Woods Creek Lake
McHenry County, Illinois9 acresView mapDirections
Illinois EPA publishes the water-quality measurements for Woods Creek Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Eutrophic
- 36 ft max depth
- Limited data
Woods Creek Lake in McHenry County, Illinois has water-quality measurements published by Illinois EPA, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 3.9 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 52 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 19.4 µg/L. Surface area: 9.3 acres.
Woods Creek Lake is a 9-acre productive, nutrient-rich eutrophic lake in McHenry County, Illinois with an estimated average depth of about 36 feet. Compared to the 4 other monitored lakes in McHenry County, Woods Creek Lake ranks #2 for water quality.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, Illinois EPA, last sampled 2022-10-05. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
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 Woods Creek 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 Woods Creek Lake
These are the measurements Illinois EPA publishes for Woods Creek 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 3.9 ft. Phosphorus 52 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 19.4 µg/L. TSI 59.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 3.9ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | 52µg/L | Fair GoodFairPoor |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 19.4µg/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. | 59 | Eutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity
Ask about Woods Creek Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Water Temperature
Woods Creek Lake typically sits around 62°F at the surface in October. Summer average is about 69°F. Usually warmest in Jul (about 71°F) and coldest in May (about 57°F). These are typical values by month — not a live reading.
Column height runs from this lake’s coldest month (57°F) to its warmest (71°F).
Typical surface water temperature by month, from 93 field readings (2022–2022) via the EPA Water Quality Portal. See the full Woods Creek Lake water temperature breakdown →
Lake Details
Max depth
~36 ft est.
Surface area
9 acres
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Illinois has not published bathymetry for Woods Creek Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
10 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
2.1 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
827 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.
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Stays near Woods Creek Lake
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Fishing Woods Creek Lake
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Woods Creek Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Lake In The Hills Dam 1 (completed 1926), built primarily for recreation on the WOODS CREEK; earth-type dam, 40 ft tall and 780 ft long.
- Surface area
- 9.3 ac
- Normal storage
- 598 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 969 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 0.4 sq mi
- Hazard class
- High
- Owner
- VILLAGE OF LAKE IN THE HILLS
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID IL00568 · Operator website · Matched by proximity (0.51 km)
Regulated Pollution Sources Nearby
5 EPA-permitted facilities operate within about 5 miles of Woods Creek Lake under Clean Water Act (NPDES) discharge permits, including 4 classified by the EPA as major dischargers. 4 facilities have a reported Clean Water Act violation in the past three years.
- Lake In The Hills Sd StpLake In The Hills · 0.8 mi away · NPDES IL0021733MajorRecent violation
- Crystal Lake Wwtp #2, City OfCrystal Lake · 2 mi away · NPDES IL0028282MajorRecent violation
- Algonquin Wwtp, Village OfAlgonquin · 2.5 mi away · NPDES IL0023329MajorRecent violation
- Huntley East Wwtp, Village OfHuntley · 5 mi away · NPDES IL0029238MajorRecent violation
- Camp Algonquin StpAlgonquin · 2.9 mi away · NPDES IL0031917
Facilities permitted to discharge under the Clean Water Act within ~5 miles; proximity does not by itself mean a facility affects this lake. Source: EPA ECHO (ICIS-NPDES), as of 2026-07.
Nearby Lakes in McHenry County
Frequently asked questions about Woods Creek Lake
Where is Woods Creek Lake?
- Woods Creek Lake is a lake in McHenry County, Illinois. Its water-quality measurements are published by Illinois EPA and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Woods Creek Lake?
- Woods Creek Lake in McHenry County, Illinois has water-quality measurements published by Illinois EPA, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 3.9 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 52 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 19.4 µg/L. Surface area: 9.3 acres.
Is Woods Creek 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 Woods Creek Lake?
- Woods Creek Lake typically sits around 62°F at the surface in October, from 93 EPA Water Quality Portal field readings (2022–2022). That is a typical value for the month, not a live reading.
How deep is Woods Creek Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Woods Creek Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 36 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 9.3 acres.
Explore Woods Creek Lake across LakeQuality
3.8 mi away · cable-pulled, no boat wake
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Where this data comes from
44 measurements from 3 monitoring stations, 2022. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- illinois epa
IL_EPA_WQX44 samples · 2022
Analytical methods
- MEASURED IN FIELD
- Temperature
- Phosphorus by Colorimetry
- 10200 H 2 ~ Chlorophyll a-b-c Determination by spectrophotometer
Monitoring station identifiers (3)
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
Regulated discharger data from EPA ECHO (ICIS-NPDES)
Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)