Cow Pond Lake is located along the Crescent City Ridge in northwestern Volusia County. The ridge is described by Brooks and Merrit (1981) as a complex of Plio-Pleistocene sand hills resting directly on the carbonates that comprise the Floridan aquifer. Active karst development is evidenced by the numerous lakes in Volusia and Lake counties. The Crescent City Ridge bisects the marshy lowlands of the Crescent Lake Basin to the east and the St. John’s River valley to the west. The ridge trends southeast-northwest, along with Deland Ridge to the south. Ridge heights reach 30 m (100 ft) above sea level, lake levels at the time of the survey were about 12 m (40 ft) NGVD. Cow Pond’s irregular shape gives it over 5 km of shoreline with an area of only 0.6 km².