Recreation Dams in the United States

30,864Total

5744High Hazard

4944Significant

Recreation dams create lakes and ponds used for fishing, boating, swimming, and other outdoor activities. They're the most common type of dam in the United States by count, though most are relatively small structures. Many were built by state wildlife agencies, local park departments, or private landowners.

Because recreation dams are often small and in rural areas, many carry low hazard classifications. However, there are notable exceptions — larger recreation reservoirs near populated areas can be high hazard.

Recreation Dams by State

State	Count	High Hazard	Tallest (ft)
Mississippi	5175	209	100
Georgia	3213	226	131
North Carolina	2087	948	102
Missouri	1852	875	139
South Carolina	1646	405	73
Texas	1503	310	228
Virginia	1177	168	102
Alabama	1034	129	129
New York	950	139	140
Ohio	891	187	140
Illinois	858	117	96
Connecticut	823	84	53
Pennsylvania	808	365	145
Arkansas	729	103	128
Massachusetts	728	133	77
Indiana	727	161	140
Michigan	691	69	66
New Jersey	609	137	55
Louisiana	485	21	82
Kentucky	481	88	282
Wisconsin	469	86	60
Oklahoma	384	42	97
New Hampshire	380	77	106
Iowa	355	22	100
Florida	260	33	65
Kansas	240	66	139
Colorado	227	45	114
Minnesota	218	3	40
South Dakota	218	49	134
Vermont	190	27	89
Tennessee	174	39	114
North Dakota	173	10	81
Maryland	171	31	78
Washington	165	72	256
West Virginia	136	95	86
Maine	121	5	40
Nebraska	77	13	108
Oregon	68	13	88
Rhode Island	67	32	60
Montana	61	16	93
Utah	49	3	57
Arizona	48	29	157
New Mexico	42	18	100
Delaware	35	23	36
Nevada	23	11	165
Wyoming	16	5	40
Idaho	14	0	48
California	10	3	54
Alaska	4	0	22
Hawaii	1	1	23
Puerto Rico	1	1	75

Largest Recreation Dams

#	Dam	State	Height (ft)	Hazard	Year
1	Laurel Dam	Kentucky	282	High	1973
2	Grants Branch Impoundment	Kentucky	259	High	1997
3	Tapps Lake Dike No 14	Washington	256	Low	1911
4	Sanford Dam	Texas	228	High	1965
5	Lake Las Vegas Dam	Nevada	165	Significant	1991
6	Squaw Creek Dam	Texas	159	High	1977
7	Lake Patagonia	Arizona	157	High	1968
8	Grace Mine Tailings	Pennsylvania	145	High	1957
9	Sweetwater Lake Dam	Indiana	140	High	1965
10	Caneadea Dam	New York	140	High	1929
11	Marge Schott Lake Dam	Ohio	140	High	2000
12	Goose Creek Lake Dam	Missouri	139	High	1986
13	Wyandotte County Lake Dam	Kansas	139	Significant	1941
14	Hidden Valley Lake Dam	Indiana	135	High	1973
15	Sheridan Lake	South Dakota	134	High	1939
16	Elgo	Arizona	133	High	1979
17	Camp Bert Adams Lake Dam	Georgia	131	High	1970
18	Belcher Lumber Company Dam	Alabama	129	High	1968
19	Des Arc Bayou Wid Site 3	Arkansas	128	Significant	1979
20	Petit Lake Dam	Georgia	126	High	1972
21	Lake Tuscaloosa Dam	Alabama	125	High	1971
22	Champion Creek Dam	Texas	120	High	1959
23	Cranks Creek Lake Dam	Kentucky	120	High	1963
24	Alpine Lake Dam	Missouri	118	High	2000
25	Bmg Mine Willow Creek Dam	Nevada	115	Significant	1989
26	Beaver Park	Colorado	114	High	1912
27	Dartmoor Dam	Tennessee	114	Significant	1984
28	Council Bluff Dam	Missouri	112	High	1981
29	Nockamixon	Pennsylvania	112	High	1973
30	Bent Tree Lake Dam	Georgia	112	High	1973
31	Lester Creek	Colorado	110	High	1962
32	Plant Scherer Main Storage Pond Dam	Georgia	110	High	1980
33	Beaver Lake Dam	Nebraska	108	High	1973
34	Lake Arrowhead Dam	Georgia	107	High	1974
35	Murphy Dam	New Hampshire	106	High	1938
36	Two Buttes	Colorado	106	High	1908
37	Fishpond Lake Dam	Kentucky	105	High	1964
38	Leatherwood Draw Dam	Arkansas	104	Low
39	Brady Lake Dam	Texas	104	High	1963
40	Randleman Dam	North Carolina	102	High	2002
41	Lake Holiday Dam	Virginia	102	High
42	Tara Lake Dam	Georgia	101	High	1972
43	Williams Creek	Colorado	100	High	1958
44	Willow Creek	Colorado	100	High	1966
45	Brushy Creek Dam	Iowa	100	High	1998
46	Lake Catoma Dam	Alabama	100	High	1966
47	Chimney Dam	Nevada	100	Significant	1974
48	Reynolds Lake Dam	North Carolina	100	High	1936
49	Okhissa	Mississippi	100	High	2005
50	Quemado Lake Dam	New Mexico	100	Low	1971