Big Lake
Apache County, Arizona518 acresView mapDirections
ADEQ publishes the water-quality measurements for Big Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- 49 ft max depth
- Limited data
Big Lake in Apache County, Arizona has water-quality measurements published by ADEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 6.7 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 76 µg/L. Surface area: 518 acres.
Big Lake is a 518-acre lake in Apache County, Arizona with an estimated average depth of about 49 feet. Overall water quality is declining over recent sampling years.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, ADEQ, last sampled 2025-11-04. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Big Lake covers about 520 acres in Apache County. If you are planning to stay, you can search lake houses and cabins around Big Lake on Vrbo, or look for a hotel room near the lake on Booking.com or Expedia.
What Big Lake is good for
From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.
- Camping5 public campgrounds nearby
Swimming conditions
No readingLimited data
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Big Lake is safe to swim in today is a call for the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Big Lake
These are the measurements ADEQ publishes for Big Lake, shown as reported. The condition class beside each reading is the EPA National Lakes Assessment class for this lake’s ecoregion.
Moderate clarity, visible to about 6.7 ft. Phosphorus 76 µg/L. TSI 58.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 6.7ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | 76µg/L | Measured, not scored The nutrient that most limits algae growth in freshwater. More phosphorus, more algae potential. |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | No reading The green pigment in algae — a direct measure of how much algae is in the water. | |
| 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 Big Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~49 ft est.
Surface area
518 acres
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Arizona has not published bathymetry for Big Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
3 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
5.9 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
8,986 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
Public campgrounds near Big Lake
- Cutthroat0.8 kmReserve
- Brookchar1.2 kmReserve
- Apache Trout Campground1.2 km
- Grayling1.2 kmReserve
- Rainbow (az)2.0 kmReserve
Nearest public campgrounds in the USGS National Map inventory, within about 3 miles. An empty list means USGS records no campground that close, which is not the same as camping being unavailable. Where the source gives an official reservation link, it is used; the cabin and hotel search does not cover campsites. More camping lakes
Stays via Stay22
Stays near Big Lake
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Big Lake in Apache County, Arizona — 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.
Top-rated places to stay near Big Lake
Prices for Oct 30–Nov 1, 4 adults. Change dates on the map below.
Availability and prices from Stay22 partners (Booking.com, Vrbo, Expedia). We may earn a commission from bookings, at no extra cost to you.
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Fishing Big Lake
Water Quality Trend: Worsening
Based on 4 years of monitoring (2013–2022).
Water clarity
Stable3 years
Phosphorus
Worsening+2.33 µg/L/yr4 years
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Big Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Big Lake (completed 1964), built primarily for recreation on the Black River; earth-type dam, 32 ft tall and 485 ft long.
- Surface area
- 518 ac
- Normal storage
- 9,300 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 10,100 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 2.47 sq mi
- Hazard class
- Significant
- Owner
- ARIZONA GAME & FISH DEPARTMENT
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID AZ00061 · Operator website
Nearby Lakes in Apache County
Frequently asked questions about Big Lake
Where is Big Lake?
- Big Lake is a lake in Apache County, Arizona. Its water-quality measurements are published by ADEQ and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Big Lake?
- Big Lake in Apache County, Arizona has water-quality measurements published by ADEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 6.7 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 76 µg/L. Surface area: 518 acres.
Is Big Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Big Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Big Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 49 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 518 acres.
Are there campgrounds on Big Lake?
- Big Lake has 5 public campgrounds from USGS The National Map within 5 km, including Cutthroat, Brookchar, Apache Trout Campground, Grayling. This is a location join, not a booking. Cabins and hotels are listed separately; campsite reservations use the official link when the source provides one.
Explore Big Lake across LakeQuality
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Where this data comes from
9 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2022–2025. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- Great Lakes Environmental Center
GLEC9 samples · 2022–2025
Analytical methods
- 4500 P E ~ Phosphorus in Water by Colorimetry- Ascorbic Acid Method
- 300.0 ~ EPA; Determination of Inorganic Anions by Ion Chromatography
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)
Public campgrounds from USGS The National Map Structures, within about 3 miles