Lake Townsend
Guilford County, North Carolina1,635 acresView mapDirections
NC DEQ publishes the water-quality measurements for Lake Townsend. Here is what has been measured.
- Eutrophic
- 36 ft max depth
- Limited data
Lake Townsend in Guilford County, North Carolina has water-quality measurements published by NC DEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 3.5 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 30 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 28 µg/L. Surface area: 1635 acres.
Lake Townsend is a 1,635-acre productive, nutrient-rich eutrophic lake in Guilford County, North Carolina with an estimated average depth of about 36 feet. Compared to the 4 other monitored lakes in Guilford County, Lake Townsend ranks #4 for water quality.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, NCDEQ, last sampled 2023-09-14. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
What Lake Townsend is good for
From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.
- Big water1,635 acres
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 Lake Townsend 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 Lake Townsend
These are the measurements NC DEQ publishes for Lake Townsend, 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 3.5 ft. Phosphorus 30 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 28 µg/L. TSI 58.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 3.5ft | 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) | 28µg/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. | 58 | Eutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity
Ask about Lake Townsend
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~36 ft est.
Surface area
1,635 acres
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 Lake Townsend.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
106 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
19 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
725 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 Lake Townsend
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Lake Townsend in Guilford 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. The water-quality readings cover nutrients and algae, not lodging. Cabins and rentals around Lake Townsend are listed below.
Top-rated places to stay near Lake Townsend
Prices for Oct 23–25, 4 adults. Change dates on the map below.
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Planning a whole trip? See where to stay at North Carolina’s top lakes →
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Fishing Lake Townsend
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Lake Townsend is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Lake Townsend Dam (completed 1969), built primarily for recreation on the Reedy Fork Creek; earth-type dam, 41 ft tall and 1,420 ft long.
- Surface area
- 1,635 ac
- Normal storage
- 20,274 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 38,285 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 105 sq mi
- Hazard class
- High
- Owner
- City of Greensboro Water Resources
All listed purposes: Recreation;Water Supply.
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID NC00687 · Operator website
Nearby Lakes in Guilford County
Frequently asked questions about Lake Townsend
Where is Lake Townsend?
- Lake Townsend is a lake in Guilford 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 Lake Townsend?
- Lake Townsend in Guilford County, North Carolina has water-quality measurements published by NC DEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 3.5 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 30 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 28 µg/L. Surface area: 1635 acres.
Is Lake Townsend safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Lake Townsend?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Lake Townsend, 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 1635 acres.
Explore Lake Townsend across LakeQuality
More lakes in North Carolina
Other Lakes in North Carolina
Eutrophic Lakes in North Carolina
Where this data comes from
60 measurements from 3 monitoring stations, 2023. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- North Carolina Dept of Environmental Quality NCDEQ-DWR WQX
21NC03WQ60 samples · 2023
Analytical methods
- WSSSOP
- Phosphorus by Colorimetry
- 445.0 ~ EPA; Chlorophyll and Pheophytin in Algae by Fluorescence
- 2130 B ~ Nephelometric Method
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
Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)