Lake Elkhorn is a 37-acre (150,000 m2)[2] reservoir located in the Owen Brown area of Columbia, Maryland.

[3][4] Its main features are a small dam and a park with a picnic pavilion and a two-mile (3 km) walking path around the lake.

In 1969, Spiro Agnew proclaimed the arrival of the first Columbia based scientific firm, Hittman Associates that relocated for favorable lease rates from Howard Research and Development.

[6][7] Hittman in turn was contracted by the EPA using Wilde Lake as an example to recommend reuse of storm water runoff from all of Columbia's reservoir systems for residential drinking water to save on development costs.

The lake's location behind many townhouses, though considered an attractive feature to homeowners, has raised concern following the drowning of a small child on September 2, 2005.