Cane Creek Reservoir
Orange County, North CarolinaView mapDirections
NC DEQ publishes the water-quality measurements for Cane Creek Reservoir. Here is what has been measured.
- Eutrophic
- 48 ft max depth
Cane Creek Reservoir in Orange County, North Carolina has water-quality measurements published by NC DEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 3.6 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 30 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 19.5 µg/L.
Cane Creek Reservoir is a productive, nutrient-rich eutrophic lake in Orange County, North Carolina with an estimated average depth of about 48 feet. Overall water quality is improving over recent sampling years. Compared to the 6 other monitored lakes in Orange County, Cane Creek Reservoir ranks #4 for water quality.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, NCDEQ, last sampled 2024-02-22. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
If you are planning to stay, you can search lake houses and cabins around Cane Creek Reservoir on Vrbo, or look for a hotel room near the lake on Booking.com or Expedia.
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 Cane Creek Reservoir 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 Cane Creek Reservoir
These are the measurements NC DEQ publishes for Cane Creek Reservoir, 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 3.6 ft. Phosphorus 30 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 19.5 µg/L. TSI 57.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 3.6ft | 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) | 19.5µg/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. | 57 | Eutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity
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Lake Details
Max depth
~48 ft est.
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. North Carolina has not published bathymetry for Cane Creek Reservoir.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
29 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Surface area
376 acres
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
8.9 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
509 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.
Stays via Stay22
Stays near Cane Creek Reservoir
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Cane Creek Reservoir in Orange 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 Cane Creek Reservoir are listed below.
Top-rated places to stay near Cane Creek Reservoir
Prices for Oct 23–25, 4 adults. Change dates on the map below.
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Fishing Cane Creek Reservoir
Water Quality Trend: Improving
Based on 4 years of monitoring (2020–2023).
Water clarity
Improving4 years
Phosphorus
Improving-3.05 µg/L/yr4 years
Chlorophyll-a
Improving-4.53 µg/L/yr4 years
Nearby Lakes in Orange County
Frequently asked questions about Cane Creek Reservoir
Where is Cane Creek Reservoir?
- Cane Creek Reservoir is a lake in Orange 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 Cane Creek Reservoir?
- Cane Creek Reservoir in Orange County, North Carolina has water-quality measurements published by NC DEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 3.6 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 30 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 19.5 µg/L.
Is Cane Creek Reservoir safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Cane Creek Reservoir?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Cane Creek Reservoir, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 48 feet, but that is a modelled estimate derived from surrounding terrain rather than a measurement on the water, so treat it as approximate.
Explore Cane Creek Reservoir across LakeQuality
More lakes in North Carolina
Other Lakes in North Carolina
Eutrophic Lakes in North Carolina
Where this data comes from
174 measurements from 4 monitoring stations, 2020–2024. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- USGS North Carolina Water Science Center
USGS-NC114 samples · 2020–2024 - North Carolina Dept of Environmental Quality NCDEQ-DWR WQX
21NC03WQ60 samples · 2023
Analytical methods
- Secchi disk method
- P, wu, WCA, persulfate CF color
- Pigments, algae, EPA445.0 w/ACTN
- Plant pigments, sonication & 445
- HACH 2100Q, NTRU
- WSSSOP
- Phosphorus by Colorimetry
- 445.0 ~ EPA; Chlorophyll and Pheophytin in Algae by Fluorescence
- 2130 B ~ Nephelometric Method
Monitoring station identifiers (4)
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)