What is the cleanest lake near Black River Lake?

Rice Lake in Cochrane District County holds a Grade B water quality score and is 12.3 miles from Black River Lake.

Why is Black River Lake not Grade A?

Black River Lake holds Grade D, with about 1.6 ft of water clarity and 38.3 µg/L of phosphorus. The grade reflects measured water quality against Metropolitan Council thresholds. Cleaner alternatives nearby score higher on clarity, phosphorus, or chlorophyll-a.

Are these recommendations based on real data?

Yes. Every grade is calculated from EPA Water Quality Portal samples for the lake. Recommendations are limited to lakes within 30 miles of Black River Lake in Ontario, with strictly higher numeric grade scores and sufficient monitoring data.

Cleaner Lakes Than Black River Lake, Top 4 Within 30 Miles

Cleaner Lakes Than Black River Lake

4 higher-graded lakes within 30 miles, ranked by grade improvement and proximity.

Black River Lake carries a Grade D (Poor) water quality score. Within 30 miles, 4 lakes hold a higher grade. Rice Lake (Cochrane District County, Grade B, 12.3 mi away) is the closest meaningful upgrade.

Rice Lake

Cochrane District County, Ontario · 12.3 mi from Black River Lake

+Two grade letters higher (D → B)
++7.3 ft water clarity
+Lower phosphorus (13.2 vs 38.3 µg/L)

Mcintosh Lake

Cochrane District County, Ontario · 13.7 mi from Black River Lake

+Two grade letters higher (D → B)
++5.3 ft water clarity
+Lower phosphorus (14.7 vs 38.3 µg/L)

South Bear Lake

Cochrane District County, Ontario · 14.8 mi from Black River Lake

+Two grade letters higher (D → B)
++6.3 ft water clarity
+Lower phosphorus (6.6 vs 38.3 µg/L)

Barber'S Bay Lake

Cochrane District County, Ontario · 14.9 mi from Black River Lake

+Two grade letters higher (D → B)
++8.2 ft water clarity
+Lower phosphorus (13.4 vs 38.3 µg/L)

Reading the cohort

4 cleaner lakes sit within 30 miles of Black River Lake in the EPA water-quality dataset. With that many higher-grade neighbors close by, Black River Lake's Grade D reflects something specific to the lake itself — not a regional water-quality ceiling. The neighbor list below isn't a small set of marginal upgrades; it's a real cohort of meaningfully cleaner choices for the same Ontario weekend.

Rice Lake (Cochrane District County, Grade B) is the closest cleaner option at 12.3 miles from Black River Lake — close enough to be a genuine substitute for most users, far enough that it isn't the same neighborhood lake. Worth the trip if water quality is the primary driver; less obvious if Black River Lake is on the way to other plans.

The EPA water-quality grading combines clarity (Secchi depth), phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a measurements from state environmental sampling. A higher letter grade reflects measurably cleaner water on those indicators, not subjective beauty or access quality — a Grade A lake might have worse boat-launch facilities or shoreline access than a Grade C neighbor, so the ranking is one input alongside the rest of trip planning. See the methodology page for the full grading formula.

How 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.