Show Low Lake
Navajo County, Arizona186 acresView mapDirections
No nutrient or algae sampling on record from ADEQ for this lake.
- 16 ft max depth
- Public access
- Limited data
Show Low Lake in Navajo County, Arizona has water-quality measurements published by ADEQ, shown here as reported. Surface area: 186 acres.
Show Low Lake is a 186-acre lake in Navajo County, Arizona with an estimated average depth of about 16 feet. Overall water quality is improving over recent sampling years. Limited fish-species data available. Public access is available with 1 public boat landing.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, ADEQ, last sampled 2025-11-05. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Show Low Lake covers about 190 acres in Navajo County. It has one public boat landing. Vrbo is where to look for cabins and lake homes around Show Low Lake, and Booking.com and Expedia search hotels near the lake for your dates.
What Show Low Lake is good for
From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.
- Boat launch1 documented ramp
Swimming conditions
No readingLimited data
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Show Low Lake is safe to swim in today is a call for the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Show Low Lake
These are the measurements ADEQ publishes for Show Low 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.
Ask about Show Low Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~16 ft est.
Surface area
186 acres
Public access
Yes
Listed by ADEQ
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Arizona has not published bathymetry for Show Low Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
74 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
3.2 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
6,572 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.
Recreation & Access
- Show Low LakePublic
Named access points in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory, within about 3 miles. More lakes with boat ramps
Stays via Stay22
Stays near Show Low Lake
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Show Low Lake in Navajo County, Arizona — 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 Show Low Lake
Prices for Oct 30–Nov 1, 4 adults. Change dates on the map below.
Availability and prices from Stay22 partners (Booking.com, Vrbo, Expedia). We may earn a commission from bookings, at no extra cost to you.
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Fishing Show Low Lake
Water quality readings over time
2 seasons of samples on record (2015–2016). Calling a direction takes at least 4 years of the same measurement.
Phosphorus
Improving-20 µg/L/yr2 years
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Show Low Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Jaques (completed 1953), built primarily for other on the Show Low Creek; earth-type dam, 81 ft tall and 1,970 ft long.
- Surface area
- 186 ac
- Normal storage
- 6,000 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 8,160 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 65 sq mi
- Hazard class
- High
- Owner
- CITY OF SHOW LOW
All listed purposes: Other;Recreation.
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID AZ00023 · Operator website
Nearby Lakes in Navajo County
Frequently asked questions about Show Low Lake
Where is Show Low Lake?
- Show Low Lake is a lake in Navajo County, Arizona. Its water-quality measurements are published by ADEQ and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Show Low Lake?
- Show Low Lake in Navajo County, Arizona has water-quality measurements published by ADEQ, shown here as reported. Surface area: 186 acres.
Is Show Low Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Show Low Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Show Low Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 16 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 186 acres.
Are there boat ramps on Show Low Lake?
- Show Low Lake has 1 documented boat landing in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory. Named access points include Show Low Lake. Public access is listed as yes.
Can I fish at Show Low Lake?
- Show Low Lake has 1 documented boat landing in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory. Seasons, size and bag limits, and whether you need a license are set by Arizona's fish and wildlife agency, so check its current regulations before you go.
Explore Show Low Lake across LakeQuality
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Where this data comes from
8 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2022–2025. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- Great Lakes Environmental Center
GLEC8 samples · 2022–2025
Analytical methods
- 4500 P E ~ Phosphorus in Water by Colorimetry- Ascorbic Acid Method
- 300.0 ~ EPA; Determination of Inorganic Anions by Ion Chromatography
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
Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)
Named boat-access points from the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory