Indian Hills Lake
Crawford County, MissouriView mapDirections
Missouri DNR publishes the water-quality measurements for Indian Hills Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Eutrophic
- Impaired · Algal growth
- 55 ft max depth
- Limited data
Indian Hills Lake in Crawford County, Missouri has water-quality measurements published by Missouri DNR, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 3.4 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 35 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 28.4 µg/L.
Indian Hills Lake is a productive, nutrient-rich eutrophic lake in Crawford County, Missouri with an estimated average depth of about 55 feet.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, Missouri DNR, last sampled 2020-09-02. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
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. Indian Hills Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for algal growth, mercury. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Indian Hills Lake is safe to swim in today is a call for the Missouri Department of Natural Resources and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Indian Hills Lake
These are the measurements Missouri DNR publishes for Indian Hills Lake, shown as reported. The condition class beside each reading is the EPA National Lakes Assessment class for this lake’s ecoregion.
Murky, only visible to about 3.4 ft. Phosphorus 35 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 28.4 µg/L. TSI 59.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 3.4ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | 35µg/L | Poor GoodFairPoor |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 28.4µg/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. | 59 | Eutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity
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Lake Details
Max depth
~55 ft est.
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Missouri has not published bathymetry for Indian Hills Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
14 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Surface area
262 acres
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
4.2 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
886 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.
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Stays near Indian Hills Lake
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Indian Hills Lake in Crawford County, Missouri — 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 Indian Hills Lake are listed below.
Top-rated places to stay near Indian Hills Lake
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Fishing Indian Hills Lake
EPA Impairment Status
Indian Hills 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, Fish consumption.
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit MO_7288.00 · Official waterbody report
Nearby Lakes in Crawford County
Frequently asked questions about Indian Hills Lake
Where is Indian Hills Lake?
- Indian Hills Lake is a lake in Crawford County, Missouri. Its water-quality measurements are published by Missouri DNR and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Indian Hills Lake?
- Indian Hills Lake in Crawford County, Missouri has water-quality measurements published by Missouri DNR, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 3.4 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 35 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 28.4 µg/L.
Is Indian Hills Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Indian Hills Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for algal growth, mercury. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Indian Hills Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Indian Hills Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 55 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
23 measurements from 2 monitoring stations, 2020. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- Univ. of Missouri, Columbia
UMC20 samples · 2020 - Missouri Dept. of Natural Resources
MDNR3 samples · 2020
Analytical methods
- Depth, Secchi disk in meters
- 4500 P E ~ Phosphorus in Water by Colorimetry- Ascorbic Acid Method
- 445.0 ~ EPA; Chlorophyll and Pheophytin in Algae by Fluorescence
- Nitrogen and Phosphorus, Total, Whole-water, Alkaline Persulfate Digest
Monitoring station identifiers (2)
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)