Great Lake
Craven County, North CarolinaView mapDirections
NC DEQ publishes the water-quality measurements for Great Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Eutrophic
- 131 ft max depth
- Public access
- Limited data
Great Lake in Craven County, North Carolina has water-quality measurements published by NC DEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 0.7 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 80 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 8 µg/L.
Great Lake is a productive, nutrient-rich eutrophic lake in Craven County, North Carolina with an estimated average depth of about 131 feet. Limited fish-species data available. Public access is available with 1 public boat landing. Compared to the 1 other monitored lakes in Craven County, Great Lake ranks #1 for water quality.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, NCDEQ, last sampled 2024-10-17. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
What Great Lake is good for
From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.
- Boat launch1 documented ramp
Swimming conditions
Readings onlyLimited data
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 Great 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 Great Lake
These are the measurements NC DEQ publishes for Great 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 0.7 ft of visibility. Phosphorus 80 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 8 µg/L. TSI 67.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 0.7ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | 80µg/L | Measured, not scored The nutrient that most limits algae growth in freshwater. More phosphorus, more algae potential. |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 8µg/L | Good GoodFairPoor |
| Trophic state (TSI)Carlson's 0–100 index of how much algae a lake can support, from clarity, phosphorus and chlorophyll-a. | 67 | Eutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity
Ask about Great Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~131 ft est.
Public access
Yes
Listed by NC DEQ
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 Great Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
109 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Surface area
2,748 acres
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
8.2 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
23 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
- Great LakePublic
Named access points in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory, within about 3 miles. More lakes with boat ramps
Stays via Stay22
Stays near Great Lake
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Great Lake in Craven 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.
Top-rated places to stay near Great Lake
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Planning a trip? Cabins and lodging at Great Lake → · more North Carolina lake trips
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Fishing Great Lake
Nearby Lakes in Craven County
Frequently asked questions about Great Lake
Where is Great Lake?
- Great Lake is a lake in Craven 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 Great Lake?
- Great Lake in Craven County, North Carolina has water-quality measurements published by NC DEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 0.7 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 80 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 8 µg/L.
Is Great Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Great Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Great Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 131 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 Great Lake?
- Great Lake has 1 documented boat landing in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory. Named access points include Great Lake. Public access is listed as yes.
Can I fish at Great Lake?
- Great Lake has 1 documented boat landing in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory. Seasons, size and bag limits, and whether you need a license are set by North Carolina's fish and wildlife agency, so check its current regulations before you go.
Explore Great Lake across LakeQuality
Planning a trip around Cape Lookout?
Great Lake is about 40 miles from Cape Lookout National Seashore. Crowds there swing hard by season, so the month you pick changes both how busy the park is and what lodging costs.
Best time to visit Cape Lookout →More lakes in North Carolina
Other Lakes in North Carolina
Eutrophic Lakes in North Carolina
Where this data comes from
36 measurements from 2 monitoring stations, 2024. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- North Carolina Dept of Environmental Quality NCDEQ-DWR WQX
21NC03WQ36 samples · 2024
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.
Other records on this page
Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)
Named boat-access points from the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory