The Lyre River has a total length of 16.8 miles, with a basin covering 66.1 square miles. The Lyre is the only watershed in the region that is fed by a natural lake, Lake Crescent, resulting in a unique flow, temperature and water chemistry regime. Lake Crescent, located at RM 5.2, is a large, deep lake of 4,700 acres with a depth of 640 feet. The Lake and surrounding land lies within the Olympic National Park. Below the park boundary the Lyre River is managed primarily for commercial timber production and low-density rural residences. A natural falls at RM 2.7 limits salmon access above it. In general, the LWD levels in the river are good, except in the lower reaches which are lacking in large wood. The lower reaches are surrounded by a riparian habitat that will no longer supply future LWD necessary to allow sediments to accumulate, raising the streambed to enable the floodplain to connect with the river. The lowest mile of the mainstem has been channelized and bulk-headed, and valuable LWD has been removed. Of the major tributaries, Susie Creek provides good salmon habitat. Major historic landslides on Boundary Creek continue to introduce fines into the Lyre. As a tributary to Lake Crescent, Barnes Creek is a major spawning stream for trout in Lake Crescent. The Limiting Factors Analysis did not describe habitat and water quality conditions in Lake Crescent. While the Lyre estuary is minimal, estuary-dependent fish such as chum are found there, as well as a documented surf smelt spawning area west of the mouth. Major limiting factors in the watershed are fine sediments, altered riparian areas, lack of large wood, mainstem channelization, and "stream cleaning" of LWD. Murdock Creek is an independent stream west of the Lyre, with spawning steelhead habitat in the lower mile. An on-going problem is the deposit of road spoils along Hwy. 112 adding to the sediment load. Development on the east side is also a concern, related to the basin hydrology.
The Lyre produces fall chum, fall coho and winter steelhead. Hatchery planting of winter and summer steelhead occurs. Low numbers of chinook and pink salmon have also been reported in the Lyre River. Lake Crescent has unique salmon and trout, some which move downstream into the Lyre to spawn. These include kokanee, Lake Crescent cutthroat and Beardslee trout. Domestic water supplies withdrawn from the Lyre have the potential to impact streamflows needed by fish. Lack of off-channel habitat especially impacts fall coho and winter steelhead juvenile winter refuge rearing.