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LakeQuality

Maple Lake

Cook County, Illinois60 acresView mapDirections

NR
Not rated

Not enough samples to grade — no nutrient or algae measurement meets the evidence bar (at least 3 samples within 10 years). No letter yet. Here is what we do have.

Water temp
~73°F
Typical for Aug · EPA WQP
Clarity
No reading
No sample
Max depth
~45 ft est.
GLOBathy model
Level
No reading
No gauge
Trend
No reading
Not enough history
  • Impaired · Algal growth
  • 45 ft max depth
  • Public access
  • Limited data

Maple Lake in Cook County, Illinois is not rated for water quality — its monitoring record does not meet the evidence bar. Surface area: 60 acres.

Typical in August
73°F
Max depth
~45 ft est.
Area
60 acres
Public access
Yes
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Stays near Maple Lake

Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Maple Lake in Cook County, Illinois — 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.

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Watch Maple Lake’s letter

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Why Maple Lake has no grade

We grade a lake only when the monitoring record supports a letter: at least three phosphorus or chlorophyll-a samples in the last ten years, scored against EPA National Lakes Assessment thresholds for this lake’s ecoregion. For Maple Lake, no nutrient or algae measurement meets the evidence bar (at least 3 samples within 10 years).

Not Rated is not an F. It is EPA Integrated Reporting Category 3 — insufficient information. The water here may be excellent or poor; nobody has measured enough of it to say. Everything below that has been measured is still reported on this page.

Sampling is run by Illinois EPA and volunteer programs, and published through the EPA Water Quality Portal. Read the full grading methodology.

Maple Lake is a 60-acre lake in Cook County, Illinois with an estimated average depth of about 45 feet. Limited fish-species data available. Public access is available.

Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, Illinois EPA, last sampled 2022-03-23. Grade methodology: LakeQuality methodology.

Swimming Safety

Not rated

Limited data

The letter is not a swimming clearance. Maple Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for algal growth, noxious aquatic plants, nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen), turbidity. Check local advisories before you swim.

Compare the safest swimming lakes near Chicago

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Water quality measurements for Maple Lake

These readings exist but are not enough for an A–F grade — see why.

No clarity data.

MetricValueGrade
Water Clarity (Secchi Depth)No recent samples
PhosphorusNo recent samples
Chlorophyll-a (Algae)No recent samples

Water Temperature

Maple Lake typically sits around 73°F at the surface in August. Summer average is about 72°F. Usually warmest in Jul (about 75°F) and coldest in May (about 57°F). These are typical values by month — not a live reading.

Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
57°
Jun
67°
Jul
75°
Aug
73°
Sep
Oct
60°
Nov
Dec

Typical surface water temperature by month, from 137 field readings (20132022) via the EPA Water Quality Portal. See the full Maple Lake water temperature breakdown →

Lake Details

CharacteristicValue
Maximum Depth~45 ft est.
Average Depth~14 ft est.
Surface Area60 acres
Public AccessYes

Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Illinois has not published bathymetry for Maple Lake.

Lake Size & Watershed

Watershed (drainage) area
0 sq mi
Shoreline
1.2 mi
Elevation
656 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.

Fishing Maple Lake

Reservoir Info (USACE NID)

Maple Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Maple Lake Dam (completed 1918), built primarily for recreation on the TRIB DES PLAINES RIVER; earth-type dam, 25 ft tall and 110 ft long.

Surface area
60 ac
Normal storage
412 ac-ft
Max storage
765 ac-ft
Drainage area
0.6 sq mi
Hazard class
Significant
Owner
FOREST PRESERVE DISTRICT OF COOK COUNTY

Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID IL00878 · Operator website

EPA Impairment Status

Maple Lake is officially listed as impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) in the 2024 EPA reporting cycle (IR category 5).

Causes of impairment

Algal growthNoxious aquatic plantsNutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen)Turbidity

Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit IL_RHZF · Official waterbody report · Matched by proximity (1.05 km)

Regulated Pollution Sources Nearby

3 EPA-permitted facilities operate within about 5 miles of Maple Lake under Clean Water Act (NPDES) discharge permits, including 1 classified by the EPA as major discharger. 2 facilities have a reported Clean Water Act violation in the past three years.

  • Flagg Creek Wrd - Mcelwain Stp
    Burr Ridge · 3.6 mi away · NPDES IL0022586
    MajorRecent violation
  • Combined Sewer Overflows
    Western Springs · 2.6 mi away · NPDES IL0045039
    Recent violation
  • Ashland, Llc
    Dublin · 1.8 mi away · NPDES IL0064408

Facilities permitted to discharge under the Clean Water Act within ~5 miles; proximity does not by itself mean a facility affects this lake. Source: EPA ECHO (ICIS-NPDES), as of 2026-07.

Graded lakes near Maple Lake

Maple Lake has no grade, but these lakes within a short drive do.

Nearby Lakes in Cook County

Frequently asked questions about Maple Lake

Where is Maple Lake?

Maple Lake is a lake in Cook County, Illinois. LakeQuality has not rated this lake (UNRATED) — no nutrient or algae measurement meets the evidence bar (at least 3 samples within 10 years).

What is the water quality grade for Maple Lake?

Maple Lake in Cook County, Illinois is not rated for water quality — its monitoring record does not meet the evidence bar. Surface area: 60 acres.

Is Maple Lake safe to swim in?

The letter is not a swimming clearance. Maple Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for algal growth, noxious aquatic plants, nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen), turbidity. Check local advisories before you swim.

What is the water temperature of Maple Lake?

Maple Lake typically sits around 73°F at the surface in August, from 137 EPA Water Quality Portal field readings (2013–2022). That is a typical value for the month, not a live reading.

How deep is Maple Lake?

No published bathymetric survey covers Maple Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 45 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 60 acres.

Where this data comes from

1 measurement from 1 monitoring station, 2022. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.

Collected and reported by

  • USGS Illinois Water Science CenterUSGS-IL1 sample · 2022

Analytical methods

  • Secchi disk method
Monitoring station identifiers (1)

Grade thresholds from the EPA National Lakes Assessment (EPA 841-R-24-006, Table 6-3), applied by ecoregion. See how grades are calculated and data sources.

Other records on this page

Impairment status from EPA ATTAINS 303(d) database

Regulated discharger data from EPA ECHO (ICIS-NPDES)

Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)