Prospect Lake
El Paso County, Colorado51 acresView mapDirections
Colorado WQCD publishes the water-quality measurements for Prospect Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Hypereutrophic
- 28 ft max depth
- Limited data
Prospect Lake in El Paso County, Colorado has water-quality measurements published by Colorado WQCD, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 1.6 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 230 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 80.5 µg/L. Surface area: 51 acres.
Prospect Lake is a 51-acre highly nutrient-loaded hypereutrophic lake in El Paso County, Colorado with an estimated average depth of about 28 feet. Compared to the 1 other monitored lakes in El Paso County, Prospect Lake ranks #2 for water quality.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, CDPHE, last sampled 2020-09-17. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Prospect Lake covers about 51 acres in El Paso County. If you are planning to stay, you can search lake houses and cabins around Prospect Lake on Vrbo, or look for a hotel room near the lake on Booking.com or Expedia.
Swimming conditions
Readings onlyLimited data
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 Prospect Lake is safe to swim in today is a call for the Water Quality Control Division of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Prospect Lake
These are the measurements Colorado WQCD publishes for Prospect 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 1.6 ft of visibility. Phosphorus 230 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 80.5 µg/L. TSI 75.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 1.6ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | 230µg/L | Poor GoodFairPoor |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 80.5µg/L | Poor GoodFairPoor |
| Trophic state (TSI)Carlson's 0–100 index of how much algae a lake can support, from clarity, phosphorus and chlorophyll-a. | 75 | Hypereutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
Very high nutrients, dense algae, poor clarity
Ask about Prospect Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~28 ft est.
Surface area
51 acres
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Colorado has not published bathymetry for Prospect Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
0 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
1.1 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
6,083 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 Prospect Lake
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Prospect Lake in El Paso County, Colorado — 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. The water-quality readings cover nutrients and algae, not lodging. Cabins and rentals around Prospect Lake are listed below.
Top-rated places to stay near Prospect 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.
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Fishing Prospect Lake
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Prospect Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Prospect Lake (completed 1954), built primarily for recreation on the Fountain Creek-Os; earth-type dam, 32 ft tall and 690 ft long.
- Surface area
- 51 ac
- Normal storage
- 512 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 615 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 0 sq mi
- Hazard class
- Significant
- Owner
- CITY OF COLORADO SPRINGS PARKS AND RECREATION
All listed purposes: Recreation;Irrigation.
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID CO01142 · Operator website
Nearby Lakes in El Paso County
Frequently asked questions about Prospect Lake
Where is Prospect Lake?
- Prospect Lake is a lake in El Paso County, Colorado. Its water-quality measurements are published by Colorado WQCD and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Prospect Lake?
- Prospect Lake in El Paso County, Colorado has water-quality measurements published by Colorado WQCD, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 1.6 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 230 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 80.5 µg/L. Surface area: 51 acres.
Is Prospect Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Prospect Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Prospect Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 28 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 51 acres.
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Where this data comes from
12 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2020. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- Colorado Dept. of Public Health & Environment-WQCD
21COL001_WQX12 samples · 2020
Analytical methods
- Secchi disk depth measurement
- Phosphorus by Colorimetry
- 10200 H ~ Chlorophyll a-b-c Determination
- Nitrogen in Water by Pyrolysis Detection
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)