Vagabond Lake
Sharp County, Arkansas77 acresView mapDirections
Arkansas DEQ publishes the water-quality measurements for Vagabond Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- 33 ft max depth
- Public access
- Limited data
Vagabond Lake in Sharp County, Arkansas has water-quality measurements published by Arkansas DEQ, shown here as reported. Phosphorus: 20 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 1.4 µg/L. Surface area: 77 acres.
Vagabond Lake is a 77-acre lake in Sharp County, Arkansas with an estimated average depth of about 33 feet. 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, ADEQ, last sampled 2015-09-29. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Vagabond Lake covers about 77 acres in Sharp County. For a place on the water, look through cabin and lake-house rentals near Vagabond Lake on Vrbo. For a hotel or motel room, Booking.com and Expedia both search around the lake.
Swimming conditions
No readingLimited data
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Vagabond Lake is safe to swim in today is a call for the Arkansas Division of Environmental Quality and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Vagabond Lake
These are the measurements Arkansas DEQ publishes for Vagabond 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 20 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 1.4 µg/L. TSI 41.
| 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 | 20µg/L | Measured, not scored The nutrient that most limits algae growth in freshwater. More phosphorus, more algae potential. |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 1.4µg/L | Measured, not scored 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. | 41 | Mesotrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
Moderate nutrients, good water quality
Ask about Vagabond Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~33 ft est.
Surface area
77 acres
Public access
Yes
Listed by Arkansas DEQ
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Arkansas has not published bathymetry for Vagabond Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
3 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
1.6 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
479 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 Vagabond Lake
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Fishing Vagabond Lake
Water Quality Trend: Worsening
Based on 4 years of monitoring (2012–2015).
Phosphorus
Stable+0.15 µg/L/yr4 years
Chlorophyll-a
Worsening+0.16 µg/L/yr4 years
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Vagabond Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Vagabond Lake Dam (completed 1960), built primarily for recreation on the Humphrey Creek; earth-type dam, 59 ft tall and 850 ft long.
- Surface area
- 77 ac
- Normal storage
- 1,634 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 2,100 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 2.5 sq mi
- Hazard class
- High
- Owner
- Ozark Acres SID
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID AR00257 · Operator website
Nearby Lakes in Sharp County
Frequently asked questions about Vagabond Lake
Where is Vagabond Lake?
- Vagabond Lake is a lake in Sharp County, Arkansas. Its water-quality measurements are published by Arkansas DEQ and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Vagabond Lake?
- Vagabond Lake in Sharp County, Arkansas has water-quality measurements published by Arkansas DEQ, shown here as reported. Phosphorus: 20 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 1.4 µg/L. Surface area: 77 acres.
Is Vagabond Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Vagabond Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Vagabond Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 33 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 77 acres.
Can I fish at Vagabond Lake?
- Public access to Vagabond Lake is listed as yes on the lake record. Seasons, size and bag limits, and whether you need a license are set by Arkansas's fish and wildlife agency, so check its current regulations before you go.
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Where this data comes from
36 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2012–2015. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality
ARDEQH2O_WQX36 samples · 2012–2015
Analytical methods
- 4500 P J ~ Persulfate Method for Simultaneous Determination of Total Nitrogen and Total Phosphorus
- 445.0 ~ EPA; Chlorophyll and Pheophytin in Algae by Fluorescence
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)