Sugar Camp Lake
Oneida County, WisconsinView mapDirections
Wisconsin DNR publishes the water-quality measurements for Sugar Camp Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Oligotrophic
- 44 ft max depth
Sugar Camp Lake in Oneida County, Wisconsin has water-quality measurements published by Wisconsin DNR, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 16.5 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 10.3 µg/L.
Sugar Camp Lake is a cold, clear oligotrophic lake in Oneida County, Wisconsin with an estimated average depth of about 44 feet. Water clarity is declining over recent sampling years. Compared to the 66 other monitored lakes in Oneida County, Sugar Camp Lake ranks #5 for water quality.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, Wisconsin DNR Surface Water, last sampled 2025-07-03. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
What Sugar Camp Lake is good for
From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.
- Clear water16.5 ft of visibility
Swimming conditions
Readings onlyLow 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 Sugar Camp Lake is safe to swim in today is a call for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Sugar Camp Lake
These are the measurements Wisconsin DNR publishes for Sugar Camp Lake, 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 16.5 ft down. Phosphorus 10.3 µg/L. TSI 37.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 16.5ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | 10.3µg/L | Good GoodFairPoor |
| 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. | 37 | Oligotrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
Low nutrients, clear water. No reading is a swimming clearance.
Ask about Sugar Camp Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Water Temperature
Sugar Camp Lake typically sits around 58°F at the surface in October. Summer average is about 71°F. Usually warmest in Aug (about 74°F) and coldest in Oct (about 58°F). These are typical values by month — not a live reading.
Column height runs from this lake’s coldest month (58°F) to its warmest (74°F).
Typical surface water temperature by month, from 9 field readings (2024–2025) via the EPA Water Quality Portal. See the full Sugar Camp Lake water temperature breakdown →
Blue-Green Algae (Cyanobacteria)
There’s no recent EPA CyAN cyanobacteria estimate for Sugar Camp Lake — clouds, ice, or an off-season gap in coverage. The most recent reading was high (751,623 cells/mL) on November 17, 2025.
Blue-green algae can appear and clear within days, so check your state’s current advisory before swimming. EPA CyAN ↗
Lake Details
Max depth
~44 ft est.
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Wisconsin has not published bathymetry for Sugar Camp Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
4 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Surface area
494 acres
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
5.4 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
1,654 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 Sugar Camp Lake
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Sugar Camp Lake in Oneida County, Wisconsin — 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 Sugar Camp Lake
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Follow Sugar Camp Lake’s readings
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Fishing Sugar Camp Lake
Water Quality Trend: Stable
Based on 7 years of monitoring (2020–2026).
Water clarity
Worsening6 years
Phosphorus
Improving-0.4 µg/L/yr7 years
Nearby Lakes in Oneida County
Frequently asked questions about Sugar Camp Lake
Where is Sugar Camp Lake?
- Sugar Camp Lake is a lake in Oneida County, Wisconsin. Its water-quality measurements are published by Wisconsin DNR and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Sugar Camp Lake?
- Sugar Camp Lake in Oneida County, Wisconsin has water-quality measurements published by Wisconsin DNR, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 16.5 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 10.3 µg/L.
Is Sugar Camp Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
What is the water temperature of Sugar Camp Lake?
- Sugar Camp Lake typically sits around 58°F at the surface in October, from 9 EPA Water Quality Portal field readings (2024–2025). That is a typical value for the month, not a live reading.
How deep is Sugar Camp Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Sugar Camp Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 44 feet, but that is a modelled estimate derived from surrounding terrain rather than a measurement on the water, so treat it as approximate.
Does Sugar Camp Lake have blue-green algae?
- There is no recent EPA CyAN cyanobacteria estimate for Sugar Camp Lake (clouds, ice, or an off-season gap). The most recent reading was high (751,623 cells/mL). Blue-green algae can appear and clear within days, so check Wisconsin's current advisory before swimming.
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Where this data comes from
97 measurements from 2 monitoring stations, 2020–2025. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
WIDNR_WQX97 samples · 2020–2025
Analytical methods
- Phosphorus by Colorimetry
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)