Overview
Lake Martin is a roughly 41,150-acre storage reservoir on the Tallapoosa River in Coosa, Elmore, and Tallapoosa counties in east-central Alabama. Martin Dam was completed in 1926 by Alabama Power at Cherokee Bluffs and named for company leader Thomas Martin. When built it created one of the largest artificial lakes of its era, and it remains a flagship Alabama Power recreation and hydropower project.
With about 880 miles of shoreline, an average depth near 41 feet, and a maximum depth of about 155 feet at the dam, Martin is a deep, clear Piedmont lake of long creek arms, rocky points, and heavily developed shoreline communities. The reservoir stretches about 31 miles up the Tallapoosa above the dam.
Lake Martin is one of Alabama's premier boating and fishing lakes, known for striped and hybrid bass, largemouth and spotted bass, crappie, and bream, with fisheries managed by the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Marinas, state and local parks, and resort communities support year-round recreation.
Water levels on Lake Martin are managed by Alabama Power under a FERC license, with a summer full pool of 491 feet above mean sea level (490 on Martin Datum) and a standard winter pool of 484 feet MSL (483 Martin Datum). A deeper every-sixth-year drawdown to about 481 feet MSL is allowed for major shoreline work. Because Martin is the primary storage lake below Lake Wedowee (Harris) on the Tallapoosa system, monitoring current lake levels is essential for boating, fishing, and dock access.
Current Conditions
Lake Martin is currently 1.55 feet below full pool and has fallen slightly over the past week.
- 7-day trendFallingLatest movement can differ from the seven-day trend.
- 7-day changeDown 0.03 ft
- 30-day changeUp 0.09 ft
- Drought conditionsNo Drought
About This Lake
Learn how this lake is managed, what affects its water level, and where Lake Insights gets its data.
Lake Martin is a 41,150-acre reservoir on the Tallapoosa River managed by Alabama Power.