Yellow Smoke Lake
Crawford County, Iowa38 acresView mapDirections
Iowa DNR publishes the water-quality measurements for Yellow Smoke Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Eutrophic
- Impaired · Mercury
- 31 ft max depth
Yellow Smoke Lake in Crawford County, Iowa has water-quality measurements published by Iowa DNR, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 3 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 56.5 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 21.6 µg/L. Surface area: 38.4 acres.
Free interactive depth-contour map of Yellow Smoke Lake, reaching a maximum surveyed depth of 28 ft. Toggle Depth contours to overlay the bathymetric survey lines. Contour data from Iowa DNR.
Yellow Smoke Lake is a 38-acre productive, nutrient-rich eutrophic lake in Crawford County, Iowa with an estimated average depth of about 31 feet. Overall water quality is declining over recent sampling years. Compared to the 1 other monitored lakes in Crawford County, Yellow Smoke Lake ranks #1 for water quality.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, Iowa DNR, last sampled 2024-09-04. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Swimming conditions
Readings onlyRecreation use not supported
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. Yellow Smoke Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for mercury. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Yellow Smoke Lake is safe to swim in today is a call for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Yellow Smoke Lake
These are the measurements Iowa DNR publishes for Yellow Smoke 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 3 ft of visibility. Phosphorus 56.5 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 21.6 µg/L. TSI 62.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 3ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | 56.5µg/L | Fair GoodFairPoor |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 21.6µg/L | Poor GoodFairPoor |
| Trophic state (TSI)Carlson's 0–100 index of how much algae a lake can support, from clarity, phosphorus and chlorophyll-a. | 62 | Eutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity
Ask about Yellow Smoke Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Water Temperature
Yellow Smoke Lake typically sits around 79°F at the surface in August. Summer average is about 78°F. Usually warmest in Jul (about 79°F) and coldest in May (about 64°F). These are typical values by month — not a live reading.
Column height runs from this lake’s coldest month (64°F) to its warmest (79°F).
Typical surface water temperature by month, from 29 field readings (2010–2023) via the EPA Water Quality Portal. See the full Yellow Smoke Lake water temperature breakdown →
Lake Details
Max depth
~31 ft est.
Surface area
38 acres
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Iowa has not published bathymetry for Yellow Smoke Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
1 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
1 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
1,247 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.
Stays via Stay22
Stays near Yellow Smoke Lake
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Yellow Smoke Lake in Crawford County, Iowa — 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. The water-quality readings cover nutrients and algae, not lodging. Cabins and rentals around Yellow Smoke Lake are listed below.
Top-rated places to stay near Yellow Smoke Lake
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Fishing Yellow Smoke Lake
Water Quality Trend: Worsening
Based on 5 years of monitoring (2020–2024).
Water clarity
Worsening5 years
Phosphorus
Worsening+3.6 µg/L/yr4 years
Chlorophyll-a
Worsening+3.18 µg/L/yr5 years
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Yellow Smoke Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Yellowsmoke Park Dam (completed 1980), built primarily for recreation on the MUD CREEK; earth-type dam, 59 ft tall and 940 ft long.
- Surface area
- 38.4 ac
- Normal storage
- 497 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 1,680 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 2.42 sq mi
- Hazard class
- High
- Owner
- Crawford County Conservation Board
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID IA02014 · Operator website · Matched by proximity (0.05 km)
EPA Impairment Status
Yellow Smoke Lake is officially listed as impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) in the 2024 EPA reporting cycle (IR category 5).
Causes of impairment
Designated uses not supporting: Recreation.
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit IA 06-BOY-1514 · Official waterbody report
Regulated Pollution Sources Nearby
4 EPA-permitted facilities operate within about 5 miles of Yellow Smoke Lake under Clean Water Act (NPDES) discharge permits, including 1 classified by the EPA as major discharger. 3 facilities have a reported Clean Water Act violation in the past three years.
- Denison Municipal Utilities-StpDenison · 2.9 mi away · NPDES IA0023302MajorRecent violation
- The Andersons Renewables, LlcDenison · 4.5 mi away · NPDES IA0079456Recent violation
- Deloit City Of StpDeloit · 4.7 mi away · NPDES IA0020826Recent violation
- Denison City Of WtpDenison · 2.3 mi away · NPDES IA0077160
Facilities permitted to discharge under the Clean Water Act within ~5 miles; proximity does not by itself mean a facility affects this lake. Source: EPA ECHO (ICIS-NPDES), as of 2026-07.
Nearby Lakes in Crawford County
Frequently asked questions about Yellow Smoke Lake
Where is Yellow Smoke Lake?
- Yellow Smoke Lake is a lake in Crawford County, Iowa. Its water-quality measurements are published by Iowa DNR and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Yellow Smoke Lake?
- Yellow Smoke Lake in Crawford County, Iowa has water-quality measurements published by Iowa DNR, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 3 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 56.5 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 21.6 µg/L. Surface area: 38.4 acres.
Is Yellow Smoke Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Yellow Smoke Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for mercury. Check local advisories before you swim.
What is the water temperature of Yellow Smoke Lake?
- Yellow Smoke Lake typically sits around 79°F at the surface in August, from 29 EPA Water Quality Portal field readings (2010–2023). That is a typical value for the month, not a live reading.
How deep is Yellow Smoke Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Yellow Smoke Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 31 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 38.4 acres.
Explore Yellow Smoke Lake across LakeQuality
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Where this data comes from
61 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2020–2024. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- Iowa DNR Surface Water Monitoring Data
21IOWA_WQX61 samples · 2020–2024
Analytical methods
- Unknown
- Phosphorus by Colorimetry
- 445.0 ~ EPA; Chlorophyll and Pheophytin in Algae by Fluorescence
- In-Vitro Determination of Chlorophyll
- ISU modification of APHA 2130-B
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
Impairment status from EPA ATTAINS 303(d) database
Regulated discharger data from EPA ECHO (ICIS-NPDES)
Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)