Horseshoe Lake
Crittenden County, ArkansasView mapDirections
Arkansas DEQ publishes the water-quality measurements for Horseshoe Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Hypereutrophic
- Impaired · Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen)
- 51 ft max depth
- Limited data
Horseshoe Lake in Crittenden County, Arkansas has water-quality measurements published by Arkansas DEQ, shown here as reported. Phosphorus: 85 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 72.6 µg/L.
Horseshoe Lake is a highly nutrient-loaded hypereutrophic lake in Crittenden County, Arkansas with an estimated average depth of about 51 feet. Overall water quality is improving over recent sampling years.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, ADEQ, last sampled 2023-03-07. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
For a place on the water, look through cabin and lake-house rentals near Horseshoe Lake on Vrbo. For a hotel or motel room, Booking.com and Expedia both search around the lake.
Swimming conditions
Readings onlyLimited data
Based on clarity and algae readings from past sampling — there is no live water temperature and a current cyanobacteria reading for this lake. Check your state or county health department before you swim.
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Horseshoe Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen). Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Horseshoe Lake is safe to swim in today is a call for the Arkansas Division of Environmental Quality and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Horseshoe Lake
These are the measurements Arkansas DEQ publishes for Horseshoe 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 85 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 72.6 µg/L. TSI 70.
| 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 | 85µg/L | Poor GoodFairPoor |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 72.6µg/L | Poor GoodFairPoor |
| Trophic state (TSI)Carlson's 0–100 index of how much algae a lake can support, from clarity, phosphorus and chlorophyll-a. | 70 | Hypereutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
Very high nutrients, dense algae, poor clarity
Ask about Horseshoe Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~51 ft est.
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Arkansas has not published bathymetry for Horseshoe Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
16 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Surface area
1,876 acres
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
14.8 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
184 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.
Stays via Stay22
Stays near Horseshoe Lake
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Horseshoe Lake in Crittenden County, Arkansas — 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. The water-quality readings cover nutrients and algae, not lodging. Cabins and rentals around Horseshoe Lake are listed below.
Top-rated places to stay near Horseshoe Lake
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Fishing Horseshoe Lake
Water quality readings over time
3 seasons of samples on record (2020–2022). Calling a direction takes at least 4 years of the same measurement.
Phosphorus
Improving-15 µg/L/yr3 years
Chlorophyll-a
Improving-8.05 µg/L/yr3 years
EPA Impairment Status
Horseshoe Lake is officially listed as impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) in the 2022 EPA reporting cycle (IR category 5).
Causes of impairment
Designated uses not supporting: Aquatic life.
A Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) plan has been approved.
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit AR_08020203_4060 · Official waterbody report
Nearby Lakes in Crittenden County
Frequently asked questions about Horseshoe Lake
Where is Horseshoe Lake?
- Horseshoe Lake is a lake in Crittenden County, Arkansas. Its water-quality measurements are published by Arkansas DEQ and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Horseshoe Lake?
- Horseshoe Lake in Crittenden County, Arkansas has water-quality measurements published by Arkansas DEQ, shown here as reported. Phosphorus: 85 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 72.6 µg/L.
Is Horseshoe Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Horseshoe Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen). Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Horseshoe Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Horseshoe Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 51 feet, but that is a modelled estimate derived from surrounding terrain rather than a measurement on the water, so treat it as approximate.
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Where this data comes from
35 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2020–2023. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality
ARDEQH2O_WQX35 samples · 2020–2023
Analytical methods
- 4500 P J ~ Persulfate Method for Simultaneous Determination of Total Nitrogen and Total Phosphorus
- 445.0 ~ EPA; Chlorophyll and Pheophytin in Algae by Fluorescence
- Turbidity by Nephelometry
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)