The Clearest Lake in Every County We Track

Across 1,358 counties in the United States (49 states), Canada (Ontario, Québec, Nova Scotia, British Columbia and Newfoundland and Labrador), and 38 other country hubs. with a Secchi reading, 182 county champions clear 20 feet of visibility and 468 never reach 4. A county title is a local maximum, not a national one.

The clearest county champions

The current head of this list is Adams Lake in Vilas County, WI, at 100 feet of Secchi depth. Secchi is a field measurement of how far a black-and-white disk stays visible — see Water Clarity Explained and the Secchi depth guide. It is not the readings. The national Secchi roundup is Clearest Lakes in America.

Rank	County	State	Clearest lake	Clarity (ft)
1	Vilas	WI	Adams Lake	100
2	Seton Lake	BC	Gun Lake	58.4
3	Parry Sound District	ON	Cadden Lake	57.4
4	Slocan River	BC	Slocan Lake	53.5
5	Duncan Lake	BC	Trout Lake	53.3
6	Meade	KS	Meade Lake	53
7	Thunder Bay District	ON	Greenwater Lake	47.9
8	St. Louis	MN	St James Pit Lake	47.6
9	Sublette	WY	Fremont Lake	42.8
10	Sudbury District	ON	George Lake	42.7
11	Squamish	BC	Callaghan Lake	42.3
12	Klamath	OR	Crescent Lake	42.2
13	Upper Shuswap	BC	Mabel Lake	41.8
14	Chilliwack River	BC	Chilliwack Lake	41.2
15	Nipissing District	ON	Kearney Lake	41
16	Johnson	WY	Lake Desmet Lpd	39.1
17	Algoma District	ON	Basswood Lake	37.7
18	Frontenac	ON	Blue Lake	37.7
19	Lincoln	MT	Big Therriault Lake	37.3
20	Kettle River	BC	Christina Lake	37.2

When the county champion is still murky

At the other end, the county whose “clearest” lake is still only 0.2 feet is Jefferson County, NE — Cub Creek Lake. That is the more honest local story in farm-belt and prairie counties: even the winner may be a green basin. A 3-foot county champion is a signal to read the county ranking before booking a swim.

County	State	Clearest lake	Clarity (ft)
Jefferson	NE	Cub Creek Lake	0.2
Johnston	OK	Lake Texoma	0.3
Adams	NE	Lake Hastings	0.3
Grayson	TX	Lake Texoma	0.4
Cloud	KS	Jamestown Wildlife Area Lake	0.4
Harper	KS	Anthony City Lake	0.4
La Crosse	WI	Neshonoc Lake	0.4
McClain	OK	Wiley Post Memorial Lake	0.5
Henry	MO	Montrose Lake	0.6
Kingman	KS	Kingman Co State Fishing Lake	0.6
Cotton	OK	Dave Boyer Lake	0.6
Woodward	OK	Fort Supply Lake	0.6
Chesapeake city	VA	Lake Drummond	0.7
Crosby	TX	White River Lake	0.7
Taylor	TX	Lake Kirby	0.7

One champion per state

Collapse the county list to the single clearest county-winner in each state and the geology shows through: northern forest and mountain states send 20-foot lakes; plains states often send single-digit ones. For a nutrient-and-algae pick rather than a clarity one, use best lake in every county.

State	County	Clearest county champion	Clarity (ft)
Wisconsin	Vilas	Adams Lake	100
British Columbia	Seton Lake	Gun Lake	58.4
Ontario	Parry Sound District	Cadden Lake	57.4
Kansas	Meade	Meade Lake	53
Minnesota	St. Louis	St James Pit Lake	47.6
Wyoming	Sublette	Fremont Lake	42.8
Oregon	Klamath	Crescent Lake	42.2
Montana	Lincoln	Big Therriault Lake	37.3
Vermont	Rutland	Sunset Lake	36.1
Nova Scotia	Queens	Annis Lake	34.1
Michigan	Roscommon	Higgins Lake	34
Québec	Bonaventure	Lac de la Ferme	33.5
Utah	Daggett	Flaming Gorge Reservoir	31.8
North Dakota	Stutsman	Spiritwood Lake	31
Colorado	El Paso	Rampart Reservoir	28.5
New York	Jefferson	Millsite Lake	27.9
Arizona	Mohave	Lake Havasu	27.1
Virginia	Augusta	Coles Run Reservoir	25.8
Massachusetts	Worcester	Wachusett Reservoir	25.8
Washington	Pierce	Gravelly Lake	25.4
Florida	Jackson	Jackson-Silver Lake	25
Arkansas	Carroll	Beaver Lake	20.3
North Carolina	Jackson	Wolf Creek Reservoir	19.7
Nebraska	Morrill	Bridgeport Middle Lake	18.9
Idaho	Valley	Deadwood Reservoir	17.2
Iowa	Cerro Gordo	Blue Pit Lake	17.1
Illinois	Lake	Loch Lomond Lake	16.5
Tennessee	Blount	Calderwood Lake	16.4
Missouri	St. Francois	Lake Capri	16.3
New Mexico	Guadalupe	Perch Lake	14.8
Alabama	Lawrence	Sinl Lake	14.5
Indiana	Steuben	Lake George	14.5
Georgia	Hart	Lake Hartwell	13.5
Texas	Harrison	Brandy Branch Reservoir	12
Oklahoma	McCurtain	Broken Bow Lake	8.5
Kentucky	Breckinridge	Rough River Lake	6.4
Nevada	Elko	Sheep Creek Lake	6.2
Pennsylvania	Wyoming	Lake Carey	5.9
Ohio	Richland	Sites Lake	5.2
South Dakota	Roberts	Traverse Lake	3.9

40 states and provinces appear in that table. For the clearest lakes nationally, with no one-per-county limit, see the clearest-lakes ranking.

Frequently Asked Questions

For each of 1,358 counties with a clarity reading, this page names the single clearest measured lake. The clearest of all the county winners is Adams Lake in Vilas County, WI, at 100 feet. For the best lake in each county on nutrient and algae readings rather than clarity, see lakequality.org/ranking/best-by-county.

No. It is a local maximum. A county whose champion is 4 feet of Secchi is telling you something about the whole county. A county whose champion is 30 feet may still be full of green ponds. Read the county page, not just the winner.

No. Secchi measures how far light penetrates. Tannin-stained bog lakes are dark and often nutrient-poor. Clay-turbid reservoirs can be low-algae and still murky. The condition class covers nutrients and algae; Secchi is reported alongside it. See Water Clarity Explained.

There are 1,358 counties with a clarity champion — too many to read through in one sitting. This page shows the clearest and murkiest ends of that list plus the best lake in each state, and each county has its own page with all of its lakes.

The clearest county champions

When the county champion is still murky

One champion per state

Frequently Asked Questions

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