Lake Wilson
Wilson County, North Carolina81 acresView mapDirections
NC DEQ publishes the water-quality measurements for Lake Wilson. Here is what has been measured.
- Hypereutrophic
- 18 ft max depth
Lake Wilson in Wilson County, North Carolina has water-quality measurements published by NC DEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 2.1 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 100 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 43.5 µg/L. Surface area: 81.2 acres.
Lake Wilson is a 81-acre highly nutrient-loaded hypereutrophic lake in Wilson County, North Carolina with an estimated average depth of about 18 feet. Compared to the 3 other monitored lakes in Wilson County, Lake Wilson ranks #4 for water quality.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, NCDEQ, last sampled 2025-09-10. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
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 Wilson 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 Wilson
These are the measurements NC DEQ publishes for Lake Wilson, 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 2.1 ft of visibility. Phosphorus 100 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 43.5 µg/L. TSI 68.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 2.1ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | 100µg/L | Poor GoodFairPoor |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 43.5µg/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. | 68 | Hypereutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
Very high nutrients, dense algae, poor clarity
Ask about Lake Wilson
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~18 ft est.
Surface area
81 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 Wilson.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
43 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
1.5 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
121 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 Wilson
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Lake Wilson in Wilson 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 Wilson are listed below.
Top-rated places to stay near Lake Wilson
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 Wilson
Water quality readings over time
2 seasons of samples on record (2020–2025). Calling a direction takes at least 4 years of the same measurement.
Phosphorus
Stable0 µg/L/yr2 years
Chlorophyll-a
Stable+0.6 µg/L/yr2 years
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Lake Wilson is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Lake Wilson Dam (completed 1960), built primarily for water supply on the Toisnot Swamp; earth-type dam, 20 ft tall and 431 ft long.
- Surface area
- 81.2 ac
- Normal storage
- 487 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 998 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 39.94 sq mi
- Hazard class
- High
- Owner
- City of Wilson
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID NC00894 · Operator website
Nearby Lakes in Wilson County
Frequently asked questions about Lake Wilson
Where is Lake Wilson?
- Lake Wilson is a lake in Wilson 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 Wilson?
- Lake Wilson in Wilson County, North Carolina has water-quality measurements published by NC DEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 2.1 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 100 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 43.5 µg/L. Surface area: 81.2 acres.
Is Lake Wilson safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Lake Wilson?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Lake Wilson, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 18 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 81.2 acres.
Explore Lake Wilson across LakeQuality
More lakes in North Carolina
Other Lakes in North Carolina
Hypereutrophic Lakes in North Carolina
Where this data comes from
41 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2020–2025. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- North Carolina Dept of Environmental Quality NCDEQ-DWR WQX
21NC03WQ41 samples · 2020–2025
Analytical methods
- WSSSOP
- Phosphorus by Colorimetry
- 445.0 ~ EPA; Chlorophyll and Pheophytin in Algae by Fluorescence
- 2130 B ~ Nephelometric Method
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
Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)