1
AAndrusia Lake
Beltrami County, Minnesota · 3.5 mi from Big Lake
- +Higher grade (B → A)
- ++6 ft water clarity
Cleaner Lakes Than Big Lake
5 higher-graded lakes within 30 miles, ranked by grade improvement and proximity.
Big Lake carries a Grade B (Good) water quality score. Within 30 miles, 5 lakes hold a higher grade. Andrusia Lake (Beltrami County, Grade A, 3.5 mi away) is the closest meaningful upgrade.
2
ASwenson Lake
Beltrami County, Minnesota · 4.2 mi from Big Lake
- +Higher grade (B → A)
- ++11.3 ft water clarity
- +Lower phosphorus (8 vs 15 µg/L)
3
ALong Lake
Beltrami County, Minnesota · 5.4 mi from Big Lake
- +Higher grade (B → A)
- ++10.5 ft water clarity
- +Lower phosphorus (7 vs 15 µg/L)
5
BHow this list is built
Every lake on LakeQuality has a calculated grade from EPA Water Quality Portal samples — secchi depth, total phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a measured against Metropolitan Council thresholds. To suggest cleaner alternatives, we filter lakes within 30 miles to those with a strictly higher numeric score, then rank by grade improvement with a small proximity tiebreak. Cross-state and limited-data lakes are excluded so the list stays locally relevant.