Buckeye Lake State Park

Call Directions Website

Buckeye Lake State Park Ohio's oldest state park is a cherished day-use gem. In the 1940s and '50s, it featured an amusement park and a dance hall.

Once a feeder lake for Ohio's canal system in the 1800s, Buckeye Lake has been a magnet for tourists since the canal era ended.

08/20/2026

Update on Buckeye Lake State Park

The lake level has crested and is starting a downward trend. That is the good news. The Southfork Licking River however, is not cresting until sometime through the night into tomorrow morning. The licking river is still on the rise from its own watershed.
The village of Buckeye lake is currently doing a voluntary evacuation. The village is expected to take on more flood water from the Licking River tonight. Please heed the warning from the village and seek shelter outside of the village, if possible. There is a temporary shelter set up at the Mt. Carmel Catholic Church at 5133 Walnut Road, Buckeye Lake.

ODNR realizes that there are buoys that have become displaced from the flooding we will work with our maintenance and Law Enforcement team to get them fixed after the flooding event has ended.

Do not drive into any high water on the roadways. Please be safe out there. Our thoughts and prayers are with those that are struggling with the flooding and evacuation.
Thank you for your patience,
Mark Hoffhines
Park Manager

08/20/2026

Just wanted to send out an update to our followers. The Buckeye Lake dam is operating as it should. The 79 spillway opens and closes automatically based on head pressure from the main lake. We are not releasing any water through our lake drains that are manually opened and closed. We only use these lake drains for the drawdown in the fall to get the lake down to winter pool.

The 360/horseshoe spillway is an overflow spillway. It is designed to release water when the lake exceeds summer pool by 8 inches.

Downstream of that is the Southfork/Licking River. The river is in flood stage and continues to increase. The lake has had roughly 18 inches of rain within the last 9 days.

The Kirkersville feeder, which is on Liebs Island, continues to flow adding more water into the lake. Murphy’s Run at Brooks Park is also running at capacity into the wetland. Honey Creek on the east end of the lake seems to be receding from a high water earlier this morning.

Buckeye Lake is not a flood control lake.

The lake has not crested at this time and it will continue to increase over the next several hours. I will do my best to keep everyone updated as the day continues. Stay safe and do not drive into any standing water on the roadways.

Thank you,
Mark Hoffhines
Park Manager

Address

2871 Lieb's Island Road
Millersport, OH
43046

Telephone

+17405274008

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Buckeye Lake State Park posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share

Category