Rural Retreat Lake
Wythe County, Virginia80 acresView mapDirections
Virginia DEQ publishes the water-quality measurements for Rural Retreat Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Eutrophic
- 23 ft max depth
- Public access
Rural Retreat Lake in Wythe County, Virginia has water-quality measurements published by Virginia DEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 5.2 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 25 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 9.1 µg/L. Surface area: 79.5 acres.
Rural Retreat Lake is a 80-acre productive, nutrient-rich eutrophic lake in Wythe County, Virginia with an estimated average depth of about 23 feet. Water clarity is declining over recent sampling years. Limited fish-species data available. Public access is available.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, Virginia DEQ, last sampled 2024-10-23. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Swimming conditions
Readings onlyModerate algae
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 Rural Retreat Lake is safe to swim in today is a call for the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Rural Retreat Lake
These are the measurements Virginia DEQ publishes for Rural Retreat Lake, shown as reported. The condition class beside each reading is the EPA National Lakes Assessment class for this lake’s ecoregion.
Murky, only visible to about 5.2 ft. Phosphorus 25 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 9.1 µg/L. TSI 52.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 5.2ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | 25µg/L | Fair GoodFairPoor |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 9.1µg/L | Fair GoodFairPoor |
| Trophic state (TSI)Carlson's 0–100 index of how much algae a lake can support, from clarity, phosphorus and chlorophyll-a. | 52 | Eutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity
Ask about Rural Retreat Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~23 ft est.
Surface area
80 acres
Public access
Yes
Listed by Virginia DEQ
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Virginia has not published bathymetry for Rural Retreat Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
6 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
2.8 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
2,510 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 Rural Retreat Lake
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Rural Retreat Lake in Wythe County, Virginia — 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 Rural Retreat Lake
Prices for Oct 30–Nov 1, 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 Virginia’s top lakes →
Follow Rural Retreat Lake’s readings
Email me when new measurements post for this lake. Updates stay free.
Or email
Fishing Rural Retreat Lake
Water quality readings over time
3 seasons of samples on record (2017–2024). Calling a direction takes at least 4 years of the same measurement.
Water clarity
Worsening3 years
Phosphorus
Improving-1.69 µg/L/yr3 years
Chlorophyll-a
Stable-0.14 µg/L/yr3 years
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Rural Retreat Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Rural Retreat Dam, built primarily for recreation on the South Fork Reed Creek; earth-type dam, 44 ft tall and 595 ft long.
- Surface area
- 79.5 ac
- Normal storage
- 1,250 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 2,440 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 3.34 sq mi
- Hazard class
- High
- Owner
- Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID VA197001 · Operator website
Nearby Lakes in Wythe County
Frequently asked questions about Rural Retreat Lake
Where is Rural Retreat Lake?
- Rural Retreat Lake is a lake in Wythe County, Virginia. Its water-quality measurements are published by Virginia DEQ and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Rural Retreat Lake?
- Rural Retreat Lake in Wythe County, Virginia has water-quality measurements published by Virginia DEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 5.2 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 25 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 9.1 µg/L. Surface area: 79.5 acres.
Is Rural Retreat Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Rural Retreat Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Rural Retreat Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 23 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 79.5 acres.
Can I fish at Rural Retreat Lake?
- Public access to Rural Retreat Lake is listed as yes on the lake record. Seasons, size and bag limits, and whether you need a license are set by Virginia's fish and wildlife agency, so check its current regulations before you go.
Explore Rural Retreat Lake across LakeQuality
More lakes in Virginia
Other Lakes in Virginia
Eutrophic Lakes in Virginia
Where this data comes from
80 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2017–2024. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
21VASWCB80 samples · 2017–2024
Analytical methods
- Tyler, John. 1968. The secchi disk, Limnology and Oceanograpy, 13(1):1-6.
- Total Phosphorus After Block Digestion
- 445.0 ~ EPA; Chlorophyll and Pheophytin in Algae by Fluorescence
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)