Yatesville Lake State Park in Kentucky

Kentucky

The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...

 is a recreational facility in the eastern part of the commonwealth, close to the town of Louisa, Kentucky

Louisa, Kentucky

Louisa is a city in Lawrence County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 2,018 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Lawrence County. The Levisa Fork River and Tug Fork River join at Louisa to form the Big Sandy River...

 in Lawrence County

Lawrence County, Kentucky

Lawrence County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of 2000, the population was 15,569. Its county seat is Louisa. The county is named for James Lawrence, and co-founded by Isaac Bolt, who served as a Lawrence County Commissioner and Justice of the Peace. It is the home of...

. It opened in 1999 and features an 18-hole golf course, the 2300 acres (9.3 km²) lake stocked with fish, camp sites, and hiking trails.

General

Yatesville Lake is located entirely in Lawrence County, Kentucky, on Blaine Creek; a tributary of the Big Sandy River. It was built under the Flood Control Act of 1965. The dam is rockfill, with a central impervious core and founded on rock. The length of the lake and boatable arms is 20.6 miles upstream from the dam and 18.1 miles upstream from where it flows into the Big Sandy River. The maximum depth of the lake is 60 feet with an average mean depth of 17.7 feet. The shoreline measures 93.9 miles at summer pool level. The lake's watershed is 208 miles. Winter Pool Elevation - 624.0 m.s.l. (1,745 acres) Summer Pool Elevation - 630.0 m.s.l. (2,242 acres) Flood Pool Elevation - 645.0 m.s.l. (3,805 acres).

Historical Information

Adams Cabin, located in the Project's Information Center, was built in the mid-nineteenth century. It was originally located on a Blaine Creek farmstead of several hundred acres with a household of eleven people. When the lake was being constructed, the house was documented and removed. A Wicket Dam Exhibit is located in the Project's Information Center. From 1875 until the turn of the century, the Corps of Engineers constructed a series of 53 wicket dams to canalize the Ohio River to meet the demands of year-round navigation beginning at Davis Island near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and traveling the length of the river to Cairo, Illinois. The exhibit depicts this process. An Oil Well Exhibit is located adjacent to the Project Office/Information Center parking lot. The oil well equipment was pulled from an oil field at Little Blaine Creek before the water from the lake covered the site. The exhibit depicts the common method of oil production at the turn of the century.

External links

• Official web site
• Yatesville Lake Information