130 samples · 2017–2020
Monitoring station identifiers (1)
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.
Other records on this page
Impairment status from EPA ATTAINS 303(d) database
Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)
Named boat-access points from the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory