Long Lake is a

freshwater lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from t ...

located in Thurston County,

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. It is located approximately east of Olympia. It consists of two

basins Basin may refer to: Geography and geology * Depression (geology) ** Back-arc basin, a submarine feature associated with island arcs and subduction zones ** Debris basin, designed to prevent damage from debris flow ** Drainage basin (hydrology), ...

connected by a narrow neck. It is two miles (3.2 km) long and has two islands, Holmes Island (13 acres / 5.3 ha) and Kirby Island (2.4 acres / 1 ha). Long Lake is fed by Pattison Lake and drains via Himes/Woodland Creek and Lois Lake to

Henderson Inlet Henderson Inlet is a small, southern inlet of Puget Sound, Washington state, situated between Budd Inlet to the west and Nisqually Reach to the east. It is located in Thurston County, and the nearest city is Olympia, the state capital. Henderson I ...

., Department of Ecology Long Lake was given its descriptive name in 1853.

Public access

Boat launch

The lake can be accessed via a

Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) is a department of the government of the state of Washington, United States of America. The WDFW manages over a million acres of land, the bulk of which is generally open to the public, an ...

(WDFW) boat launch. The launch is open during fishing season and requires a WDFW vehicle use permit.

Long Lake Park

Long Lake Park is a 10-acre (4 ha) park operated by the City of Lacey which features a swimming beach, sand-volleyball courts, and barbecue facilities. The park has of beach frontage as well as picnic facilities and pedestrian trails through the woods. The city calls the swimming beach one of the finest in Thurston County. The park is open from 7 am to dusk. In May 2025,

Swimmer's itch Swimmer's itch, cercarial dermatitis or schistosome dermatitis is a short-term allergic contact dermatitis occurring in the Human skin, skin of humans that have been infected by water-borne schistosomatidae, schistosomes, a type of Trematoda, fl ...

was reported at the lake, prompting Thurston County to issue a public advisory to avoid swimming there.

Fishing

The following species of fish can be found in Long Lake: *

Largemouth bass The largemouth bass (''Micropterus nigricans'') is a carnivorous, freshwater fish, freshwater, ray-finned fish in the Centrarchidae (sunfish) family, native to the eastern United States, eastern and central United States, southeastern Canada an ...

Rock bass The rock bass (''Ambloplites rupestris''), also known as the rock perch, goggle-eye, red eye, and black perch, is a freshwater fish native to east-central North America. This red-eyed fish is a species of freshwater fish in the sunfish family (bi ...

Bluegill The bluegill (''Lepomis macrochirus''), sometimes referred to as "bream", "brim", "sunny", or, in Texas, "copper nose", is a species of North American freshwater fish, native to and commonly found in streams, rivers, lakes, ponds and wetlands ea ...

Brown bullhead The brown bullhead (''Ameiurus nebulosus'') is a fish of the family Ictaluridae that is widely distributed in North America. It is a species of bullhead catfish and is similar to the black bullhead (''Ameiurus melas'') and yellow bullhead (' ...

Eurasian carp The common carp (''Cyprinus carpio''), also known as European carp, Eurasian carp, or simply carp, is a widespread freshwater fish of eutrophic waters in lakes and large rivers in Europe and Asia.Fishbase''Cyprinus carpio'' Linnaeus, 1758/ref>Ark ...

Yellow perch The yellow perch (''Perca flavescens''), commonly referred to as perch, striped perch, American perch or preacher is a freshwater perciform fish native to much of North America. The yellow perch was described in 1814 by Samuel Latham Mitchill fr ...

Pumpkinseed The pumpkinseed (''Lepomis gibbosus''), also referred to as sun perch, pond perch, common sunfish, punkie, sunfish, sunny, and kivver, is a small to medium–sized freshwater fish of the genus ''Lepomis'' (true sunfishes), from the sunfish fami ...

* Suckerfish *

Coastal cutthroat trout The coastal cutthroat trout (''Oncorhynchus clarkii'', sometimes referred as ''Oncorhynchus clarkii clarkii''), also known as the sea-run cutthroat trout, blue-back trout or harvest trout, is one of the four speciesTrotter, Patrick; Bisson, Pete ...

Rainbow trout The rainbow trout (''Oncorhynchus mykiss'') is a species of trout native to cold-water tributary, tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in North America and Asia. The steelhead (sometimes called steelhead trout) is an Fish migration#Classification, ...

Warmouth The warmouth (''Lepomis gulosus'') is a freshwater fish of the sunfish family (biology), family (Centrarchidae) that is found throughout the eastern United States. Other local names include molly, redeye, goggle-eye, red-eyed bream, and strawber ...

Lake Management District

Since 1987, Long Lake property owners have authorized Lake Management District No. 19 to oversee the management of the lake. The District was authorized for January 1, 2011 to December 31, 2015.

Goals

* Monitor and manage any recurrence of milfoil or emergence of other aquatic plants to meet recreational and aesthetic needs, fishery and wildlife habitat requirements, and watershed concerns. * Conduct water quality monitoring * Investigate and promote best management practices and shoreline enhancement to decrease phosphorus loading. * Implement the Long Lake Management Plan. * Investigate, advise, and report upon impacts caused by the increased population and popular use of Long Lake, while maintaining quality of life on and around the lake. * Maintain a steering committee responsible for directing LMD activities, overseeing finances and communicating with property owners.

Boating safety rules

Thurston County establishes regulations regarding boating operations and water safety on Long Lake. * In 2014, Long Lake was added to the WDFW list of lakes open for year-round fishing, which removed its "30 day rule" which stated : "For the first 30 days of fishing season the speed limit is 5 mph around-the-clock". Long Lake is now open, year-round, to watercraft with a 45 mph speed limit in open basins EXCEPT at night and in the morning, when the speed limit is 5 mph. (The 5 mph limit applies after 8 p.m. or official sunset, whichever comes first, to 11 a.m.) * After sunset, all crafts must use proper running lights. * Crafts operating over 5 mph must be at least 200 feet off the shoreline. This must be observed because swimmers and nonmotorized craft tend to gather within the 200-foot safety zone. This rule also reduces the impact of wakes upon shore banks. * Crafts operating over 5 mph, including personal watercraft or " jet skis," must also remain at least 100 feet away from all other craft and persons. * All watercraft must travel in a counter-clockwise direction. * Water skiing must be done in groups of at least three: a driver, an observer, and a skier. The observer is required to watch the skier at all times and to use a red or orange flag to signal when a skier is down in the water. All water skiers are required to wear an approved flotation device. *

Personal flotation device A personal flotation device (PFD; also referred to as a life jacket, life preserver, life belt, Mae West, life vest, life saver, cork jacket, buoyancy aid or flotation suit) is a flotation device in the form of a vest or suit that is worn by a u ...

s must be on-board all watercraft, with one device required for each person and easily accessible. Children 12 years old and younger must wear a

personal flotation device A personal flotation device (PFD; also referred to as a life jacket, life preserver, life belt, Mae West, life vest, life saver, cork jacket, buoyancy aid or flotation suit) is a flotation device in the form of a vest or suit that is worn by a u ...

at all times if traveling on a vessel that is shorter than 19 feet. * All personal watercraft (or "jet ski") operators must wear an approved flotation device. * It is illegal to operate any craft while under the influence of

drugs A drug is any chemical substance other than a nutrient or an essential dietary ingredient, which, when administered to a living organism, produces a biological effect. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalation, injection, smoking, ingestio ...

alcohol Alcohol may refer to: Common uses * Alcohol (chemistry), a class of compounds * Ethanol, one of several alcohols, commonly known as alcohol in everyday life ** Alcohol (drug), intoxicant found in alcoholic beverages ** Alcoholic beverage, an alco ...

Polar Bear Plunge

Each year on

New Year's Day In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Day is the first day of the calendar year, January 1, 1 January. Most solar calendars, such as the Gregorian and Julian calendars, begin the year regularly at or near the December solstice, northern winter ...

, Long Lake Park hosts the Polar Bear Plunge where hundreds ring in the new year by jumping into the lake.

References

{{authority control Lakes of Washington (state) Lakes of Thurston County, Washington Tourist attractions in Thurston County, Washington