Wood Creek Lake
Laurel County, Kentucky672 acresView mapDirections
Kentucky DOW publishes the water-quality measurements for Wood Creek Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Eutrophic
- 44 ft max depth
- Public access
Wood Creek Lake in Laurel County, Kentucky has water-quality measurements published by Kentucky DOW, shown here as reported. Phosphorus: 30 µg/L. Surface area: 672 acres.
Wood Creek Lake is a 672-acre productive, nutrient-rich eutrophic lake in Laurel County, Kentucky with an estimated average depth of about 44 feet. Overall water quality is declining over recent sampling years. Limited fish-species data available. Public access is available with 1 public boat landing. Compared to the 1 other monitored lakes in Laurel County, Wood Creek Lake ranks #2 for water quality.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, KY DOW, last sampled 2023-09-12. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Wood Creek Lake covers about 670 acres in Laurel County. It has one public boat landing. Vrbo is where to look for cabins and lake homes around Wood Creek Lake, and Booking.com and Expedia search hotels near the lake for your dates.
What Wood Creek Lake is good for
From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.
- Boat launch1 documented ramp
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 Wood Creek 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 Wood Creek Lake
These are the measurements Kentucky DOW publishes for Wood Creek 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 Wood Creek Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~44 ft est.
Surface area
672 acres
Public access
Yes
Listed by Kentucky DOW
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Kentucky has not published bathymetry for Wood Creek Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
24 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
16.1 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
1,056 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
- Wood Creek 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 Wood Creek Lake
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Wood Creek Lake in Laurel 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 Wood Creek Lake
Prices for Oct 30–Nov 1, 4 adults. Change dates on the map below.
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Fishing Wood Creek Lake
Water quality readings over time
2 seasons of samples on record (2015–2023). Calling a direction takes at least 4 years of the same measurement.
Phosphorus
Worsening+2.4 µg/L/yr2 years
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Wood Creek Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Wood Creek Lake Dam (completed 1969), built primarily for water supply on the Rockcastle River; rockfill-type dam, 172 ft tall and 800 ft long.
- Surface area
- 672 ac
- Normal storage
- 23,270 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 44,000 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 21.8 sq mi
- Hazard class
- High
- Owner
- KENTUCKY TRANSPORTATION CABINET
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID KY00088 · Operator website
Nearby Lakes in Laurel County
Frequently asked questions about Wood Creek Lake
Where is Wood Creek Lake?
- Wood Creek Lake is a lake in Laurel County, Kentucky. Its water-quality measurements are published by Kentucky DOW and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Wood Creek Lake?
- Wood Creek Lake in Laurel County, Kentucky has water-quality measurements published by Kentucky DOW, shown here as reported. Phosphorus: 30 µg/L. Surface area: 672 acres.
Is Wood Creek Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Wood Creek Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Wood Creek Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 44 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 672 acres.
Are there boat ramps on Wood Creek Lake?
- Wood Creek Lake has 1 documented boat landing in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory. Named access points include Wood Creek Lake. Public access is listed as yes.
Can I fish at Wood Creek Lake?
- Wood Creek 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 Kentucky's fish and wildlife agency, so check its current regulations before you go.
Explore Wood Creek Lake across LakeQuality
3 documented falls within 24.6 mi, nearest Vanhook Falls
Species activity outlook by water temperature and season
Where to stay at Kentucky's top lakes, each with its readings
Kentucky's cleanest lakes, ranked on agency measurements
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Eutrophic Lakes in Kentucky
Where this data comes from
42 measurements from 4 monitoring stations, 2015–2023. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- KY WQX
21KY_WQX42 samples · 2015–2023
Analytical methods
- Phosphorus by Colorimetry
- Total Phosphorus After Block Digestion
- Turbidity by Nephelometry
Monitoring station identifiers (4)
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