Slim Lake under flat overcast, dark open water running to a low wooded shore

Updated August 2026 · All 17 lakes with a surveyed depth

Deepest Lake in Ohio: Caesar Creek Lake (115 ft)

Caesar Creek Lake is Ohio's deepest lake at 115 ft, per the Ohio DNR (Division of Wildlife). Mapped and ranked below: the 17 deepest of 17 Ohio lakes with a surveyed maximum depth.

Map · 17 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.

Top 17 Deepest Lakes in Ohio (by max depth)

#	Lake	County	Max depth	Mean depth	Surface area
1	Lima Reservoir	Allen	30 ft	—	85 ac
2	Turkey Creek Lake	Scioto	30 ft	—	47 ac
3	Paulding Upground Reservoir	Paulding	30 ft	—	66 ac
4	Powers Reservoir	Crawford	30 ft	—	27 ac
5	Dale Walborn Reservoir	Stark	30 ft	—	235 ac
6	Nettle Lake	Williams	30 ft	—	101 ac
7	Mogadore Reservoir	Portage	25 ft	—	761 ac
8	Archbold Reservoir Number Two	Fulton	25 ft	—	44 ac
9	Harrison Lake	Fulton	24 ft	—	96 ac
10	Shreve Lake	Wayne	21 ft	—	60 ac
11	Deer Creek Reservoir	Stark	20 ft	—	302 ac
12	Zepernick Lake	Columbiana	20 ft	—	40 ac
13	Bucyrus Reservoir Number Two	Crawford	18 ft	—	29 ac
14	Raccoon Creek Reservoir	Sandusky	18 ft	—	34 ac
15	Grant Lake	Brown	14 ft	—	166 ac
16	Sippo Lake	Stark	14 ft	—	89 ac
17	Oxbow Lake	Defiance	10 ft	—	37 ac

Sources and method

Max and mean depth: state natural-resources agency lake surveys and USACE National Inventory of Dams reservoir records. Surveyed depths only; modeled estimates are never ranked. A dash means the survey did not record a mean.
Deepest lake: Caesar Creek Lake, 115 ft, per the Ohio DNR (Division of Wildlife), 2026-07-30. Caesar Creek Lake lake page (its record carries no surveyed depth, so it is not in the table)
Readings: clarity, phosphorus and chlorophyll-a from the agency's own sampling, shown as reported. Depth is not a water-quality reading.
Map pins: the 17 table rows with surveyed coordinates. No other lakes are plotted.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the deepest lake in Ohio?

Caesar Creek Lake, at 115 ft, in Warren, Clinton and Greene County. Source: Ohio DNR (Division of Wildlife), 2026-07-30.

How are lake depths measured?

Maximum depth is the deepest point at full-pool water level, from state agency bathymetric surveys and, for reservoirs, dam-design records. The ranking uses surveyed depths only, never modeled estimates. Everyday water level can sit below the surveyed figure during drawdowns or drought. Mean depth, the average across the whole basin, is listed where a survey recorded it.

Why are some Ohio lakes so much deeper than others?

Lake depth depends on how the lake formed. Glacial lakes (common in MN, WI, MI, NY) were carved by ice sheets and can exceed 200 ft. Reservoir lakes (common in IA, MO, OK, KS) are shaped by river valley depth at the dam site — typically 50-150 ft at the dam, much shallower upstream. Flooded mine pits can be deeper still. Oxbow lakes and pothole lakes formed by river meandering or glacial pitting tend to be shallower, usually under 30 ft.

Does deeper mean cleaner?

Not directly, but deeper lakes tend to be cleaner on average. Depth creates thermal stratification in summer, isolating cold deep water from surface algal blooms. Deep lakes also resist nutrient resuspension from wind-driven sediment mixing. That said, many deep lakes still suffer from impairment if the watershed loads heavy phosphorus — each lake's page carries its nutrient readings and EPA impairment status.

What's the average depth of Ohio lakes in this ranking?

Across the 17 deepest Ohio lakes, the average maximum depth is 23 ft and the median is 24 ft (Harrison Lake). This is the top of 17 lakes with a surveyed depth, so it is biased toward deep lakes; the typical Ohio lake is shallower.

Where to stay near Ohio's deepest lakes

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