Bass Lake
Wake County, North Carolina59 acresView mapDirections
NC DEQ publishes the water-quality measurements for Bass Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Hypereutrophic
Bass Lake in Wake County, North Carolina has water-quality measurements published by NC DEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 2.5 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 50 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 31 µg/L. Surface area: 58.6 acres.
Bass Lake is a 59-acre highly nutrient-loaded hypereutrophic lake in Wake County, North Carolina. Overall water quality is declining over recent sampling years. Compared to the 13 other monitored lakes in Wake County, Bass Lake ranks #10 for water quality.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, NCDEQ, last sampled 2025-09-05. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
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 Bass Lake is safe to swim in today is a call for the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Bass Lake
These are the measurements NC DEQ publishes for Bass Lake, shown as reported. The condition class beside each reading is the EPA National Lakes Assessment class for this lake’s ecoregion.
Very murky, less than 2.5 ft of visibility. Phosphorus 50 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 31 µg/L. TSI 63.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 2.5ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | 50µg/L | Poor GoodFairPoor |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 31µg/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. | 63 | Hypereutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
Very high nutrients, dense algae, poor clarity
Ask about Bass Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Surface area
59 acres
No bathymetric survey has been published for Bass Lake, so its depth is not documented here.
Stays via Stay22
Stays near Bass Lake
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Bass Lake in Wake County, North Carolina — 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 Bass Lake are listed below.
Top-rated places to stay near Bass Lake
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Fishing Bass Lake
Water quality readings over time
2 seasons of samples on record (2020–2025). Calling a direction takes at least 4 years of the same measurement.
Phosphorus
Worsening+1 µg/L/yr2 years
Chlorophyll-a
Worsening+6.2 µg/L/yr2 years
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Bass Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Bass Lake Dam (completed 1900), built primarily for recreation on the Basal Creek; earth-type dam, 23 ft tall and 580 ft long.
- Surface area
- 58.6 ac
- Normal storage
- 760 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 1,390 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 8.94 sq mi
- Hazard class
- High
- Owner
- Town of Holly Springs Parks & Recreation
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID NC00934 · Operator website
Nearby Lakes in Wake County
Frequently asked questions about Bass Lake
Where is Bass Lake?
- Bass Lake is a lake in Wake County, North Carolina. Its water-quality measurements are published by NC DEQ and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Bass Lake?
- Bass Lake in Wake County, North Carolina has water-quality measurements published by NC DEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 2.5 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 50 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 31 µg/L. Surface area: 58.6 acres.
Is Bass Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
Explore Bass Lake across LakeQuality
More lakes in North Carolina
Other Lakes in North Carolina
Hypereutrophic Lakes in North Carolina
Where this data comes from
56 measurements from 2 monitoring stations, 2020–2025. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- North Carolina Dept of Environmental Quality NCDEQ-DWR WQX
21NC03WQ56 samples · 2020–2025
Analytical methods
- WSSSOP
- Phosphorus by Colorimetry
- 445.0 ~ EPA; Chlorophyll and Pheophytin in Algae by Fluorescence
- 2130 B ~ Nephelometric Method
Monitoring station identifiers (2)
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.