1
Kent Park Lake
Johnson County, Iowa · 18.8 mi from Cedar Lake
- ++3.9 ft water clarity
- +Lower phosphorus (25 vs 256.5 µg/L)
Cleaner Lakes Than Cedar Lake
5 lakes with lower nutrient and algae readings within 30 miles, ranked by the size of the improvement and by proximity.
Cedar Lake carries nutrient and algae readings on record. Within 30 miles, 5 lakes read lower. Kent Park Lake (Johnson County, 18.8 mi away) is the closest meaningful upgrade.
Reviewed by LakeQuality Editorial Team · Updated
2
Pleasant Creek Lake
Linn County, Iowa · 11.9 mi from Cedar Lake
- ++2.7 ft water clarity
- +Lower phosphorus (38 vs 256.5 µg/L)
3
Pleasant Creek Lake
Linn County, Iowa · 12.1 mi from Cedar Lake
- ++2.7 ft water clarity
- +Lower phosphorus (38 vs 256.5 µg/L)
4
Lake Macbride
Johnson County, Iowa · 14.3 mi from Cedar Lake
- ++2 ft water clarity
- +Lower phosphorus (59 vs 256.5 µg/L)
5
Lake Macbride
Johnson County, Iowa · 14.4 mi from Cedar Lake
- ++2 ft water clarity
- +Lower phosphorus (59 vs 256.5 µg/L)
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Where to stay near Cedar Lake
Compare cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals around Cedar Lake in Iowa. The 5 lakes above sit within 30 miles, so one base reaches them all. Switch the map to Satellite to see how close each stay is to the water.
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Reading the cohort
5 cleaner lakes sit within 30 miles of Cedar Lake in the EPA water-quality dataset. With that many lower-nutrient neighbors close by, Cedar Lake's readings reflect 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 Iowa weekend.
The nearest cleaner alternative — Kent Park Lake in Johnson County — sits 18.8 miles from Cedar Lake, putting it firmly in "destination trip" rather than "neighborhood swap" range. The water-quality gap has to be the deciding factor; for a casual outing, Cedar Lake is the practical choice and the cleaner options are reserved for purpose-specific visits.
Each lake's nutrient and algae readings — total phosphorus, total nitrogen, chlorophyll-a, and turbidity — are shown beside the EPA National Lakes Assessment 2022 condition class for that lake's own ecoregion, so a reading is compared against the lakes it would naturally resemble. LakeQuality publishes no letter grade. Lower readings mean measurably less nutrient and algae in the water, not better scenery or access: the lake with the clearest, lowest-nutrient water can have worse boat-launch facilities or shoreline access than a neighbor, so the comparison is one input alongside the rest of trip planning. How the readings are classified is on our methodology page.
How this list is built
Sampled lakes on LakeQuality carry readings from EPA Water Quality Portal samples — nutrients and algae measured against EPA National Lakes Assessment ecoregion classes. Secchi is shown, not scored. To suggest cleaner alternatives, we filter lakes within 30 miles to those with strictly lower nutrient and algae readings, then rank by the size of the improvement with a small proximity tiebreak. Cross-state and limited-data lakes are excluded so the list stays locally relevant.