1
Little Sioux Park Lake
Woodbury County, Iowa · 15.5 mi from Crawford Creek Lake
- ++4.1 ft water clarity
- +Lower phosphorus (19 vs 97 µg/L)
Cleaner Lakes Than Crawford Creek Lake
5 lakes with lower nutrient and algae readings within 30 miles, ranked by the size of the improvement and by proximity.
Crawford Creek Lake carries nutrient and algae readings on record. Within 30 miles, 5 lakes read lower. Little Sioux Park Lake (Woodbury County, 15.5 mi away) is the closest meaningful upgrade.
Reviewed by LakeQuality Editorial Team · Updated
2
Arrowhead Lake
Sac County, Iowa · 28.4 mi from Crawford Creek Lake
- ++4 ft water clarity
- +Lower phosphorus (26 vs 97 µg/L)
3
Oldham Lake
Monona County, Iowa · 20.7 mi from Crawford Creek Lake
- ++3.5 ft water clarity
- +Lower phosphorus (46 vs 97 µg/L)
4
Moorehead Lake
Ida County, Iowa · 8.6 mi from Crawford Creek Lake
- ++2.1 ft water clarity
- +Lower phosphorus (73.5 vs 97 µg/L)
5
Yellow Smoke Lake
Crawford County, Iowa · 22.7 mi from Crawford Creek Lake
- ++1.4 ft water clarity
- +Lower phosphorus (56.5 vs 97 µg/L)
Stays via Stay22
Where to stay near Crawford Creek Lake
Compare cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals around Crawford Creek 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.
Top-rated places to stay near Crawford Creek Lake
Prices for Oct 23–25, 4 adults. Change dates on the map below.
Availability and prices from Stay22 partners (Booking.com, Vrbo, Expedia). We may earn a commission from bookings, at no extra cost to you.
Planning a trip to Crawford Creek Lake?
Get lake water-quality updates plus the best cabin & lodging deals near Crawford Creek Lake — straight to your inbox. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Reading the cohort
Within 30 miles of Crawford Creek Lake, 5 water bodies carry lower nutrient and algae readings on the same EPA water-quality metrics. That density of cleaner options is itself a signal: when several nearby lakes read better on the same indicators, the differences at Crawford Creek Lake are typically lake-specific (depth, watershed inflow, stratification pattern) rather than regional. The choice for a swim, paddle, or fishing trip is genuinely between meaningfully different water bodies, not between marginal differences in the same dataset.
The nearest cleaner alternative — Little Sioux Park Lake in Woodbury County — sits 15.5 miles from Crawford Creek 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, Crawford Creek 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.