Mountain Lake
Carter County, Oklahoma210 acresView mapDirections
Oklahoma DEQ publishes the water-quality measurements for Mountain Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- 37 ft max depth
- Limited data
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Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Mountain Lake in Carter County, Oklahoma has water-quality measurements published by Oklahoma DEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 4.4 ft visibility. Surface area: 210 acres.
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Mountain Lake is a 210-acre lake in Carter County, Oklahoma with an estimated average depth of about 37 feet.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, ODEQ, last sampled 2018-08-14. Grade methodology: LakeQuality methodology.
Swimming conditions
No readingLimited data
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Mountain 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 Mountain Lake
These are the measurements Oklahoma DEQ publishes for Mountain 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 4.4 ft. TSI 56.
| Metric | Value | EPA condition class |
|---|---|---|
| Water Clarity (Secchi Depth) | 4.4 ft | Measured, not scored |
| Phosphorus | No recent samples | |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | No recent samples | |
| Trophic State Index (TSI) | 56 | Eutrophic |
High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity
Lake Details
| Characteristic | Value |
|---|---|
| Maximum Depth | ~37 ft est. |
| Average Depth | ~15 ft est. |
| Surface Area | 210 acres |
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Oklahoma has not published bathymetry for Mountain Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
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.
Fishing Mountain Lake
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Mountain Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Mountain Lake (completed 1956), built primarily for water supply on the Hickory Creek; buttress-type dam, 56 ft tall and 618 ft long.
- Surface area
- 210 ac
- Normal storage
- 3,040 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 3,380 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 12.6 sq mi
- Hazard class
- Significant
- Owner
- CITY OF ARDMORE
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID OK10501 · Operator website
Nearby Lakes in Carter County
Frequently asked questions about Mountain Lake
Where is Mountain Lake?
- Mountain Lake is a lake in Carter County, Oklahoma. Its water-quality measurements are published by Oklahoma DEQ and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Mountain Lake?
- Mountain Lake in Carter County, Oklahoma has water-quality measurements published by Oklahoma DEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 4.4 ft visibility. Surface area: 210 acres.
Is Mountain Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Mountain Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Mountain Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 37 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 210 acres.
Explore Mountain Lake across LakeQuality
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Planning a trip around Chickasaw?
Mountain Lake is about 17 miles from Chickasaw National Recreation Area. Crowds there swing hard by season, so the month you pick changes both how busy the park is and what lodging costs.
Best time to visit Chickasaw →More lakes in Oklahoma
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Where this data comes from
6 measurements from 2 monitoring stations, 2017–2018. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- OWRB Lakes Monitoring
OKWRB-LAKES_WQX6 samples · 2017–2018
Analytical methods
- OWRB Lakes Field Data Collection
- Phosphorus by Two Reagent Colorimetry
- 10200 H ~ Chlorophyll a-b-c Determination
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
Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)