Heyburn Lake
Creek County, Oklahoma880 acresView mapDirections
Oklahoma DEQ publishes the water-quality measurements for Heyburn Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- 33 ft max depth
- Public access
- Limited data
Heyburn Lake in Creek County, Oklahoma has water-quality measurements published by Oklahoma DEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 1.2 ft visibility. Surface area: 880 acres.
Heyburn Lake is a 880-acre lake in Creek County, Oklahoma with an estimated average depth of about 33 feet. Overall water quality is improving over recent sampling years. Limited fish-species data available. Public access is available with 4 public boat landings.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, ODEQ, last sampled 2021-09-14. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
What Heyburn Lake is good for
From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.
- Boat launch4 documented ramps
- Camping2 public campgrounds nearby
Swimming conditions
No readingLimited data
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Heyburn Lake is safe to swim in today is a call for the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Heyburn Lake
These are the measurements Oklahoma DEQ publishes for Heyburn 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 1.2 ft of visibility. TSI 74.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 1.2ft | 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. | 74 | Hypereutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
Very high nutrients, dense algae, poor clarity
Ask about Heyburn Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~33 ft est.
Surface area
880 acres
Public access
Yes
Listed by Oklahoma DEQ
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Oklahoma has not published bathymetry for Heyburn Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
119 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
8 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
774 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
- Heyburn ParkPublic
- Sheppard PointPublic
- Sunset BayPublic
- Heyburn ReservoirPublic
Named access points in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory, within about 3 miles. More lakes with boat ramps
Public campgrounds near Heyburn Lake
Nearest public campgrounds in the USGS National Map inventory, within about 3 miles. An empty list means USGS records no campground that close, which is not the same as camping being unavailable. Where the source gives an official reservation link, it is used; the cabin and hotel search does not cover campsites. More camping lakes
Stays via Stay22
Stays near Heyburn Lake
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Heyburn Lake in Creek County, Oklahoma — 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 Heyburn Lake
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Fishing Heyburn Lake
Water quality readings over time
2 seasons of samples on record (2016–2021). Calling a direction takes at least 4 years of the same measurement.
Water clarity
Improving2 years
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Heyburn Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Heyburn Dam (completed 1950), built primarily for flood risk reduction on the Polecat Creek; earth-type dam, 89 ft tall and 2,920 ft long.
- Surface area
- 880 ac
- Normal storage
- 7,105 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 55,395 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 123 sq mi
- Hazard class
- High
- Owner
- USACE - Tulsa District
All listed purposes: Flood Risk Reduction;Other;Recreation;Water Supply.
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID OK10313 · Operator website
Nearby Lakes in Creek County
Frequently asked questions about Heyburn Lake
Where is Heyburn Lake?
- Heyburn Lake is a lake in Creek County, Oklahoma. Its water-quality measurements are published by Oklahoma DEQ and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Heyburn Lake?
- Heyburn Lake in Creek County, Oklahoma has water-quality measurements published by Oklahoma DEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 1.2 ft visibility. Surface area: 880 acres.
Is Heyburn Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Heyburn Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Heyburn Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 33 feet, but that is a modelled estimate derived from surrounding terrain rather than a measurement on the water, so treat it as approximate. The lake covers 880 acres.
Are there boat ramps on Heyburn Lake?
- Heyburn Lake has 4 documented boat landings in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory. Named access points include Heyburn Park, Sheppard Point, Sunset Bay, Heyburn Reservoir. Public access is listed as yes.
Can I fish at Heyburn Lake?
- Heyburn Lake has 4 documented boat landings in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory. Seasons, size and bag limits, and whether you need a license are set by Oklahoma's fish and wildlife agency, so check its current regulations before you go.
Are there campgrounds on Heyburn Lake?
- Heyburn Lake has 2 public campgrounds from USGS The National Map within 5 km, including Heyburn Park, Sheppard Point. This is a location join, not a booking. Cabins and hotels are listed separately; campsite reservations use the official link when the source provides one.
Explore Heyburn Lake across LakeQuality
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Hypereutrophic Lakes in Oklahoma
Where this data comes from
31 measurements from 4 monitoring stations, 2016–2021. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- OWRB Lakes Monitoring
OKWRB-LAKES_WQX31 samples · 2016–2021
Analytical methods
- OWRB Lakes Field Data Collection
- Determination of Turbidity
Monitoring station identifiers (4)
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
Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)
Named boat-access points from the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory
Public campgrounds from USGS The National Map Structures, within about 3 miles