Overview
Norfork Lake is an approximately 22,000-acre reservoir on the North Fork River in Baxter and Fulton counties, Arkansas, and Ozark County, Missouri. It was created in the early 1940s when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completed Norfork Dam, the oldest multipurpose Corps project on the White River system. The lake is operated for flood risk management, hydroelectric power, water supply, and recreation.
At conservation pool Norfork has roughly 380 miles of irregular, mostly public shoreline, an average depth near 56 feet, and a maximum depth of about 178 feet near the dam. Clear Ozark water, steep rocky points, and long creek arms give the lake a deep highland character, and much of the shoreline remains less developed than neighboring White River reservoirs.
The lake is a major destination for boating and fishing for largemouth, smallmouth, and spotted bass, striped bass, crappie, and walleye, with world-class trout fishing in the cold North Fork and White River tailwaters below the dam. Fisheries are managed cooperatively by the Missouri Department of Conservation and the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. Corps parks, campgrounds, marinas, and boat ramps ring the Arkansas and Missouri shores.
Water levels on Norfork Lake are managed by the Corps of Engineers around a top-of-conservation (power) pool near 553.75 feet above mean sea level (NGVD29), with a seasonal guide curve that can rise a few feet in late spring and early summer and a flood-control pool extending to 580 feet. Because Norfork operates with Bull Shoals Lake and Table Rock Lake in the White River system, elevations respond to basin rainfall and power demand, so monitoring current lake levels is important for boating, fishing, and dock access.
Current Conditions
Norfork Lake is currently 0.96 feet above full pool and has fallen slightly over the past week.
- 7-day trendFallingLatest movement can differ from the seven-day trend.
- 7-day changeDown 0.36 ft
- 30-day changeDown 1.66 ft
- Drought conditionsAbnormally Dry
- Active advisories2 active (Notice)
About This Lake
Learn how this lake is managed, what affects its water level, and where Lake Insights gets its data.
Norfork Lake is a 22,000-acre reservoir on the North Fork River managed by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Little Rock District).