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LakeQuality

Bourn Pond

Bennington County, VermontView mapDirections

C
Fair

Nutrients and algae sit mid-range for this region.

↓ down from B at the last regrade

Water temp
No reading
No gauge
Clarity
5.6 ft
Secchi · sampled 2024
Max depth
~24 ft est.
GLOBathy model
Level
No reading
No gauge
Trend
Declining
3 years of samples
  • Eutrophic
  • Impaired · pH / acidity
  • #8 of 8 in the county
  • 24 ft max depth
  • Limited data

Bourn Pond in Bennington County, Vermont has a water quality grade of C (Fair). Water clarity: 5.6 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 22.1 µg/L.

Clarity
5.6 ft
Max depth
~24 ft est.
Type
Eutrophic
Phosphorus
22.1 µg/L
Trend
Declining
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Stays near Bourn Pond

Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Bourn Pond in Bennington County, Vermont — 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.

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Watch Bourn Pond’s letter

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Bourn Pond is a productive, nutrient-rich eutrophic lake in Bennington County, Vermont with an estimated average depth of about 24 feet. Water quality is graded C based on 1 sampling years through 2024. Overall water quality is declining over recent sampling years. Compared to the 7 other monitored lakes in Bennington County, Bourn Pond ranks #8 for water quality.

Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, VT DEC, last sampled 2024-04-26. Grade methodology: LakeQuality methodology.

What Bourn Pond is good for

From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.

  • Camping1 public campground nearby

Swimming Safety

Grade only

Limited data

Based on clarity and algae grades from past sampling — we do not hold live water temperature and a current cyanobacteria reading for this lake. Check your state or county health department before you swim.

The C is nutrients and algae, not a swimming clearance. Bourn Pond is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 4A) for pH / acidity. Check local advisories before you swim.

Compare the safest swimming lakes near Albany

Get alerts for Bourn Pond

Water Quality Grade: C (Fair)

Murky, only visible to about 5.6 ft. Phosphorus 22.1 µg/L. TSI 51. The letter is not a swimming clearance.

MetricValueGrade
Water Clarity (Secchi Depth)5.6 ftNot graded
Phosphorus22.1 µg/LFair
Chlorophyll-a (Algae)No recent samples
Trophic State Index (TSI)51Eutrophic

High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity

Lake Details

CharacteristicValue
Maximum Depth~24 ft est.
Average Depth~14 ft est.

Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Vermont has not published bathymetry for Bourn Pond.

Lake Size & Watershed

Watershed (drainage) area
0 sq mi
Surface area
57 acres
Shoreline
1.1 mi
Elevation
2,562 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

1
Campgrounds

Public campgrounds near Bourn Pond

  • Douglas Trail Shelter4.3 km

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

Fishing Bourn Pond

Based on 3 years of monitoring data (2020-2025).

MetricTrendChange/YearYears
Water Clarity Declining-0.107 m/yr3
Phosphorus Stable+0.11 µg/L/yr3

EPA Impairment Status

Bourn Pond is officially listed as impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) in the 2022 EPA reporting cycle (IR category 4A).

Causes of impairment

pH / acidity

A Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) plan has been approved.

Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit VT01-05L01 · Official waterbody report

County Ranking

Ranked #8 of 8 lakes in Bennington County

Nearby Lakes With Higher Grades

Bourn Pond holds Grade C. 2 nearby lakes hold higher nutrient-and-algae grades — useful for a swim day, not a reason to skip lodging here.

Nearby Lakes in Bennington County

Frequently asked questions about Bourn Pond

Where is Bourn Pond?

Bourn Pond is a lake in Bennington County, Vermont. LakeQuality grades it C for nutrients and algae. The letter is not a swimming clearance.

What is the water quality grade for Bourn Pond?

Bourn Pond in Bennington County, Vermont has a water quality grade of C (Fair). Water clarity: 5.6 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 22.1 µg/L.

Is Bourn Pond safe to swim in?

The C is nutrients and algae, not a swimming clearance. Bourn Pond is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 4A) for pH / acidity. Check local advisories before you swim.

How deep is Bourn Pond?

No published bathymetric survey covers Bourn Pond, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 24 feet, but that is a modelled estimate derived from surrounding terrain rather than a measurement on the water, so treat it as approximate.

Are there campgrounds on Bourn Pond?

Bourn Pond has 1 public campground from USGS The National Map within 5 km, including Douglas Trail Shelter. 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.

Where this data comes from

51 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2020–2024. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.

Collected and reported by

  • Vermont Dept of Environmental Conservation1VTDECWQ51 samples · 2020–2024

Analytical methods

  • 4500 P H ~ Manual Digestion and Flow Injection Analysis for Total Phosphorus
  • EPA approved Alternate Test Procedure for 4500 P H. Has a 28 day hold without acid preservation.
  • 445.0 ~ EPA; Chlorophyll and Pheophytin in Algae by Fluorescence
  • 2130 B ~ Nephelometric Method
  • 2120 B ~ Color in Water by Visual Comparison
Monitoring station identifiers (1)

Grade thresholds from the EPA National Lakes Assessment (EPA 841-R-24-006, Table 6-3), applied by ecoregion. See how grades are calculated and data sources.

Other records on this page

Impairment status from EPA ATTAINS 303(d) database

Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)

Public campgrounds from USGS The National Map Structures, within about 3 miles