Lake Atlas
Atlas Free and Atlas Paid.
Side by side
What each level shows.
Free stays static HTML so search engines can find it, refreshed quarterly. Paid sits behind a login and is not indexed.
| Atlas Free | Atlas Paid | |
|---|---|---|
| Access | Anyone, no account | Lake Pulse account + Atlas Paid purchase |
| Lakes | One page per lake | Search and open any lake |
| Lake facts | Size, location, HUC-8/12, history | Same |
| Water quality values | Latest value per key parameter, dated, sourced | Every public value on record, full time series, with source, method, units, MDL/RL where given |
| Can we swim? / Can we eat the fish? | Status line citing the source | Full record: advisories, dates, agency documents |
| Bloom and bacteria | Shows a public record exists | Dates, locations, and values from the public record |
| Impairment listing | Listed or not, with cause | Listing history, TMDL documents |
| Data inventory | Count by category and years covered (e.g., “Secchi: 14 years · Phosphorus: 3 reports · eDNA: none”) | Same, each line clickable to the data |
| Invasive species, stocking, treatment permits | Not shown | Public records where they exist (USGS NAS, state stocking, aquatic plant permits) |
| Satellite bloom-duration history | Not shown | Season-by-season duration, where available |
| Export | Not shown | CSV and PDF, every value cited |
| Saved lakes and update alerts | Not shown | Saved lists; email when a quarterly refresh adds data |
| Search | Name and map | Name, map, plus filters by state, county, HUC, acreage, data available. Results never sorted by quality |
Pricing
Two ways to pay — or bundled in PRO.
Prices below are illustrative and may change before Atlas Paid opens.
Lake Unlock
$49 per lake
One lake's full public record, 12 months
Fits: Real estate buyers and agents, a consultant taking one call
Atlas Pass
$495/year
Up to 25 lake unlocks a year, saved lists, alerts, export
Fits: Consultants, lake management firms, appraisers, insurers
Included in PRO
In PRO fee
Atlas Pass bundled
Fits: Multi-lake managers
Who buys: consultants scoping a new lake; lake management companies checking pH, alkalinity, residence time, or protected species before a treatment; real estate buyers, sellers, and agents; insurers and lenders; researchers and students.
Distinct from LotCheck. Atlas Paid is the lake's public record. LotCheck is a confidential, parcel-level satellite and aerial report for one lot. Atlas Paid can link to LotCheck for anyone buying on the lake.
The rules
What doesn't change, Free or Paid.
- Public-domain data only. A lake's private Lake Pulse data never appears in Atlas, Free or Paid.
- Never rank, score, or compare lakes. Paid search filters and sorts by name, distance, or acreage, never by condition.
- Every value is dated and sourced. Old data shown with its date beats no data.
- State agencies, universities, and federal sources are credited on every page.
- Atlas Free stays static, with no live data. Atlas Paid is a logged-in view and can be dynamic.
- Atlas is not the lake's portal. Paid pages carry the same “public record, not this lake's Lake Pulse portal” line as Free.
Lake Atlas is a compilation of public records. It is not an inspection, a disclosure, or a safety determination. Always follow current local agency advisories before swimming or eating fish.
Best place to start
Download the Lake Pulse app
The fastest way in: find your lake, see what's already known about it, and decide what to monitor next — free, in about two minutes.
See activity and status of the lake you care about
Your dock, your cove, your landing — know what's happening in the part of the lake you actually use.
Receive alerts
Get notified about conditions, closures, projects, and activity from your lake and your neighbors.
Contribute with higher tiers of paid subscription
Add field notes, photos, and measurements. Higher tiers unlock tools that turn your observations into shared data.
Scan to download
Prefer a big screen? Find your lake on the web
