Crab Orchard Lake

General data

Name: Crab Orchard Lake
Water system: Mississippi River
Water type: Artificial lake
Progression: Crab Orchard Creek -> Big Muddy River -> Mississippi River -> Gulf of Mexico -> Atlantic Ocean -> Planet Earth
Climates: Continental
Continents: North America
Countries: United States of America

Crab Orchard Lake is a 28.2 km² reservoir in Williamson County, Illinois. It is the centerpiece of the Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge. It is fed by Devils Kitchen Lake and Little Grassy Lake, which are also within the National Wildlife Refuge. Crab Orchard Lake was created when Crab Orchard Creek, a tributary of the Big Muddy River in southern Illinois, was dammed in the 1930s for purposes of recreation and flood control.

The lake offers opportunities for boating, camping, fishing, and swimming. Two campgrounds, Bluegill Bay Marina & Campground and Crab Orchard Campground, operate on the northern side of the lake.[3] The Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) has stocked the lake with largemouth bass, and starting in 2006 has also installed artificial spawning beds in the lake's Grassy Bay (the lakebed's eroded clay and soft muck surfaces are not suited to bass spawning). As of 2008, the record largemouth caught in the lake weighed 10.6 pounds.

Crab Orchard Lake

General data

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