Beaver Lake (Arkansas)

Description

Beaver Lake is a man-made reservoir in the Ozark Mountains of Northwest Arkansas and is formed by a dam across the White River. Beaver Lake has some 487 miles (784 km) of shoreline. With towering limestone bluffs, natural caves, and a wide variety of trees and flowering shrubs, it is a popular tourist destination. Beaver Lake is the source of drinking water in Northwest Arkansas, which is managed, treated and sold by Beaver Water District, serving more than 450,000 customers. One out of 7 people in Arkansas get their drinking water from Beaver Lake. The lake is approximately 50 miles (80 km) in length and covers approximately 31,700 acres (128 km2), with about 483 miles (777 km) of shoreline and an elevation of 1,120 feet (341 m). This is also the first dam in the tailwater chain to provide cold water fishery along the White River. The Army Corps of Engineers has also constructed a variety of recreational facilities around the lake. Paved access roads wind through twelve developed parks. These parks have modern campsites offering electricity and fire rings with drinking water, showers, and restrooms nearby. Other facilities, such as picnic sites, swimming beaches, hiking trails, boat launching ramps, and sanitary dump stations are also available in the parks. There are 12 recreation areas with 677 campsites along with 7 full-service commercial marina concessions, which hold 1,750 rental slips. There are 9 limited motel / resort leases and 28 boat ramps licensed to County or State. There are 8 national bass tournaments per year and many other fishing tournaments. There are 3.1 million visitors annually. The Hobbs State Park-Conservation Area (formerly known as the Beaver Lake State Park) is the only State Park in Benton County, Arkansas.