Glennies Creek Dam
Popular spot in the heart of the Hunter
DAM LEVEL
96%
CAPACITY
282GL
SIZE OF LAKE
15 KM2
Glennies Creek Dam is a popular inland sport and recreation destination near Singleton, offering year-round attractions for water sports and fishing enthusiasts, nature lovers, bushwalkers, campers and picnickers. Glennies Creek operates with nearby Glenbawn Dam to supply water for irrigation, environmental flows, stock, industry and household needs in the Hunter Valley.
Look out points
Dam wall
Walk across the dam wall for views of the lake and Mount Royal Range. The curved wall is 67 metres high and 535 metres long.
Lake St Clair foreshores
The extensive lake foreshores provide many vantage points with panoramic views of the lake and rolling countryside. Carrowbrook Road along the eastern foreshore is particularly scenic.
Camping at Lake St Clair is open 24 hours a day all year round.
HOURS
- Open from 6am to 6pm
TOP SAFETY TIPS
- Wear a life jacket
- Supervise your children
- Look out for underwater hazards
- Keep a safe distance when boating
- Follow all algae alerts
Learn more about safety at our sites.
REPORT A HAZARD OR INCIDENT
Please phone 1800 061 069
In an emergency call 000
We’re the people taking care of the state’s water at the source – capturing, storing, delivering. Learn more about WaterNSW.
Boat ramps
Camping
Picnic Shelters
Shower facilities
Toilets
Things to do
Camp
Lake St Clair’s extensive foreshores offer sites for unpowered camping with lake views. A camping ground on the eastern foreshore on Bridgman Road has powered sites, showers, toilets, boat ramp, electric and wood barbecues, and a camp kitchen.
Water sports
Water sports include skiing, jet skis, sailing, canoeing and swimming. The boat ramp is located at the camping grounds on the lake’s eastern foreshore.
Fishing
The lake is stocked with Australian bass. Golden perch (yellow belly) and silver perch are other top catches. Catfish and eel are also caught.
Map and directions
Glennies Creek Dam is about 25 kilometres north of Singleton in the NSW Hunter Valley. Singleton is about 200 kilometres north-west of Sydney via the Pacific and New England highways.
No model aircraft or drones
Facts and History
Glennies Creek Dam is 39 kilometres upstream from the junction of Glennies Creek with the Hunter River and about 25 kilometres north of Singleton in the NSW Hunter Valley. The dam is about 225 kilometres north-west of Sydney.
Find out more
GLENNIES CREEK DAM
Facts and History
Glennies Creek Dam is 39 kilometres upstream from the junction of Glennies Creek with the Hunter River and about 25 kilometres north of Singleton in the NSW Hunter Valley. The dam is about 225 kilometres north-west of Sydney.
Glennies Creek Dam has a capacity of 283,000 megalitres, about half that of Sydney Harbour.
The creek and the dam are named after James Glennie, a Royal Navy captain who was granted creek frontage in 1824. The lake and the valley behind the dam are known as St Clair.
Why the dam was built
Glennies Creek Dam was built in the 1980s to supplement supplies from Glenbawn Dam in the Upper Hunter and meet increased demand in the Hunter Valley for water for agriculture, industry and towns.
Vineyards and pastures for sheep and cattle are the main agricultural industries supported by irrigation. Glennies Creek Dam also provides water for nearby coal mines, the town of Singleton, and for domestic and stock use.
The dam’s small 233 square kilometre catchment includes the Mount Royal National Park.
How the dam was built
Glennies Creek Dam is a curved rock-fill embankment wall with a concrete slab on the upstream face. The wall is 535 metres long and 67 metres high.
An unlined rock cut spillway is located just south of the dam wall. The cutting provided all the rock-fill needed to build the dam wall.
A 60 metres high control tower with variable inlets allows for control of the quality and temperature of water released from the dam.
Construction began in 1980 and finished in 1983.
Hunter NSW dams
WaterNSW acknowledges the traditional custodians of the lands and waters on which we work and pay our respects to all elders past, present and emerging. Learn more