What is the cleanest lake in Michigan?

Crystal Lake in Montcalm County has the cleanest nutrient and algae readings in Michigan, with 10 feet of measured water clarity.

How are these rankings calculated?

Nutrients and algae, total phosphorus, nitrogen, chlorophyll-a and turbidity, are read against EPA National Lakes Assessment 2022 condition classes for that lake’s ecoregion. Water clarity (Secchi depth) is measured and shown separately. Lakes without enough recent samples are listed without a condition class rather than ranked low. Source data comes from the EPA Water Quality Portal.

Cleanest Lakes in Michigan

Crystal Lake in Montcalm County leads the rankings on measured clarity and nutrients and 10 ft of clarity. Below are the top 50 cleanest monitored lakes in Michigan, ranked on EPA nutrient and algae measurements.

Ranked List

#	Lake	County	Clarity	Phosphorus	Algae
1	Crystal Lake	Montcalm	10 ft	9 µg/L	2.2 µg/L
2	Ore Lake	Livingston	9 ft	22 µg/L	2.8 µg/L
3	South Bar Lake	Leelanau	8.5 ft	14 µg/L	3.8 µg/L
4	Eagle Lake	Kalkaska	18 ft	10 µg/L	1.3 µg/L
5	Ellen Lake	Iron	17.3 ft	8 µg/L	1.8 µg/L
6	Brooks Lake	Leelanau	9.5 ft	10 µg/L	3.2 µg/L
7	Indian Lake	Kalamazoo	9.5 ft	10 µg/L	2.8 µg/L
8	Round Lake	Mecosta	9 ft	17 µg/L	6.8 µg/L
9	Mecosta Lake	Mecosta	9.5 ft	10 µg/L	3.3 µg/L
10	Perch Lake	Iron	6 ft	24 µg/L	4.8 µg/L
11	Rennie Lake	Grand Traverse	14 ft	8 µg/L	3.5 µg/L
12	Emerald Lake	Kent	11.5 ft	14 µg/L	4.9 µg/L
13	Lancelot Lake	Gladwin	9 ft	15 µg/L	3.5 µg/L
14	Lake George	Clare	9.5 ft	12 µg/L	3.8 µg/L
15	Barton Lake	Kalamazoo	8 ft	13 µg/L	6.6 µg/L
16	Lancer Lake Southeast	Gladwin	12 ft	18 µg/L	1.5 µg/L
17	Christiana Lake	Cass	8 ft	21 µg/L	6.6 µg/L
18	Big Pine Island Lake	Kent	9.3 ft	18.5 µg/L	3.5 µg/L
19	Horsehead Lake	Mecosta	9 ft	14 µg/L	2.5 µg/L
20	Duck Lake	Muskegon	11 ft	9 µg/L	3.9 µg/L
21	Big Blue Lake	Kalkaska	24 ft	10 µg/L	1.3 µg/L
22	Moon Lake	Gogebic	18 ft	10 µg/L	2 µg/L
23	Murray Lake	Kent	9 ft	12 µg/L	2.9 µg/L
24	Bills Lake	Newaygo	13 ft	8 µg/L	1.9 µg/L
25	North Lake	Washtenaw	12.5 ft	13 µg/L	3.7 µg/L
26	Big Star Lake	Lake	9 ft	9 µg/L	4 µg/L
27	Big Maggie Lake	Iron	11.5 ft	10 µg/L	1.4 µg/L
28	Round Lake	Lenawee	12.3 ft	8 µg/L	2 µg/L
29	Big Twin Lake	Kalkaska	23 ft	8 µg/L	1.6 µg/L
30	Devils Lake	Lenawee	11 ft	9 µg/L	2.2 µg/L
31	Chain Lakes	Iosco	12.5 ft	10.5 µg/L	1.4 µg/L
32	Spider Lake	Grand Traverse	12 ft	7.5 µg/L	3.2 µg/L
33	Little Long Lake	Barry	13 ft	10 µg/L	2.2 µg/L
34	Sunset Lake	Iron	13.5 ft	8.5 µg/L	1.9 µg/L
35	Fisher Lake	Leelanau	-	10 µg/L	1 µg/L
36	Coldwater Lake	Isabella	11 ft	16 µg/L	1 µg/L
37	Whitefish Lake	Montcalm	13.5 ft	14.5 µg/L	3.3 µg/L
38	Big Bass Lake	Lake	14.5 ft	7.5 µg/L	5.3 µg/L
39	Rose Lake	Branch	10 ft	10.5 µg/L	3.3 µg/L
40	Little Bass Lake	Lake	18.3 ft	7 µg/L	3.1 µg/L
41	Barnes Lake	Lapeer	14.5 ft	15 µg/L	2.1 µg/L
42	Crystal Lake	Hillsdale	9.5 ft	11 µg/L	4 µg/L
43	Perch Lake	Otsego	11.3 ft	8.5 µg/L	3.3 µg/L
44	Twin Lakes	Oakland	5 ft	28 µg/L	6 µg/L
45	Templene Lake	St. Joseph	6 ft	18 µg/L	5.2 µg/L
46	Au Sable Lake	Ogemaw	10.5 ft	10 µg/L	3.3 µg/L
47	Island Lake	Gladwin	16.5 ft	7.5 µg/L	2.4 µg/L
48	Tippy Pond Manistee Arm	Manistee	-	12.3 µg/L	0.9 µg/L
49	Manistee North Lake	Manistee	-	16.1 µg/L	0.9 µg/L
50	Manistee Lake South	Manistee	-	18.2 µg/L	0.5 µg/L

Ranked List

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