Lewis Smith Lake is a reservoir in north Alabama. Located on the Sipsey Fork of the Black Warrior River, the lake covers over 21,000 acres in Cullman, Walker, and Winston counties. The maximum depth at the dam is 264 feet. The three-fingered lake has over 500 miles of shoreline, and when full, pool has a level of 522 feet.
Nearby towns include Bremen, Crane Hill and Dodge City in Cullman County; Curry and Jasper in Walker County; and Addison, Arley, Houston, and Double Springs in Winston County.
The lake was created by Alabama Power with the construction of the Lewis Smith Dam. One of the largest earthen dams in the eastern United States, it stretches 2,200 feet in length and reaches a maximum height of 300 feet. Construction began on November 25, 1957, and the dam entered service on September 5, 1961. The name honors Lewis Martin Smith, president of Alabama Power from 1952 to 1957.
Smith Lake Facts
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River: Black Warrior River
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Length: 500 Miles
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Surface Area: 21,200 Acres
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Volume: 1,670,700 Acre Feet
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Drainage Area: 944 Square Miles
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Average Depth: 66 Feet
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Length: 35 Miles
Lewis Smith Lake (or Smith Lake) is located in North-Central Alabama about 20 miles northwest of Birmingham in state of Alabama (U.S.) counties of Cullman, Walker and Winston. The 300-foot high dam, completed in 1961 by Alabama Power Company, impounds the Sipsey Fork of the Black Warrior River to form the lake. Smith Lake has a surface area of 21,200 acres, 500 miles of shoreline, a watershed area of 944 square miles, a retention time of 435 days, and a maximum depth of 264 feet. The western side of the lake’s watershed is crowned by the 180,000-acre Bankhead National Forest, which blankets the deeply dissected southern edge of the Cumberland Plateau. The Sipsey Fork of the Black Warrior River, Alabama’s only Wild and Scenic River, flows through the Bankhead National Forest. The Sipsey Wilderness, Land of a Thousand Waterfalls, lies within the Bankhead National Forest and is home to Alabama’s largest tree, a tulip poplar with a 21-foot circumference at its base.