Lake Elkhorn is a 37 acre lake on the Elkhorn Branch of the Little Patuxent River.  A 23 acre park surrounds the lake.  The lake is 15 feet at its deepest and averages about 8 feet.

• Creation: The lake was created in 1974 by building an earth filled dam, which impounds 225 acre feet of water drawing from a watershed of about 2,500 acres.  A concrete spillway at one side of the dam permits controlled overflow.  At the head of the lake, in what was a marsh, a silt pond with a filter dike was formed.  In a cove at the lake's edge, near the Owen Brown Village Center is a major small boat dock which provides boaters with access to the lake.

• Name: George Harold Dasher for whom the neighborhood of Dasher Green is named, lived all his life in Howard County, farming the land with his brothers at Elkhorn Farms.  The lake, park and arboretum derive their name from the original Dasher farm

• Habitat: Sections of mature deciduous woods, scrub, undergrowth, mown open space, and yards adjacent to the lake and Forebay Pond; the lake contains both emergent and submergent vegetation.

• Trails and Paths: A 2.0 mile paved path encircles the lake. A paved path extends east under the transmission lines where wetlands continue as far as Oakland Mills Road. Intersecting paths to nearby developments are marked with street names. Ivory Hand, on the south side of the lake, is one of the most productive. An unnamed path at the southeast corner of the lake goes past Forebay Pond and continues beyond it.

• Notable Birds: Greater Scaup, Surf Scoter, Black Scoter, Long-tailed Duck, American Bittern, Least Bittern, Snowy Egret, Red-necked Grebe, Little Blue Heron, Cattle Egret, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, Peregrine Falcon, Virginia Rail, Common Moorhen, American Avocet, Black Tern, Common Tern, Forster's Tern, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, Alder Flycatcher, Philadelphia Vireo, Marsh Wren, Gray-cheeked Thrush, Golden-winged Warbler, Orange-crowned Warbler, Prothonotary Warbler, Connecticut Warbler, Summer Tanager, Dickcissel, Pine Siskin.

• Amenities: A 16-station Fitness Circuit Trail is laid out along the south side of the lake beginning not far from the Broken Land Parkway parking lot. Below the dam, there is a small picnic pavilion and a scattering of picnic tables. At the southwest end of the lake there is a 150-person picnic pavilion that can be rented. A few benches are positioned along the loop trail, and a tot lot is located near the Dockside Lane parking lot.

• Handicapped Access: The loop trail is paved. There are a few gentle grades; the steepest section is along the northwest side from the dam to the bridge.

• Operation and Hours: Columbia Association property; 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.

• Camps: the Columbia Association runs a nature/sail camp on Lake Elkhorn.  Click here for more information.

• Special Attractions: The lake and nearby Forebay Pond are the main attractions. Some spring wildflowers bloom in woodland patches along the lake path. Trees with labels on the north side constitute an arboretum.