Echo Lake is located in the town of Charleston in Orleans County, an area known as the Northeast Kingdom. It is one of only two deep, cold, and oligotrophic lakes in the Clyde River system. The first Surveyor-General of Vermont, Whitelaw, gave it the name Echo Pond because when any sound was produced in its vicinity it reverberated in various directions, producing a series of echoes

The freshwater lake covers 530 acres and is 1.5 miles long and 0.75 miles at its widest, and drains a watershed area of 24 square miles. Its maximum depth is 129 feet. The lake is fed by the outlet from Lake Seymour. The lake drains into the Clyde River, Lake Memphremagog, and, eventually, Canada’s Saint Lawrence River.

The outlet dam is used for hydroelectric power. Construction was completed in 1922 and was reconstructed in 1984. It is owned by Citizens Utilities Company. The dam is concrete with a homogeneous concrete core and a rock foundation. The height is 16 feet by 120 feet.

Echo Lake (550 acres) is a site for the Vermont LoonWatch annual survey. Birders are encouraged to volunteer as often and whenever they are able. See Join LoonWatch for details.