Cayuga Lake
Tompkins County, New YorkView mapDirections
NY DEC publishes the water-quality measurements for Cayuga Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- 436 ft max depth
- Public access
- Limited data
Cayuga Lake in Tompkins County, New York has water-quality measurements published by NY DEC, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 7.4 ft visibility.
Cayuga Lake is a lake in Tompkins County, New York with an estimated average depth of about 436 feet. Limited fish-species data available. Public access is available with 2 public boat landings.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, NYSDEC, last sampled 2020-09-30. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Cayuga Lake has 2 public boat landings, so a lakefront rental is not the only way to get a boat on the water. For a place on the water, look through cabin and lake-house rentals near Cayuga Lake on Vrbo. For a hotel or motel room, Booking.com and Expedia both search around the lake.
What Cayuga Lake is good for
From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.
- Boat launch2 documented ramps
Swimming conditions
No readingLimited data
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Cayuga Lake is safe to swim in today is a call for the New York Department of Environmental Conservation and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Cayuga Lake
These are the measurements NY DEC publishes for Cayuga 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 7.4 ft. TSI 48.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 7.4ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | No reading 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. | 48 | Mesotrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
Moderate nutrients, good water quality
Ask about Cayuga Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~436 ft est.
Public access
Yes
Listed by NY DEC
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. New York has not published bathymetry for Cayuga Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
1,626 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Surface area
42,302 acres
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
86.5 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
374 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
- Taughannock Falls State Park, Mile 33.65Public
- Myers Park, Mile 36.06Public
Named access points in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory, within about 3 miles. More lakes with boat ramps
Stays via Stay22
Stays near Cayuga Lake
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Cayuga Lake in Tompkins County, New York — 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 Cayuga Lake
Prices for Oct 23–25, 4 adults. Change dates on the map below.
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Fishing Cayuga Lake
Regulated Pollution Sources Nearby
2 EPA-permitted facilities operate within about 5 miles of Cayuga Lake under Clean Water Act (NPDES) discharge permits, including 1 classified by the EPA as major discharger. 1 facility has a reported Clean Water Act violation in the past three years.
- Cayuga Operating Company, LlcLansing · 1.4 mi away · NPDES NY0001333Major
- Trumansburg (V) StpTrumansburg · 2.9 mi away · NPDES NY0024902Recent violation
Facilities permitted to discharge under the Clean Water Act within ~5 miles; proximity does not by itself mean a facility affects this lake. Source: EPA ECHO (ICIS-NPDES), as of 2026-07.
Nearby Lakes in Tompkins County
Frequently asked questions about Cayuga Lake
Where is Cayuga Lake?
- Cayuga Lake is a lake in Tompkins County, New York. Its water-quality measurements are published by NY DEC and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Cayuga Lake?
- Cayuga Lake in Tompkins County, New York has water-quality measurements published by NY DEC, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 7.4 ft visibility.
Is Cayuga Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Cayuga Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Cayuga Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 436 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 boat ramps on Cayuga Lake?
- Cayuga Lake has 2 documented boat landings in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory. Named access points include Taughannock Falls State Park, Mile 33.65, Myers Park, Mile 36.06. Public access is listed as yes.
Can I fish at Cayuga Lake?
- Cayuga Lake has 2 documented boat landings in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory. Seasons, size and bag limits, and whether you need a license are set by New York's fish and wildlife agency, so check its current regulations before you go.
Explore Cayuga Lake across LakeQuality
4 documented falls within 13 mi, nearest Taughannock Falls
Species activity outlook by water temperature and season
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Where to stay at New York's top lakes, each with its readings
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Where this data comes from
36 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2020. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- North American Lake Management Society
NALMS36 samples · 2020
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
Regulated discharger data from EPA ECHO (ICIS-NPDES)
Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)
Named boat-access points from the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory