Lake Hico, Reservoir in Jackson, Mississippi, USA

Lake Hico is a reservoir in Hinds County, Mississippi, covering more than 500 acres with a central island spanning over 100 acres. It was constructed in the 1950s to serve as a cooling pond for a nearby power plant, supplied by water piped from the Pearl River approximately 5 miles (8 km) away.

Lake Hico was built in the 1950s on 16th section school land as a cooling pond for the Rex Brown Plant, which burned fuel oil before converting to natural gas in the 1970s. The lake was open to the public until the late 1960s, when it closed amid resistance to racial integration and after drownings raised liability costs. Entergy closed the plant in 2020, gave up its lease, and the Jackson Public School District ordered the lake drained.

The area is currently fenced off with no trespassing signs and remains inaccessible to the public. The surrounding land is managed by the school district, so check current conditions before attempting to visit the site.

The lake's 100-acre island separated the warmed cooling water leaving the Rex Brown plant from the cooler main body of the lake, and it held a concrete boat ramp. The Jackson Yacht Club used the lake until the larger Ross Barnett Reservoir was built in the early 1960s.