Orange Lake
Orange County, New YorkView mapDirections
NY DEC publishes the water-quality measurements for Orange Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Impaired · Nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen)
- 49 ft max depth
- Limited data
Orange Lake in Orange County, New York has water-quality measurements published by NY DEC, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 2.4 ft visibility.
Orange Lake is a lake in Orange County, New York with an estimated average depth of about 49 feet.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, NYSDEC, last sampled 2020-09-08. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Vrbo is where to look for cabins and lake homes around Orange Lake, and Booking.com and Expedia search hotels near the lake for your dates.
Swimming conditions
No readingRecreation use not supported
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Orange Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen). Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Orange Lake is safe to swim in today is a call for the New York Department of Environmental Conservation and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Orange Lake
These are the measurements NY DEC publishes for Orange Lake, 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 2.4 ft of visibility. TSI 65.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 2.4ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | No reading 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. | 65 | Eutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity
Ask about Orange Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~49 ft est.
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. New York has not published bathymetry for Orange Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
2 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Surface area
390 acres
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
3.5 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
492 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 Orange Lake
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Orange Lake in Orange County, New York — 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 Orange Lake
Prices for Oct 23–25, 4 adults. Change dates on the map below.
Availability and prices from Stay22 partners (Booking.com, Vrbo, Expedia). We may earn a commission from bookings, at no extra cost to you.
Planning a whole trip? See where to stay at New York’s top lakes →
Follow Orange Lake’s readings
Email me when new measurements post for this lake. Updates stay free.
Or email
Fishing Orange Lake
EPA Impairment Status
Orange Lake is officially listed as impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) in the 2022 EPA reporting cycle (IR category 5).
Causes of impairment
Designated uses not supporting: Recreation.
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit NY1301-0008 · Official waterbody report
Regulated Pollution Sources Nearby
16 EPA-permitted facilities operate within about 5 miles of Orange Lake under Clean Water Act (NPDES) discharge permits, including 1 classified by the EPA as major discharger. 7 facilities have a reported Clean Water Act violation in the past three years.
- Walden (V) StpWalden · 4.8 mi away · NPDES NY0030490MajorRecent violation
- Chadwick Lake Water Filtration PltNewburgh · 2.1 mi away · NPDES NY0165921Recent violation
- The Polo ClubNewburgh · 2.2 mi away · NPDES NY0281522Recent violation
- Stewart Air National Guard BaseNewburgh · 3.2 mi away · NPDES NY0250457Recent violation
- Nob Hill Sd WwtpNewburgh · 4.1 mi away · NPDES NY0145599Recent violation
- Stewart AirportNewburgh · 4.2 mi away · NPDES NY0234915Recent violation
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.
Nearby Lakes in Orange County
Frequently asked questions about Orange Lake
Where is Orange Lake?
- Orange Lake is a lake in Orange County, New York. Its water-quality measurements are published by NY DEC and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Orange Lake?
- Orange Lake in Orange County, New York has water-quality measurements published by NY DEC, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 2.4 ft visibility.
Is Orange Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Orange Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen). Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Orange Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Orange Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 49 feet, but that is a modelled estimate derived from surrounding terrain rather than a measurement on the water, so treat it as approximate.
Explore Orange Lake across LakeQuality
More lakes in New York
Other Lakes in New York
Eutrophic Lakes in New York
Where this data comes from
6 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2020. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- North American Lake Management Society
NALMS6 samples · 2020
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
Impairment status from EPA ATTAINS 303(d) database
Regulated discharger data from EPA ECHO (ICIS-NPDES)
Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)