Maidstone Lake
Essex County, Vermont800 acresView mapDirections
Vermont DEC publishes the water-quality measurements for Maidstone Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Oligotrophic
- 57 ft max depth
- Public access
Maidstone Lake in Essex County, Vermont has water-quality measurements published by Vermont DEC, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 28.5 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 7.2 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 1.5 µg/L. Surface area: 800 acres.
Maidstone Lake is a 800-acre cold, clear oligotrophic lake in Essex County, Vermont with an estimated average depth of about 57 feet. Water clarity is declining over recent sampling years. Limited fish-species data available. Public access is available with 1 public boat landing. Compared to the 8 other monitored lakes in Essex County, Maidstone Lake ranks #1 for water quality.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, VT DEC, last sampled 2025-08-19. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
What Maidstone Lake is good for
From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.
- Clear water28.5 ft of visibility
- Boat launch1 documented ramp
Swimming conditions
Readings onlyLow algae
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 Maidstone Lake is safe to swim in today is a call for the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Maidstone Lake
These are the measurements Vermont DEC publishes for Maidstone Lake, shown as reported. The condition class beside each reading is the EPA National Lakes Assessment class for this lake’s ecoregion.
Crystal clear, you can see 28.5 ft down. Phosphorus 7.2 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 1.5 µg/L. TSI 32.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 28.5ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | 7.2µg/L | Good GoodFairPoor |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 1.5µg/L | Good GoodFairPoor |
| Trophic state (TSI)Carlson's 0–100 index of how much algae a lake can support, from clarity, phosphorus and chlorophyll-a. | 32 | Oligotrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
Low nutrients, clear water. No reading is a swimming clearance.
Ask about Maidstone Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~57 ft est.
Surface area
800 acres
Public access
Yes
Listed by Vermont DEC
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Vermont has not published bathymetry for Maidstone Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
5 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
5.5 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
1,299 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
- Maidstone LakePublic
Named access points in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory, within about 3 miles. More lakes with boat ramps
Stays via Stay22
Stays near Maidstone Lake
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Maidstone Lake in Essex County, Vermont — 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 Maidstone Lake
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Fishing Maidstone Lake
Water Quality Trend: Stable
Based on 6 years of monitoring (2020–2025).
Water clarity
Worsening6 years
Phosphorus
Improving-0.38 µg/L/yr6 years
Chlorophyll-a
Stable+0.01 µg/L/yr6 years
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Maidstone Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Maidstone Lake (completed 1931), built primarily for recreation on the Maidstone Brook; concrete-type dam, 12 ft tall and 180 ft long.
- Surface area
- 800 ac
- Normal storage
- 0 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 4,500 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 5 sq mi
- Hazard class
- Low
- Owner
- STATE OF VERMONT - DFW
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID VT00341 · Operator website
Nearby Lakes in Essex County
Frequently asked questions about Maidstone Lake
Where is Maidstone Lake?
- Maidstone Lake is a lake in Essex County, Vermont. Its water-quality measurements are published by Vermont DEC and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Maidstone Lake?
- Maidstone Lake in Essex County, Vermont has water-quality measurements published by Vermont DEC, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 28.5 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 7.2 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 1.5 µg/L. Surface area: 800 acres.
Is Maidstone Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Maidstone Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Maidstone Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 57 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 800 acres.
Are there boat ramps on Maidstone Lake?
- Maidstone Lake has 1 documented boat landing in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory. Named access points include Maidstone Lake. Public access is listed as yes.
Can I fish at Maidstone Lake?
- Maidstone Lake 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 Vermont's fish and wildlife agency, so check its current regulations before you go.
Explore Maidstone Lake across LakeQuality
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Where this data comes from
246 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2020–2025. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- Vermont Dept of Environmental Conservation
1VTDECWQ246 samples · 2020–2025
Analytical methods
- EPA approved Alternate Test Procedure for 4500 P H. Has a 28 day hold without acid preservation.
- 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)
Named boat-access points from the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory