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Coralville Lake - Johnson County

GPS Coordinates: 41.7842396, -91.5842807

Management: Federal - COE

Description: The Coralville Lake is a multiuse Flood Control reservoir above the Coralville Dam in North Liberty. Pool size is listed at 5280 acres, but water levels and pool size vary greatly depending on the Corps’ plan and the vagaries of Mother Nature. In 1993 and 2008 water was backed up 20+ miles, nearly to the Amanas. About a 1/3 of the way through its length, Lake MacBride flows into the Coralville Lake. Beyond 965 the area of the Coralville Lake becomes Hawkeye WMA and is managed & owned by the DNR.

Habitat: Lake and surrounding forest. For much of the its length, the Coralville Lake is narrow, <0.3 mile, compared to the ~ a mile at Saylorville and Red Rock. the 2 widest places are just N of the Mehaffey Bridge andin the Scales Point-Sandy Beach-Hoosier Creek area.

Directions: The dam is located 4 miles N of Iowa City. There are numerous points of access to view the water, or to bird the woods around the reservoir. Directions for most are are below.

Birding Guide: Site Guide for Coralville Lake

Important Bird Area: IBA Entry for Coralville Lake