Lake Carey
Wyoming County, Pennsylvania263 acresView mapDirections
PA DEP publishes the water-quality measurements for Lake Carey. Here is what has been measured.
- Impaired · Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen)
- 36 ft max depth
- Public access
- Limited data
Lake Carey in Wyoming County, Pennsylvania has water-quality measurements published by PA DEP, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 5.9 ft visibility. Surface area: 263 acres.
Lake Carey is a 263-acre lake in Wyoming County, Pennsylvania with an estimated average depth of about 36 feet. Limited fish-species data available. Public access is available with 1 public boat landing.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, PA DEP, last sampled 2020-07-12. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Lake Carey covers about 260 acres in Wyoming County. It has one public boat landing. Vrbo is where to look for cabins and lake homes around Lake Carey, and Booking.com and Expedia search hotels near the lake for your dates.
What Lake Carey is good for
From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.
- Boat launch1 documented ramp
Swimming conditions
No readingLimited data
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Lake Carey is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 4A) for nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen). Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Lake Carey is safe to swim in today is a call for the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Lake Carey
These are the measurements PA DEP publishes for Lake Carey, 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 5.9 ft. TSI 52.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 5.9ft | 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. | 52 | Eutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity
Ask about Lake Carey
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~36 ft est.
Surface area
263 acres
Public access
Yes
Listed by PA DEP
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Pennsylvania has not published bathymetry for Lake Carey.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
6 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
4.4 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
958 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
- Frank's MarinaPublic
Named access points in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory, within about 3 miles. More lakes with boat ramps
Stays via Stay22
Stays near Lake Carey
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Lake Carey in Wyoming County, Pennsylvania — 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 Lake Carey
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Fishing Lake Carey
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Lake Carey is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Lake Carey (completed 1876), built primarily for recreation on the BILLINGS MILL BROOK; earth-type dam, 13 ft tall and 109 ft long.
- Surface area
- 263 ac
- Normal storage
- 3,781 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 4,810 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 7 sq mi
- Hazard class
- High
- Owner
- LAKE CAREY WELFARE ASSOCIATION
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID PA00887 · Operator website
EPA Impairment Status
Lake Carey is officially listed as impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) in the 2024 EPA reporting cycle (IR category 4A).
Causes of impairment
Designated uses not supporting: Aquatic life.
A Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) plan has been approved.
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit PA-LRP-02050106002805 · Official waterbody report
Regulated Pollution Sources Nearby
9 EPA-permitted facilities operate within about 5 miles of Lake Carey under Clean Water Act (NPDES) discharge permits. 7 facilities have a reported Clean Water Act violation in the past three years.
- Wyoming Cnty Healthcare CenterTunkhannock · 2.5 mi away · NPDES PA0036765Recent violation
- Oakwood Lake VillageTunkhannock · 2.9 mi away · NPDES PA0034088Recent violation
- Lake Carey WwtpTunkhannock · 3.1 mi away · NPDES PA0276073Recent violation
- Tunkhannock Boro Mun AuthTunkhannock · 4.1 mi away · NPDES PA0020940Recent violation
- Washington Park WwtfTunkhannock · 4.2 mi away · NPDES PA0060658Recent violation
- Westgate Water & Sewer Muni AuthTunkhannock · 4.4 mi away · NPDES PA0029777Recent 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 Wyoming County
Frequently asked questions about Lake Carey
Where is Lake Carey?
- Lake Carey is a lake in Wyoming County, Pennsylvania. Its water-quality measurements are published by PA DEP and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Lake Carey?
- Lake Carey in Wyoming County, Pennsylvania has water-quality measurements published by PA DEP, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 5.9 ft visibility. Surface area: 263 acres.
Is Lake Carey safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Lake Carey is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 4A) for nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen). Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Lake Carey?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Lake Carey, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 36 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 263 acres.
Are there boat ramps on Lake Carey?
- Lake Carey has 1 documented boat landing in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory. Named access points include Frank's Marina. Public access is listed as yes.
Can I fish at Lake Carey?
- Lake Carey 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 Pennsylvania's fish and wildlife agency, so check its current regulations before you go.
Explore Lake Carey across LakeQuality
Depth, room, public access, and the state wake-sport rules
Species activity outlook by water temperature and season
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Where this data comes from
4 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
NALMS4 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)
Named boat-access points from the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory