Bluestone Lake

---

title: "Bluestone Lake" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["protected-areas-of-giles-county,-virginia", "reservoirs-in-virginia", "reservoirs-in-west-virginia", "protected-areas-of-mercer-county,-west-virginia", "protected-areas-of-monroe-county,-west-virginia", "protected-areas-of-summers-county,-west-virginia", "bodies-of-water-of-giles-county,-virginia", "bodies-of-water-of-mercer-county,-west-virginia", "bodies-of-water-of-monroe-county,-west-virginia", "bodies-of-water-of-summers-county,-west-virginia", "new-river-(kanawha-river-tributary)", "bluestone-river"] description: "Reservoir located on the New River near Hinton, West Virginia" topic_path: "general/protected-areas-of-giles-county-virginia" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluestone_Lake" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Reservoir located on the New River near Hinton, West Virginia ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox body of water"]

Field	Value
name	Bluestone Lake
image	Bluestone Lake at Bluestone River.jpg
caption	Bluestone Lake near the Bluestone State Park marina, at the point the Bluestone River enters it
location	West Virginia/Virginia
coordinates
type	Reservoir
inflow	New River
catchment	4565 sqmi
basin_countries	United States
date-built
date-flooded
length	10.7 mi
width
area	2040 acre
depth
max-depth
volume
shore
elevation	428 m
temperature_high
temperature_low
cities	Hinton, West Virginia
pushpin_map	West Virginia
::

| name = Bluestone Lake | native_name = | native_name_lang = | other_name = | image = Bluestone Lake at Bluestone River.jpg | alt = | caption = Bluestone Lake near the Bluestone State Park marina, at the point the Bluestone River enters it | image_bathymetry = | alt_bathymetry = | caption_bathymetry = | location = West Virginia/Virginia | group = | coordinates = | type = Reservoir | etymology = | part_of = | inflow = New River | rivers = | outflow = | oceans = | catchment = 4565 sqmi | basin_countries = United States | agency = | date-built = | engineer = | date-flooded = | length = 10.7 mi | width = | area = 2040 acre | depth = | max-depth = | volume = | residence_time = | salinity = | shore = | elevation = 428 m | temperature_high = | temperature_low = | frozen = | islands = | islands_category = | sections = | trenches = | benches = | cities = Hinton, West Virginia | pushpin_map = West Virginia | pushpin_label_position = | pushpin_map_alt = | pushpin_map_caption = | website = | reference =

Bluestone Lake is a flood control reservoir located on the New River near Hinton, in the U.S. state of West Virginia. At its normal pool level, Bluestone Dam impounds a 10.7 mi stretch of the New and its tributary, the Bluestone River. Normally approximately 2040 acre in size, the lake can grow to over 36 mi long at flood control pool. At higher water levels, the lake extends into Giles County, Virginia.

Bluestone Dam

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c7/Bluestone_Dam_(1)_USACE_2011-10-16.jpg" caption="Aerial view of the dam in 2011"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/90/Front_of_Bluestone_Dam.jpg" caption="Front of the dam in 2006"] ::

The lake is formed by the Bluestone Dam, a concrete gravity dam located just upstream of the confluence of the New and Greenbrier rivers. The dam is 165 ft high and 2048 ft long. The dam was authorized by a presidential executive order in 1935 and approved by the United States Congress in the Flood Control Acts of 1936 and 1938. Construction began in early 1941 but was suspended in 1944 because of World War II. Work resumed in 1946, and completed for operational purposes in 1949.

In recent years, it was discovered that Bluestone Dam would be unable to pass the Probable Maximum Flood possible at the site, which could cause failure of the dam. To remedy the problem, the United States Army Corps of Engineers has undertaken a Dam Safety Assurance program for Bluestone. The DSA project includes raising the dam by 8 ft, installing anchors and thrust blocks to tie the dam into bedrock, spillway improvements and other work. The first phase of the project was completed in October 2004. The second phase, installing bedrock anchors, was completed in 2011. Three additional phases remain to be constructed.

Recreation

Due to its large size, Bluestone Lake provides many recreational opportunities including boating and fishing. The West Virginia Division of Natural Resources operates Bluestone State Park and Bluestone Wildlife Management Area, each encompassing portions of the lake. Camping and other activities are available in these facilities.

Fishing

Multiple West Virginia stage record fish were caught along the Bluestone Lake.{{Cite web |title=West Virginia Fishing Records |url=https://wvdnr.gov/fishing/state-records/|access-date=August 25, 2024|publisher=West Virginia DNR}}

References

References

1. "Bluestone Lake". [[U.S. Army Corps of Engineers]], [[Huntington, West Virginia.
2. {{cite gnis. 1550403. Bluestone Lake. March 27, 2010. June 27, 1980
3. {{cite map. [[U.S. Geological Survey]]. "Narrows, Virginia-West Virginia quadrangle". (1985)
4. "Bluestone DSA". [[U.S. Army Corps of Engineers]]. [[Huntington, West Virginia.
5. "Construction of Bluestone Dam: Phase I (1941–1944)". [[U.S. Army Corps of Engineers]]. [[Huntington, West Virginia.
6. "Construction of Bluestone Dam: Phase II (1945–1949)". [[U.S. Army Corps of Engineers]]. [[Huntington, West Virginia.
7. (January 29, 2007). "Bluestone Wildlife Management Area". [[West Virginia Division of Natural Resources]].
8. "West Virginia Fishing Records".
9. Kirk, Sam. (January 10, 2024). "West Virginia DNR creates 5 new state fishing record categories".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::