Nichols Pond
Washington County, Vermont167 acresView mapDirections
Vermont DEC publishes the water-quality measurements for Nichols Pond. Here is what has been measured.
- 36 ft max depth
- Limited data
Nichols Pond in Washington County, Vermont has water-quality measurements published by Vermont DEC, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 23.3 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 8.6 µg/L. Surface area: 167 acres.
Nichols Pond is a 167-acre lake in Washington County, Vermont with an estimated average depth of about 36 feet. Overall water quality is declining over recent sampling years.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, VT DEC, last sampled 2025-08-29. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Nichols Pond covers about 170 acres in Washington County. Vrbo is where to look for cabins and lake homes around Nichols Pond, and Booking.com and Expedia search hotels near the lake for your dates.
What Nichols Pond is good for
From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.
- Clear water23.3 ft of visibility
Swimming conditions
No readingLimited data
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Nichols Pond 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 Nichols Pond
These are the measurements Vermont DEC publishes for Nichols Pond, 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 23.3 ft down. Phosphorus 8.6 µg/L. TSI 33.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 23.3ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | 8.6µg/L | Measured, not scored The nutrient that most limits algae growth in freshwater. More phosphorus, more algae potential. |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | No reading The green pigment in algae — a direct measure of how much algae is in the water. | |
| Trophic state (TSI)Carlson's 0–100 index of how much algae a lake can support, from clarity, phosphorus and chlorophyll-a. | 33 | Oligotrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
Low nutrients, clear water. No reading is a swimming clearance.
Ask about Nichols Pond
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~36 ft est.
Surface area
167 acres
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Vermont has not published bathymetry for Nichols Pond.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
5 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
2.2 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
1,129 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.
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Stays near Nichols Pond
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Nichols Pond in Washington 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 Nichols Pond
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Fishing Nichols Pond
Water Quality Trend: Worsening
Based on 6 years of monitoring (2020–2025).
Water clarity
Worsening6 years
Phosphorus
Worsening+5.1 µg/L/yr2 years
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Nichols Pond is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Nichols (completed 1900), built primarily for other on the Nichols Brook; concrete-type dam, 18 ft tall and 200 ft long.
- Surface area
- 167 ac
- Normal storage
- 0 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 2,841 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 4.56 sq mi
- Hazard class
- High
- Owner
- HARDWICK ELECTRIC DEPARTMENT
All listed purposes: Other;Recreation.
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID VT00184 · Operator website
Nearby Lakes in Washington County
Frequently asked questions about Nichols Pond
Where is Nichols Pond?
- Nichols Pond is a lake in Washington County, Vermont. Its water-quality measurements are published by Vermont DEC and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Nichols Pond?
- Nichols Pond in Washington County, Vermont has water-quality measurements published by Vermont DEC, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 23.3 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 8.6 µg/L. Surface area: 167 acres.
Is Nichols Pond safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Nichols Pond?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Nichols Pond, 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 167 acres.
Explore Nichols Pond across LakeQuality
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Where this data comes from
64 measurements from 2 monitoring stations, 2020–2025. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- Vermont Dept of Environmental Conservation
1VTDECWQ64 samples · 2020–2025
Analytical methods
- EPA approved Alternate Test Procedure for 4500 P H. Has a 28 day hold without acid preservation.
Monitoring station identifiers (2)
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)