Great Salt Plains Lake
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| Great Salt Plains Lake | |
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| Aerial view of Great Salt Plains Lake Dam on the Salt Fork Arkansas River | |
| Location | Alfalfa County, Oklahoma |
| Coordinates | 36°44′34.34″N 98°11′18.31″W / 36.7428722°N 98.1884194°WCoordinates: 36°44′34.34″N 98°11′18.31″W / 36.7428722°N 98.1884194°W |
| Lake type | reservoir |
| Basin countries | United States |
Great Salt Plains Lake is a reservoir in Alfalfa County, Oklahoma in the United States named because of the salt flats in the area and for the Salt Fork Arkansas River, which is dammed to form the lake. The average depth of the lake is only 3 feet (1 m) at normal pool. There is a location for digging selenite crystals in the salt flats which lie on the west edge of the lake. In July 2007, the crystal digging location was temporarily closed but reopened in April 2009.
This lake hosts a variety of fish including trout, bass and weizesucs.
The Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge is located along the lake and in its environs.
Great Salt Plains Lake is located at the Great Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge and expands across 8,690 acres, has 41 miles of waterfront and is shallow and salty. The sodium content of the lake is equal to that of 50% of the ocean. The fish vary from catfish, saugeye, sandbass and hybrid striper. Watercraft are not permitted on the lake.
This refuge is the only place in the world where selenite crystals with hourglass sand inclusions are found and are sought annually by thousands of visitors. Nowhere else in the world do crystals form with hourglass shapes inside and crystal fanatics can mine these "hourglass selenite" crystals, a seldom found and delicate form of selenite, which is a form of gypsum.
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