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Updated August 2026 · Top 25 of 38 lakes with a Secchi reading

Clearest Lake in Arkansas: Top 25 by Secchi Depth

Beaver Lake in Carroll County is the clearest lake in Arkansas by Secchi depth, at 20.3 ft. Mapped and ranked below: the 25 clearest of 38 Arkansas lakes with a Secchi reading. Secchi depth is clarity alone: phosphorus and chlorophyll-a are separate readings, so a clear lake can carry higher nutrient readings than a murkier one.

Map · 25 ranked lakesTap a pin for its lakeTap a pin for the lake's page

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Nutrient and algae readings on recordNo reading on record#1 in this rankingPins are this ranking's lakes at their surveyed locations.

How clear are Arkansas's clearest lakes?

From 20.3 ft at Beaver Lake to 3.5 ft at #25, Cove Lake; the median of the 25 is 6.5 ft.

#	Lake	County	Secchi depth	Area
1	Beaver Lake	Carroll	20.3 ft	28,220 acres
2	Lake Ouachita	Garland	15 ft	40,100 acres
3	Norfork Lake	Baxter	12.2 ft	22,000 acres
4	Lake Hamilton	Garland	11.9 ft	6,897 acres
5	Greers Ferry Lake	Cleburne	10 ft	—
6	Degray Lake	Clark	9.5 ft	13,400 acres
7	Beaver Lake	Washington	9.4 ft	—
8	Huckleberry Reservoir	Pope	8.4 ft	—
9	Lake Wilson	Washington	8 ft	190 acres
10	Lake Winona	Saline	7.2 ft	1,280 acres
11	Leatherwood Lake	Carroll	7 ft	85 acres
12	Lake Fort Smith	Crawford	6.5 ft	470 acres
13	Lake Atalanta	Benton	6.5 ft	30 acres
14	Rock Creek Lake	Perry	6.2 ft	27 acres
15	Spring Lake	Yell	6.1 ft	90 acres
16	Lake Greeson	Pike	5.1 ft	—
17	Gillham Lake	Howard	5.1 ft	1,300 acres
18	Lake Catherine Off of Springbrook Point	Garland	4.8 ft	—
19	Lakewood Lake Number Three	Pulaski	4.8 ft	12 acres
20	Beaver Lake	Benton	4.6 ft	—
21	Dierks Lake	Howard	4.4 ft	1,360 acres
22	South Fourche Lake	Perry	4.1 ft	104 acres
23	Lake Sylvia	Perry	4 ft	21 acres
24	Big Base Lake West	Pulaski	3.6 ft	40 acres
25	Cove Lake	Logan	3.5 ft	166 acres

Sources and method

Secchi depth: Median of each lake's EPA Water Quality Portal readings, sampled January 2012 to July 2024, in feet. For 11 of these 25 lakes the submitting agency is Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality. Portal: EPA Water Quality Portal.
Readings: clarity, phosphorus and chlorophyll-a from the agency's own sampling, shown as reported. Clarity is a separate measurement from nutrients and algae, which is why a clear lake here can carry higher phosphorus than a murkier one.
Area: state agency lake surveys and, for reservoirs, US Army Corps of Engineers National Inventory of Dams records, in acres at normal pool. A dash means no record carries one.
Map pins: all 25 table rows. No other lakes are plotted.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the clearest lake in Arkansas?

Beaver Lake in Carroll County is the clearest lake in Arkansas by Secchi depth, at 20.3 ft. Secchi depth is measured by lowering a black-and-white disk until it disappears from view; a deeper reading means clearer water. Beaver Lake’s phosphorus and chlorophyll-a readings are on its page.

How clear are Arkansas's 25 clearest lakes?

They span 3.5 ft to 20.3 ft of Secchi depth, with a median of 6.5 ft. Beaver Lake leads by 5.3 ft. Garland County has 3 of the 25; the rest are spread across 15 other counties.

How is water clarity measured?

Water clarity is measured by Secchi depth, named after the 19th-century Italian astronomer Pietro Angelo Secchi who developed the method. A standardized black-and-white disk is lowered into the water on a rope; the depth (in feet or meters) at which the disk disappears from view is recorded. Greater Secchi depth means clearer water, usually a sign of low sediment, low phosphorus, and limited algae growth. The figure for each lake here is the median of its readings.

What makes a lake clear?

Lake clarity is driven by three factors: low suspended sediment (clay, silt), low nutrient load (especially phosphorus, which fuels algae), and low chlorophyll-a (active algae biomass). Deep lakes with rocky basins and forested watersheds tend to be clearest because they take in little soil runoff and few nutrients. Shallow lakes in farmed watersheds are typically less clear because they receive more sediment and fertilizer runoff.

Is the clearest lake the cleanest?

Not always. Clarity (Secchi depth) is measured and shown; nutrient and algae readings (total phosphorus and chlorophyll-a) are a separate measurement, compared against that lake’s EPA ecoregion classes. A lake can be very clear but still have elevated phosphorus that just hasn't bloomed yet. See our companion cleanest-lakes ranking for Arkansas for the nutrient-and-algae list.

Where to stay near Arkansas's clearest lakes

Planning a trip? Jump to live cabin, resort, and hotel availability near Arkansas's clearest lakes.

Clearest lakes across all states →Cleanest lakes in Arkansas (combined score) →All Arkansas lakes →

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