About Sebago Lake
FAQs
Where is Sebago Lake?
The lake is located a 30-minute drive west of Portland, Maine, and is bordered by the towns of Casco, Naples, Raymond, Sebago, Standish, and Windham.
How deep is Sebago Lake?
The lake is up to 316 feet deep with an average depth of 101 feet. It is the second deepest lake in Maine.
How big is Sebago Lake?
The lake covers about 45 square miles and almost 29,000 acres. It is 14 miles long with roughly 105 miles of shoreline.
How clear is Sebago Lake?
Sebago Lake’s average transparency is 10.5 meters, meaning you can typically see down 34.4 feet, ranking it among the top 1% of Maine lakes for clarity!
How many Mainers count on Sebago Lake for their drinking water?
219,000 people or 1/6th of Maine’s population.
What kind of fish can I catch at Sebago Lake?
Anglers often fish for and catch landlocked salmon, smelt, Northern pike, lake trout, brook trout, brown trout, smallmouth bass, and largemouth bass.
What should I expect at Sebago Lake State Park?
The park encompasses 1,400 acres of Maine-owned land and is open year-round. It includes public boat launches, a campground, beaches, forested land, and trails surrounding the lake.
What is the Sebago to Sea Trail?
The Sebago to Sea Trail is a collective effort to connect Sebago Lake to Casco Bay via a publicly accessible 28-mile path.
Things to Do Around Sebago Lake
- Fishing
- Swimming
- Boating
- Kayaking
- Canoeing
- Paddle boarding
- Hiking
- Mountain biking
- Camping
- Picnicking
History of Sebago Lake Drinking Water
Sebago Lake became Portland’s water supply on Thanksgiving Day 1869 when the first water line from the lake to Portland was completed. To keep up with the growth of Portland and surrounding towns, a second intake was built in 1925. In 1952, a new intake was built to replace the first one. Portland Water District started disinfecting the water with chlorine in 1914 to remove contaminants created by wildlife and human activity. In 1994, they built the present treatment plant, which uses ozone and chlorine to treat the water.
Thanks to the forests that naturally filter the water that flows into the lake, the Portland Water District has a waiver from filtration from the EPA, meaning the water does not have to be filtered before treatment, a designation granted to only about 50 water supplies in the country. This pristine natural resource provides the drinking water for 16% of Maine’s population—219,000 people in 11 towns.