Papoose Lake
Cook County, IllinoisView mapDirections
No nutrient or algae sampling on record from Illinois EPA for this lake.
- Limited data
Papoose Lake in Cook County, Illinois has water-quality measurements published by Illinois EPA, shown here as reported.
Papoose Lake is a lake in Cook County, Illinois.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, Illinois EPA, last sampled 2022-05-10. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Swimming conditions
No readingLimited data
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Papoose Lake is safe to swim in today is a call for the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Papoose Lake
These are the measurements Illinois EPA publishes for Papoose Lake, shown as reported. The condition class beside each reading is the EPA National Lakes Assessment class for this lake’s ecoregion.
No clarity data.
Ask about Papoose Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Stays via Stay22
Stays near Papoose Lake
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Papoose 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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Fishing Papoose Lake
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Papoose Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Papoose Lake Dam (completed 1956), built primarily for recreation on the TRIB MILL CREEK; earth-type dam, 12 ft tall and 750 ft long.
- Normal storage
- 48 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 143 ac-ft
- Hazard class
- Significant
- Owner
- FOREST PRESERVE DISTRICT OF COOK COUNTY
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID IL00867 · Operator website
Nearby Lakes in Cook County
Frequently asked questions about Papoose Lake
Where is Papoose Lake?
- Papoose Lake is a lake in Cook County, Illinois. Its water-quality measurements are published by Illinois EPA and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Papoose Lake?
- Papoose Lake in Cook County, Illinois has water-quality measurements published by Illinois EPA, shown here as reported.
Is Papoose Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
Explore Papoose Lake across LakeQuality
Planning a trip around Indiana Dunes?
Papoose Lake is about 39 miles from Indiana Dunes National Park. Crowds there swing hard by season, so the month you pick changes both how busy the park is and what lodging costs.
Best time to visit Indiana Dunes →More lakes in Illinois
Other Lakes in Illinois
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 Center
USGS-IL1 sample · 2022
Analytical methods
- Secchi disk 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.