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Otter Lake Dam, Virginia
Otter Lake Dam on Otter Creek in Virginia.
Open in BirdTrout37.5566, -79.3579 · Amherst County · NID VA009022. Tap the map to open this water in the live app.
What the runs do here
Otter Creek carries no anadromous run on our corridor map, so this page makes no claim about salmon or steelhead at this dam. What it sits on is coldwater — resident trout water — and the section below says which classification says so.
The structure
- Owner
- DOI NPS Federal
- Purpose
- Recreation
- Type
- Gravity
- Height
- 26 ft
- Storage
- 45 acre-ft · 2 acre pool
- Condition
- Not Available · Low hazard potential
- Status
- Not Applicable
From the National Inventory of Dams (USACE). Hazard potential is a downstream-consequence classification, not a statement about the structure's condition.
The water above and below
- Otter Creek 0.0 mi from the dam · Class VI · stocked holdover (VDWR)
- Terrapin Creek 1.17 mi from the dam · Class VI · stocked holdover (VDWR)
Coldwater designation is the state's own classification. A dam sits on one river and this list is every designated reach within a mile and a half of it, so a tributary mouth shows up here too.
Water right now
| Gauge | Distance | Temp | Flow |
|---|---|---|---|
| James River at Holcomb Rock, VA | 6.5 mi | — | 561 cfs |
| Poague Run near Glasgow, VA | 9.5 mi | — | — |
| Big Otter River near Bedford, VA | 13.7 mi | — | — |
Live from USGS. A gauge miles away is a gauge miles away — the distance column is there so you can discount it. A hydro dam's releases move the flow below it on a schedule the gauge sees and this page does not. 3 of the gauges above are not sending water temperature at all — a stopped gauge still answers with the last value it ever sent and nothing to say so, so those rows carry a modelled figure where one can be fitted, marked as modelled, and a dash where it cannot.
Getting to it
The dam sits on or beside public land, NPS.
Public access sites near the dam, straight-line distance. A dam itself is private property unless its owner says otherwise; these are the places the state lists as open.
Fly shops nearby
- Angler's Lane 13.6 mi · Forest
- Otterback Outfitters 15.4 mi · Lynchburg · +1 434 944 5375
- Walkabout Outfitters 16.4 mi
- Bob's Up The Creek Outfitters 29.6 mi
- Pop's Live Bait and Tackle 30.6 mi · Altavista · +1-434-941-1318