Kinderhook Lake
Columbia County, New York350 acresView mapDirections
NY DEC publishes the water-quality measurements for Kinderhook Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Impaired · Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen)
- 45 ft max depth
- Limited data
Kinderhook Lake in Columbia County, New York has water-quality measurements published by NY DEC, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 6.1 ft visibility. Surface area: 350 acres.
Kinderhook Lake is a 350-acre lake in Columbia County, New York with an estimated average depth of about 45 feet.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, NYSDEC, last sampled 2020-09-20. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Kinderhook Lake covers about 350 acres in Columbia County. Vrbo is where to look for cabins and lake homes around Kinderhook Lake, and Booking.com and Expedia search hotels near the lake for your dates.
Swimming conditions
No readingRecreation use not supported
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Kinderhook Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen), pCBs. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Kinderhook 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 Kinderhook Lake
These are the measurements NY DEC publishes for Kinderhook Lake, 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 6.1 ft. TSI 51.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 6.1ft | 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. | 51 | Eutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity
Ask about Kinderhook Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~45 ft est.
Surface area
350 acres
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 Kinderhook Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
42 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
5.1 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
292 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 Kinderhook Lake
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Kinderhook Lake in Columbia 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 Kinderhook Lake
Prices for Oct 23–25, 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.
Planning a whole trip? See where to stay at New York’s top lakes →
Follow Kinderhook Lake’s readings
Email me when new measurements post for this lake. Updates stay free.
Or email
Fishing Kinderhook Lake
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Kinderhook Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Kinderhook Lake Dam (completed 1886), built primarily for other on the VALATIE KILL; concrete-type dam, 18 ft tall and 230 ft long.
- Surface area
- 350 ac
- Normal storage
- 5,105 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 5,105 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 18.41 sq mi
- Hazard class
- Low
- Owner
- KINDERHOOK LAKE CORPORATION
All listed purposes: Other;Recreation.
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID NY00887 · Operator website
EPA Impairment Status
Kinderhook Lake is officially listed as impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) in the 2022 EPA reporting cycle (IR category 5).
Causes of impairment
Designated uses not supporting: Aquatic life, Recreation.
A Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) plan has been approved.
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit NY1310-0002 · Official waterbody report
Regulated Pollution Sources Nearby
7 EPA-permitted facilities operate within about 5 miles of Kinderhook Lake under Clean Water Act (NPDES) discharge permits. 2 facilities have a reported Clean Water Act violation in the past three years.
- Pilot Travel Center #146Schodack, Town Of · 3.3 mi away · NPDES NY0268747Recent violation
- Valatie (V) StpValatie · 3.4 mi away · NPDES NY0021806Recent violation
- Kleeber ComplexKinderhook · 2.5 mi away · NPDES NY0224588
- Hannaford Bros Dist FacSchodack Landing · 3 mi away · NPDES NY0223085
- Birch Hill CateringCastleton On Hudson · 3.7 mi away · NPDES NY0213021
- Washington Heights Mobile Home PkIthaca · 4.4 mi away · NPDES NY0262269
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 Columbia County
Frequently asked questions about Kinderhook Lake
Where is Kinderhook Lake?
- Kinderhook Lake is a lake in Columbia 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 Kinderhook Lake?
- Kinderhook Lake in Columbia County, New York has water-quality measurements published by NY DEC, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 6.1 ft visibility. Surface area: 350 acres.
Is Kinderhook Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Kinderhook Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen), pCBs. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Kinderhook Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Kinderhook Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 45 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 350 acres.
Explore Kinderhook Lake across LakeQuality
Depth, room, public access, and the state wake-sport rules
Species activity outlook by water temperature and season
Where to stay at New York's top lakes, each with its readings
New York's cleanest lakes, ranked on agency measurements
More lakes in New York
Other Lakes in New York
Eutrophic Lakes in New York
Where this data comes from
7 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
NALMS7 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
Impairment status from EPA ATTAINS 303(d) database
Regulated discharger data from EPA ECHO (ICIS-NPDES)
Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)