Lake Culpeper
Culpeper County, Virginia250 acresView mapDirections
Virginia DEQ publishes the water-quality measurements for Lake Culpeper. Here is what has been measured.
- Eutrophic
- 38 ft max depth
- Public access
Lake Culpeper in Culpeper County, Virginia has water-quality measurements published by Virginia DEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 2 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 55 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 24.9 µg/L. Surface area: 250.4 acres.
Lake Culpeper is a 250-acre productive, nutrient-rich eutrophic lake in Culpeper County, Virginia with an estimated average depth of about 38 feet. Overall water quality is declining over recent sampling years. Limited fish-species data available. Public access is available with 1 public boat landing. Compared to the 1 other monitored lakes in Culpeper County, Lake Culpeper ranks #2 for water quality.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, Virginia DEQ, last sampled 2022-10-06. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
What Lake Culpeper is good for
From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.
- Boat launch1 documented ramp
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 Lake Culpeper is safe to swim in today is a call for the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Lake Culpeper
These are the measurements Virginia DEQ publishes for Lake Culpeper, 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 2 ft of visibility. Phosphorus 55 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 24.9 µg/L. TSI 64.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 2ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | 55µg/L | Poor GoodFairPoor |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 24.9µg/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. | 64 | Eutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity
Ask about Lake Culpeper
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~38 ft est.
Surface area
250 acres
Public access
Yes
Listed by Virginia DEQ
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Virginia has not published bathymetry for Lake Culpeper.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
27 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
4.8 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
387 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
- Lake PelhamPublic
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 Culpeper
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Lake Culpeper in Culpeper County, Virginia — 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 Lake Culpeper are listed below.
Top-rated places to stay near Lake Culpeper
Prices for Oct 30–Nov 1, 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 trip? Cabins and lodging at Lake Culpeper → · more Virginia lake trips
Follow Lake Culpeper’s readings
Email me when new measurements post for this lake. Updates stay free.
Or email
Fishing Lake Culpeper
Water Quality Trend: Worsening
Based on 4 years of monitoring (2014–2022).
Water clarity
Worsening4 years
Phosphorus
Worsening+1.5 µg/L/yr4 years
Chlorophyll-a
Worsening+2.21 µg/L/yr4 years
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Lake Culpeper is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Mountain Run Dam #50, built primarily for flood risk reduction on the Mountain Run; earth-type dam, 55 ft tall and 868 ft long.
- Surface area
- 250.4 ac
- Normal storage
- 1,906 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 10,706.7 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 26.2 sq mi
- Hazard class
- High
- Owner
- Town of Culpeper
All listed purposes: Flood Risk Reduction;Recreation;Water Supply.
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID VA047003 · Operator website · Matched by proximity (0.77 km)
Nearby Lakes in Culpeper County
Frequently asked questions about Lake Culpeper
Where is Lake Culpeper?
- Lake Culpeper is a lake in Culpeper County, Virginia. Its water-quality measurements are published by Virginia DEQ and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Lake Culpeper?
- Lake Culpeper in Culpeper County, Virginia has water-quality measurements published by Virginia DEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 2 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 55 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 24.9 µg/L. Surface area: 250.4 acres.
Is Lake Culpeper safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Lake Culpeper?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Lake Culpeper, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 38 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 250.4 acres.
Are there boat ramps on Lake Culpeper?
- Lake Culpeper has 1 documented boat landing in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory. Named access points include Lake Pelham. Public access is listed as yes.
Can I fish at Lake Culpeper?
- Lake Culpeper 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 Virginia's fish and wildlife agency, so check its current regulations before you go.
Explore Lake Culpeper across LakeQuality
2 documented falls within 23.1 mi, nearest Dark Hollow Falls
Species activity outlook by water temperature and season
Where to stay at Virginia's top lakes, each with its readings
Virginia's cleanest lakes, ranked on agency measurements
Planning a trip around Shenandoah?
Lake Culpeper is about 24 miles from Shenandoah National Park. 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 Shenandoah →More lakes in Virginia
Other Lakes in Virginia
Eutrophic Lakes in Virginia
Where this data comes from
239 measurements from 2 monitoring stations, 2014–2022. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
21VASWCB239 samples · 2014–2022
Analytical methods
- Tyler, John. 1968. The secchi disk, Limnology and Oceanograpy, 13(1):1-6.
- Total Phosphorus After Block Digestion
- 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