Surveyors Lake sits in the Peace Creek drainage near Alturas, between Bartow and Lake Wales, with no documented navigable connection to any other lake — every trip in or out is a tow. It is not connected to Lake Walk-in-the-Water, which lies ten miles east of Lake Wales in a different drainage, fed by Tiger Creek. It is the only Surveyors Lake in Florida.
FWC publishes no forecast for Surveyors, and the standard Central Florida rhythm applies: a cool-month spawn push, then dawn-and-dusk fishing through summer. The seasonal variable that matters is the ramp itself — hardpacked sand and gravel that launches fine dry and gets dicey for heavy trailers after rain. No algae advisories were posted for this lake through July 2026, and the ramp is listed open in FWC's July 2026 inventory.
Plain English Summary
| Ramp hours | 5 a.m.–10 p.m., with boat launching and retrieving allowed after park hours — FWC's inventory and the county's page agree on the after-hours allowance. |
| Fees | No launch fee — free county ramp (FWC inventory, Open for Business as of July 2026). |
| Ramp surface | Not paved. 'It is made of hardpacked sand mixed with gravel,' in the county's own words — know your rig's limits before backing in, especially after rain. |
| Boating restrictions | No FWC boating-restricted areas are on the books for Polk County waters in chapter 68D-24; honor any posted signage. |
| Full legal text | Official boating regulations → |
Where do you launch on Surveyors Lake?
Can I launch a full-size bass boat on a sand ramp?
Is Surveyors Lake connected to Lake Walk-in-the-Water?
Where is this lake, actually — Bartow or Lake Wales?
How deep is Surveyors Lake?
What else is nearby if the day dies?
Surveyors Lake is 280 acres in the ranch-and-grove country around Alturas, roughly halfway between Bartow and Lake Wales — the only Surveyors Lake in Florida, and one that mostly hasn't been found. The paperwork can't agree on where it is: FWC files the ramp under Bartow, the county's page says Lake Wales, and the lake sits in the unincorporated quiet between them. A county bathymetric survey from 2010 shows a 14-foot maximum over a 9-foot mean — legitimate depth for a small Polk lake.
Access is the county's plainest offering: a free hardpacked sand-and-gravel ramp with six parking spaces, no restrooms, and launching allowed even after the park's 10 p.m. close. Walk the sand before backing a heavy trailer down it, especially after summer rain. There's no FWC forecast page for this lake — bring your own intel, treat it as the jon-boat sleeper of the Frostproof circuit, and work the 14-foot basin off the contour map. If the day dies, Lake Buffum's ramp is four miles south, with Crooked and Reedy holding the bigger water beyond.