At Dam Lake Albemarle
Albemarle County, Virginia38 acresView mapDirections
This is the name Virginia DEQ records for this water. It can describe one sampling location rather than the water as a whole.
Virginia DEQ publishes the water-quality measurements for At Dam Lake Albemarle. Here is what has been measured.
- Eutrophic
- 30 ft max depth
- Public access
At Dam Lake Albemarle in Albemarle County, Virginia has water-quality measurements published by Virginia DEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 3.4 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 30 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 24.1 µg/L. Surface area: 38 acres.
At Dam Lake Albemarle is a 38-acre productive, nutrient-rich eutrophic lake in Albemarle County, Virginia with an estimated average depth of about 30 feet. Overall water quality is improving over recent sampling years. Limited fish-species data available. Public access is available with 1 public boat landing. Compared to the 7 other monitored lakes in Albemarle County, At Dam Lake Albemarle ranks #6 for water quality.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, Virginia DEQ, last sampled 2026-06-30. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
What At Dam Lake Albemarle is good for
From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.
- Boat launch1 documented ramp
Swimming conditions
Readings onlyAlgae risk
Based on clarity and algae readings from past sampling — there is no live water temperature and a current cyanobacteria reading for this lake. Check your state or county health department before you swim.
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether At Dam Lake Albemarle is safe to swim in today is a call for the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for At Dam Lake Albemarle
These are the measurements Virginia DEQ publishes for At Dam Lake Albemarle, shown as reported. The condition class beside each reading is the EPA National Lakes Assessment class for this lake’s ecoregion.
Murky, only visible to about 3.4 ft. Phosphorus 30 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 24.1 µg/L. TSI 58.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 3.4ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | 30µg/L | Fair GoodFairPoor |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 24.1µg/L | Poor GoodFairPoor |
| Trophic state (TSI)Carlson's 0–100 index of how much algae a lake can support, from clarity, phosphorus and chlorophyll-a. | 58 | Eutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity
Ask about At Dam Lake Albemarle
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~30 ft est.
Surface area
38 acres
Public access
Yes
Listed by Virginia DEQ
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Virginia has not published bathymetry for At Dam Lake Albemarle.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
4 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
1.5 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
525 ft
Size, shoreline, and watershed area from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS). Mean depth here is modelled, not surveyed — HydroLAKES v1.0 estimates lake depth from surrounding terrain rather than from soundings. Treat it as an approximation, and prefer a state bathymetric survey where one exists.
Recreation & Access
- Lake AlbemarlePublic
Named access points in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory, within about 3 miles. More lakes with boat ramps
Stays via Stay22
Stays near At Dam Lake Albemarle
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near At Dam Lake Albemarle in Albemarle County, Virginia — live availability and prices for your trip. Switch the map to Satellite to see the lake and how close each stay is to the water. The water-quality readings cover nutrients and algae, not lodging. Cabins and rentals around At Dam Lake Albemarle are listed below.
Top-rated places to stay near At Dam Lake Albemarle
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Fishing At Dam Lake Albemarle
Water Quality Trend: Improving
Based on 6 years of monitoring (2013–2026).
Water clarity
Stable6 years
Phosphorus
Stable-0.57 µg/L/yr5 years
Chlorophyll-a
Improving-2.52 µg/L/yr5 years
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
At Dam Lake Albemarle is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Albemarle Dam, built primarily for recreation on the Spring Creek; earth-type dam, 32 ft tall and 200 ft long.
- Surface area
- 38 ac
- Normal storage
- 370 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 930 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 3.6 sq mi
- Hazard class
- High
- Owner
- Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID VA003126 · Operator website · Matched by proximity (0.03 km)
Nearby Lakes in Albemarle County
Frequently asked questions about At Dam Lake Albemarle
Where is At Dam Lake Albemarle?
- At Dam Lake Albemarle is in Albemarle County, Virginia. This is the name Virginia DEQ records for this water. It can describe one sampling location rather than the water as a whole. Its water-quality measurements are published by Virginia DEQ and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of At Dam Lake Albemarle?
- At Dam Lake Albemarle in Albemarle County, Virginia has water-quality measurements published by Virginia DEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 3.4 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 30 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 24.1 µg/L. Surface area: 38 acres.
Is At Dam Lake Albemarle safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is At Dam Lake Albemarle?
- No published bathymetric survey covers At Dam Lake Albemarle, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 30 feet, but that is a modelled estimate derived from surrounding terrain rather than a measurement on the water, so treat it as approximate. The lake covers 38 acres.
Are there boat ramps on At Dam Lake Albemarle?
- At Dam Lake Albemarle has 1 documented boat landing in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory. Named access points include Lake Albemarle. Public access is listed as yes.
Can I fish at At Dam Lake Albemarle?
- At Dam Lake Albemarle has 1 documented boat landing in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory. Seasons, size and bag limits, and whether you need a license are set by Virginia's fish and wildlife agency, so check its current regulations before you go.
Explore At Dam Lake Albemarle across LakeQuality
Planning a trip around Shenandoah?
At Dam Lake Albemarle is about 29 miles from Shenandoah National Park. Crowds there swing hard by season, so the month you pick changes both how busy the park is and what lodging costs.
Best time to visit Shenandoah →More lakes in Virginia
Other Lakes in Virginia
Eutrophic Lakes in Virginia
Where this data comes from
134 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2013–2026. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
21VASWCB134 samples · 2013–2026
Analytical methods
- Tyler, John. 1968. The secchi disk, Limnology and Oceanograpy, 13(1):1-6.
- Total Phosphorus After Block Digestion
- 445.0 ~ EPA; Chlorophyll and Pheophytin in Algae by Fluorescence
- 446.0 ~ EPA; Chlorophylls and Pheopigments in Phytoplankton by Spectrophotometry
Monitoring station identifiers (1)
EPA condition classes from the National Lakes Assessment (EPA 841-R-24-006, Table 6-3), applied by ecoregion. See where the data comes from and data sources.
Other records on this page
Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)
Named boat-access points from the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory