Columbia’s waterways are crucial habitats to wildlife and vegetation and they also enrich our community experience by providing scenic views and a connection to nature. Enjoy a lakeside picnic, fishing and kayaking, or hike alongside one of our many streams and ponds. You can also take advantage of the many boardwalks, decks, piers, gazebos and pavilions along our lakes for walking, jogging and gathering closer to our freshwater ecosystems.

In the past three years CA has completed an intensive effort to restore all three lakes to revitalize there natural function. Find out about the Lake Sediment plan here.

Please note: Swimming, bathing and ice-skating are not allowed in or on any of the CA’s lakes or ponds.

Lake Kittamaqundi

Lake Kittamaqundi (Get Directions), located in Town Center, is a 27-acre man-made lake with a maximum depth of seven feet. Its name, taken from the first recorded Native American settlement in Howard County, means “meeting place,” and it is, indeed, a community-oriented site often referred to as “the lakefront”.

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Lake Elkhorn

Lake Elkhorn (Get Directions) is a 37-acre lake in the village of Owen Brown built by Columbia Association in 1974 with a watershed of about 2,500 acres. The lake depth averages eight feet and is 15 feet at its deepest point.

Wilde Lake

Wilde Lake (Get Directions) is a 22-acre man-made lake built by CA in 1967. The site was originally a low-lying meadow of rough grass featuring a small stream. The lake depth ranges from 13 feet at the back of the dam to nearly eight feet in the lake’s center. Wilde Lake flows downstream into Lake Kittamaqundi.