Tired Creek Lake
Lake in Grady County, Georgia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tired Creek Lake is a lake in Cairo, Georgia in Grady County.[3] It is a 960-acre recreational fishing lake at the confluence of Black Creek, Buss Creek, and Sapp Creek.[3] The lake is named after Tired Creek. At full pool the lake is 220.2 feet above sea level.[4] The lake is located at 263 State Park Road.[5]
| Tired Creek Lake | |
|---|---|
A floating dock at Tired Creek Lake, 2025 | |
  Tired Creek Lake Location within Georgia  Tired Creek Lake Location within the United States | |
| Location | Georgia, U.S. |
| Coordinates | 30.9298°N 84.2625°W |
| Type | Artificial |
| Basin countries | United States |
Surface area | 960 acres (390 ha) |
| Max. depth | 30 ft (9 m)[1] |
Surface elevation | 220 ft (67 m)[2] |
| Website | https://cairogachamber.com/tired-creek-lake |
History
The idea for constructing a lake at the site dates to the 1930s.[6]
In 1962, The U.S. Study Commission, Southeast River Basins produced Plan for Development of the Land and Water Resources of the Southeast River Basins which involved a proposal to develop Tired Creek Lake.[3] Grady County then began pursuing this as a State Park project.[3]
In 1968, Grady County Recreation Committee sought funding from the Bureau of Outdoor Recreation towards the Tired Creek Lake project.[3] In the same year, Wiedeman & Singleton Engineers produced a report for a dam site.[3]
In 1973, Grady County gave the deed of the site to Georgia Department of Natural Resources for the purpose of establishing Tired Creek State Park.[3] The department then produced a master plan for the park which included a lake.[3] The state government then began construction but this ended when funding was cut.[3]
In 1993, the land for the site was returned to Grady County.[3]
In 1996, Grady County established the Tired Creek Advisory Committee.[3] This committee considered potential uses for the site and liased with regulatory agencies.[3]
In 2006, Grady County made a Clean Water Act Section 404 Permit application to the US Army Corps of Engineers.[3]
In 2010, Grady County received a permit from the US Army Corps of Engineers to construct the lake.[3] Grady County took out $10 million in bonds to fund the project.[7] In July, Grady County commissioners accepted bids totaling $238,349.50 from four surveying firms, splitting required work between the firms in order to complete the surveying of mitigation tracts by a 16 July deadline.[8]
In 2013, construction began on the project.[9]
In 2015, the Georgia Supreme Court ruled in favor of Grady County after a two-year-long case concerning permission to cut down more trees beyond what is usually permitted.[10] In the same year, the lake was stocked with bass.[4] By the end of the year, the construction of the lake had been completed pending final approval from the US Army Corps of Engineers to fill the lake.[11]
In 2016, the county started to fill the lake and constructed boat ramps along with amenities.[9]
In 2017, biologists from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources concluded that bass stocking in the lake had been successful.[4] In July, at a vision meeting for the lake project assembled authorities emphasized that the primary economic focus of the lake would be fishing.[12]
In 2018, the lake was officially opened on the Friday before Memorial Day weekend.[13] On 26 May, Sherry Vann caught a 14-lb largemouth bass which Georgia Outdoor News described as a "monster".[5] Initially, the lake was free for people from Grady County and children under 15 years of age, and $3 per day for non-residents of the county.[9][14] In June, changes to its fishing policies and prices meant that people from outside of the county had to pay $10 per day with the option of a $200 yearly pass.[15] In September, the Grady County Board of Commissioners approved a recommendation from the Grady County Lake Authority to permit duck hunting at the lake.[16] A total of 216 permits were to be issued, assigned through a lottery.[16]
In 2020, Grady County officials met with Raymond James and Associates to discuss refinancing the $10 million worth of bonds that were taken out in 2010.[7] The County Administrator at this time, Buddy Johnson, supported this.[7] Payments on these bonds are supported by fishing revenues.[7][17]
In 2021, Amanda Parker caught a 28-inch-long largemouth bass weighing 14.60 lb, setting a new record both for the lake and for the largest bass caught by a Georgia woman in 50 years.[18][19]
In 2023, Cairo Grady Development LLC signed a $1.7 million contract to purchase 200 acres of land at Tired Creek Lake for the purpose of developing a campground.[20]
In 2025, officials discussed infrastructure upgrades at the lake including the installation of electricity and the creation of a family-oriented recreational space.[6]
Ecology
Georgia Department of Natural Resources completed water sampling and monitoring alongside visual surveys from April 2016 until September 2018.[2] In this report, the Department of Natural Resources Environmental Protection Division noted "illegal dumping of old furniture, tires, litter" in the creeks flowing into Tired Creek Lake.[2] The report indicated that the presence of Escherichia coli (E. Coli) in the lake was at similar concentration (cfu/100mL) to Litte Tired, Parkers Mill, Tired Creek, and Turkey Creek.[2] The air and water temperature at Tired Creek Lake was slightly higher than the other measured sites.[2]
Politics
The Georgia Water Coalition opposed the development of the lake, describing it as "unnecessary".[21] The coalition criticized the estimated costs associated with the lake development project.[21] The coalition said Grady County had "fought to minimize the size of the buffer around the lake" and "refused to put the undeveloped portion of the property – more than 2,000 acres – under a conservation easement".[21]
