Sunset Lake
Wake County, North Carolina98 acresView mapDirections
NC DEQ publishes the water-quality measurements for Sunset Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Hypereutrophic
- 25 ft max depth
- Limited data
Ask about Sunset Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Sunset Lake in Wake County, North Carolina has water-quality measurements published by NC DEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 1.8 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 95 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 72 µg/L. Surface area: 98.1 acres.
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Stays near Sunset Lake
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Sunset Lake in Wake County, North Carolina — 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 Sunset Lake are listed below.
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Sunset Lake is a 98-acre highly nutrient-loaded hypereutrophic lake in Wake County, North Carolina with an estimated average depth of about 25 feet. Overall water quality is declining over recent sampling years. Compared to the 13 other monitored lakes in Wake County, Sunset Lake ranks #14 for water quality.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, NCDEQ, last sampled 2025-09-05. Grade methodology: LakeQuality methodology.
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 Sunset Lake is safe to swim in today is a call for the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Sunset Lake
These are the measurements NC DEQ publishes for Sunset 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 1.8 ft of visibility. Phosphorus 95 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 72 µg/L. TSI 70.
| Metric | Value | EPA condition class |
|---|---|---|
| Water Clarity (Secchi Depth) | 1.8 ft | Measured, not scored |
| Phosphorus | 95 µg/L | Poor |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 72 µg/L | Poor |
| Trophic State Index (TSI) | 70 | Hypereutrophic |
Very high nutrients, dense algae, poor clarity
Lake Details
| Characteristic | Value |
|---|---|
| Maximum Depth | ~25 ft est. |
| Average Depth | ~13 ft est. |
| Surface Area | 98 acres |
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. North Carolina has not published bathymetry for Sunset Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
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.
Fishing Sunset Lake
Water Quality Trend: ↓ Declining
Based on 2 years of monitoring data (2020-2025).
| Metric | Trend | Change/Year | Years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phosphorus | ↓ Declining | +4 µg/L/yr | 2 |
| Chlorophyll-a | ↓ Declining | +6 µg/L/yr | 2 |
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Sunset Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Sunset Lake Dam (completed 1923), built primarily for recreation on the Middle Creek; concrete-type dam, 25 ft tall and 364 ft long.
- Surface area
- 98.1 ac
- Normal storage
- 425 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 1,021 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 20.53 sq mi
- Hazard class
- High
- Owner
- Sunset Lake Homeowners Association of WC
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID NC00880 · Operator website
Nearby Lakes in Wake County
Frequently asked questions about Sunset Lake
Where is Sunset Lake?
- Sunset Lake is a lake in Wake County, North Carolina. Its water-quality measurements are published by NC DEQ and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Sunset Lake?
- Sunset Lake in Wake County, North Carolina has water-quality measurements published by NC DEQ, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 1.8 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 95 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 72 µg/L. Surface area: 98.1 acres.
Is Sunset Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Sunset Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Sunset Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 25 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 98.1 acres.
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Where this data comes from
20 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2025. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- North Carolina Dept of Environmental Quality NCDEQ-DWR WQX
21NC03WQ20 samples · 2025
Analytical methods
- WSSSOP
- Phosphorus by Colorimetry
- 445.0 ~ EPA; Chlorophyll and Pheophytin in Algae by Fluorescence
- 2130 B ~ Nephelometric 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.
Other records on this page
Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)