Panbowl Lake
Breathitt County, Kentucky98 acresView mapDirections
Kentucky DOW publishes the water-quality measurements for Panbowl Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Eutrophic
- Public access
Panbowl Lake in Breathitt County, Kentucky has water-quality measurements published by Kentucky DOW, shown here as reported. Phosphorus: 30 µg/L. Surface area: 98.1 acres.
Panbowl Lake is a 98-acre productive, nutrient-rich eutrophic lake in Breathitt County, Kentucky. Overall water quality is declining over recent sampling years. Limited fish-species data available. Public access is available.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, KY DOW, last sampled 2023-09-21. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Panbowl Lake covers about 98 acres in Breathitt County. For a place on the water, look through cabin and lake-house rentals near Panbowl Lake on Vrbo. For a hotel or motel room, Booking.com and Expedia both search around the lake.
Swimming conditions
Readings onlyModerate algae
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. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Panbowl 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 Panbowl Lake
These are the measurements Kentucky DOW publishes for Panbowl 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 30 µg/L. TSI 53.
| 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 | 30µg/L | Fair GoodFairPoor |
| 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. | 53 | Eutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity
Ask about Panbowl Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Surface area
98 acres
Public access
Yes
Listed by Kentucky DOW
No bathymetric survey has been published for Panbowl Lake, so its depth is not documented here.
Stays via Stay22
Stays near Panbowl Lake
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Panbowl Lake in Breathitt 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 Panbowl Lake
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Fishing Panbowl Lake
Water quality readings over time
3 seasons of samples on record (2013–2023). Calling a direction takes at least 4 years of the same measurement.
Phosphorus
Worsening+1.75 µg/L/yr3 years
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Panbowl Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Panbowl Lake (completed 1961), built primarily for recreation on the N. Fork Kentucky River; rockfill-type dam, 46 ft tall and 400 ft long.
- Surface area
- 98.1 ac
- Normal storage
- 1,297.7 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 6,200 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 4 sq mi
- Hazard class
- High
- Owner
- KENTUCKY TRANSPORTATION CABINET
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID KY00108 · Operator website
Nearby Lakes in Breathitt County
Frequently asked questions about Panbowl Lake
Where is Panbowl Lake?
- Panbowl Lake is a lake in Breathitt County, Kentucky. Its water-quality measurements are published by Kentucky DOW and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Panbowl Lake?
- Panbowl Lake in Breathitt County, Kentucky has water-quality measurements published by Kentucky DOW, shown here as reported. Phosphorus: 30 µg/L. Surface area: 98.1 acres.
Is Panbowl Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
Can I fish at Panbowl Lake?
- Public access to Panbowl Lake is listed as yes on the lake record. 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.
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Where this data comes from
22 measurements from 2 monitoring stations, 2013–2023. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- KY WQX
21KY_WQX22 samples · 2013–2023
Analytical methods
- Phosphorus by Colorimetry
- Total Phosphorus After Block Digestion
- Turbidity by Nephelometry
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.