Pine Creek Lake
McCurtain County, Oklahoma3,750 acresView mapDirections
Oklahoma DEQ publishes the water-quality measurements for Pine Creek Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Impaired · Mercury
- 61 ft max depth
- Public access
- Limited data
Ask about Pine Creek Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Pine Creek Lake in McCurtain County, Oklahoma has water-quality measurements published by Oklahoma DEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 2.6 ft visibility. Surface area: 3750 acres.
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Pine Creek Lake is a 3,750-acre lake in McCurtain County, Oklahoma with an estimated average depth of about 61 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. Grade methodology: LakeQuality methodology.
What Pine Creek Lake is good for
From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.
- Boat launch4 documented ramps
- Big water3,750 acres
Swimming conditions
No readingLimited data
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Pine Creek Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for mercury, metals (other than mercury), oxygen depletion (low DO), pH / acidity. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Pine Creek 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 Pine Creek Lake
These are the measurements Oklahoma DEQ publishes for Pine Creek 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 2.6 ft of visibility. TSI 63.
| Metric | Value | EPA condition class |
|---|---|---|
| Water Clarity (Secchi Depth) | 2.6 ft | Measured, not scored |
| Phosphorus | No recent samples | |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | No recent samples | |
| Trophic State Index (TSI) | 63 | Eutrophic |
High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity
Lake Details
| Characteristic | Value |
|---|---|
| Maximum Depth | ~61 ft est. |
| Surface Area | 3,750 acres |
| Public Access | Yes |
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Oklahoma has not published bathymetry for Pine Creek 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.
Recreation & Access
- Turkey CreekPublic
- Little River ParkPublic
- Pine Creek CovePublic
- Lost Rapids ParkPublic
Named access points in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory, within about 3 miles. More lakes with boat ramps
Fishing Pine Creek Lake
Water Quality Trend: ↑ Improving
Based on 2 years of monitoring data (2020-2025).
| Metric | Trend | Change/Year | Years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Water Clarity | ↑ Improving | +14.667 m/yr | 2 |
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Pine Creek Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Pine Creek Dam (completed 1969), built primarily for flood risk reduction on the Little River; earth-type dam, 124 ft tall and 22,470 ft long.
- Surface area
- 3,750 ac
- Normal storage
- 53,750 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 968,210 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 635 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 OK10306 · Operator website
EPA Impairment Status
Pine Creek Lake is officially listed as impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) in the 2022 EPA reporting cycle (IR category 5).
Causes of impairment
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit OK410210020020_00 · Official waterbody report
Nearby Lakes in McCurtain County
Frequently asked questions about Pine Creek Lake
Where is Pine Creek Lake?
- Pine Creek Lake is a lake in McCurtain County, Oklahoma. Its water-quality measurements are published by Oklahoma DEQ and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Pine Creek Lake?
- Pine Creek Lake in McCurtain County, Oklahoma has water-quality measurements published by Oklahoma DEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 2.6 ft visibility. Surface area: 3750 acres.
Is Pine Creek Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Pine Creek Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for mercury, metals (other than mercury), oxygen depletion (low DO), pH / acidity. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Pine Creek Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Pine Creek Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 61 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 3750 acres.
Are there boat ramps on Pine Creek Lake?
- Pine Creek Lake has 4 documented boat landings in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory. Named access points include Turkey Creek, Little River Park, Pine Creek Cove, Lost Rapids Park. Public access is listed as yes.
Explore Pine Creek Lake across LakeQuality
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Where this data comes from
49 measurements from 5 monitoring stations, 2016–2021. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- OWRB Lakes Monitoring
OKWRB-LAKES_WQX49 samples · 2016–2021
Analytical methods
- OWRB Lakes Field Data Collection
- Determination of Turbidity
Monitoring station identifiers (5)
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)
Named boat-access points from the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory