Sleepy Creek Lake is a impoundment of the Meadow Branch of

Sleepy Creek Sleepy Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed August 15, 2011 tributary of the Potomac River in the United States, belonging to the Chesapeake Bay's drainage basin, ...

in Berkeley County in

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

's Eastern Panhandle. The

reservoir A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...

is located entirely within the

Sleepy Creek Wildlife Management Area Sleepy Creek Wildlife Management Area is located in Morgan and Berkeley Counties in West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle. It encompasses , mostly covered with mixed oak and pine forest, although about are covered with mixed hardwoods. The Sleep ...

History

Sleepy Creek Lake was constructed by the

West Virginia Division of Natural Resources The West Virginia Division of Natural Resources (WVDNR) is an agency of the government of the U.S. state of West Virginia. While formerly known as the cabinet-level Department of Natural Resources, it is now part of the West Virginia Department ...

(WVDNR) and was completed in 1962. The lake was opened for fishing in 1964. WVDNR began stocking the reservoir with

northern pike The northern pike (''Esox lucius'') is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus ''Esox'' (pikes). They are commonly found in brackish water, moderately salty and fresh waters of the Northern Hemisphere (''i.e.'' holarctic in distribution). T ...

in 1989.

Description

Sleepy Creek Lake is a

located at an elevation of within the

, which lies within both

Morgan Morgan may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Morgan – A Suitable Case for Treatment'', also called ''Morgan!'', a 1966 comedy film * ''Morgan'' (2012 film), an American drama * ''Morgan'' (2016 film), an American science fiction thriller * ...

and

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California *George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer to ...

counties. The lake is nestled between two mountain ridges:

Sleepy Creek Mountain Sleepy Creek Mountain is a mountain ridge in the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians on the border between Morgan and Berkeley counties in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. The long-distance Tuscarora Trail traverses the southern ridge and north ...

() and

Third Hill Mountain Third Hill Mountain is both the highest and most topographically prominent mountain in Berkeley County within the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. Third Hill Mountain reaches its highest elevation of above sea-level southeast of the "Locks ...

(). The lake has a maximum depth of and an average depth of . Sleepy Creek Lake provides fishing for

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 ...

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 ...

crappie Crappies () are two species of North American freshwater fish of the genus ''Pomoxis'' in the family Centrarchidae (sunfishes). Both species of crappies are popular game fish among recreational anglers. Etymology The genus name ''Pomoxi ...

, northern pike, and

channel catfish The channel catfish (''Ictalurus punctatus''), known informally as the "channel cat", is a species of catfish native to North America. They are North America's most abundant catfish species, and the official state fish of Kansas, Missouri, Nebra ...

References

Rivers of Berkeley County, West Virginia Reservoirs in West Virginia Potomac River watershed 1962 establishments in West Virginia 1962 in the environment {{BerkeleyCountyWV-geo-stub