Lake Orange
Orange County, Virginia120 acresView mapDirections
Virginia DEQ publishes the water-quality measurements for Lake Orange. Here is what has been measured.
- Eutrophic
- Impaired · pH / acidity
- 26 ft max depth
- Public access
Lake Orange in Orange County, Virginia has water-quality measurements published by Virginia DEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 3.9 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 30 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 14.4 µg/L. Surface area: 120 acres.
Lake Orange is a 120-acre productive, nutrient-rich eutrophic lake in Orange County, Virginia with an estimated average depth of about 26 feet. Phosphorus level is improving over recent sampling years. Limited fish-species data available. Public access is available with 1 public boat landing.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, Virginia DEQ, last sampled 2024-10-08. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
What Lake Orange is good for
From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.
- Boat launch1 documented ramp
Swimming conditions
Readings onlyElevated nutrients
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. Lake Orange is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for pH / acidity. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Lake Orange 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 Orange
These are the measurements Virginia DEQ publishes for Lake Orange, 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 3.9 ft. Phosphorus 30 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 14.4 µg/L. TSI 56.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 3.9ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | 30µg/L | Fair GoodFairPoor |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 14.4µg/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. | 56 | Eutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity
Ask about Lake Orange
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~26 ft est.
Surface area
120 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 Orange.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
4 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
2.5 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
390 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 OrangePublic
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 Orange
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Lake Orange in Orange 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 Orange are listed below.
Top-rated places to stay near Lake Orange
Prices for Oct 30–Nov 1, 4 adults. Change dates on the map below.
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Follow Lake Orange’s readings
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Fishing Lake Orange
Water Quality Trend: Stable
Based on 4 years of monitoring (2016–2024).
Water clarity
Stable4 years
Phosphorus
Improving-0.8 µg/L/yr4 years
Chlorophyll-a
Worsening+0.66 µg/L/yr4 years
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Lake Orange is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Lake Orange Dam, built primarily for recreation on the Clear Creek; earth-type dam, 44 ft tall and 980 ft long.
- Surface area
- 120 ac
- Normal storage
- 2,168 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 2,958 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 3.75 sq mi
- Hazard class
- High
- Owner
- Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID VA137002 · Operator website
EPA Impairment Status
Lake Orange 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.
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit VAN-F07L_CLC01A06 · Official waterbody report
Nearby Lakes in Orange County
Frequently asked questions about Lake Orange
Where is Lake Orange?
- Lake Orange is a lake in Orange 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 Orange?
- Lake Orange in Orange County, Virginia has water-quality measurements published by Virginia DEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 3.9 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 30 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 14.4 µg/L. Surface area: 120 acres.
Is Lake Orange safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Lake Orange is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for pH / acidity. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Lake Orange?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Lake Orange, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 26 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 120 acres.
Are there boat ramps on Lake Orange?
- Lake Orange has 1 documented boat landing in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory. Named access points include Lake Orange. Public access is listed as yes.
Can I fish at Lake Orange?
- Lake Orange 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 Orange across LakeQuality
Planning a trip around Shenandoah?
Lake Orange is about 31 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
202 measurements from 3 monitoring stations, 2016–2024. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
21VASWCB202 samples · 2016–2024
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
Monitoring station identifiers (3)
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
Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)
Named boat-access points from the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory