1
—Leesville Lakea-Topb-Middlec-Bot
Pittsylvania County, Virginia · 3.4 mi from Leesville Lakea-Rmp Bedford
- +Two grade letters higher (C → A)
Cleaner Lakes Than Leesville Lakea-Rmp Bedford
5 lakes with lower nutrient and algae readings within 30 miles, ranked by grade improvement and proximity.
Leesville Lakea-Rmp Bedford carries nutrient and algae readings on record. Within 30 miles, 5 lakes read lower. Leesville Lakea-Topb-Middlec-Bot (Pittsylvania County, Grade A, 3.4 mi away) is the closest meaningful upgrade.
Reviewed by LakeQuality Editorial Team · Updated
2
—Mouth of Witcher Cr. Lake
Bedford County, Virginia · 4.9 mi from Leesville Lakea-Rmp Bedford
- +Two grade letters higher (C → A)
- ++6.3 ft water clarity
3
—Dam Lake
Pittsylvania County, Virginia · 5.2 mi from Leesville Lakea-Rmp Bedford
- +Two grade letters higher (C → A)
- ++5.6 ft water clarity
4
—Mouth Craddock Cr. Lake
Bedford County, Virginia · 6.7 mi from Leesville Lakea-Rmp Bedford
- +Two grade letters higher (C → A)
- ++5.3 ft water clarity
5
—Confl. Blackwater River Lake
Bedford County, Virginia · 7.8 mi from Leesville Lakea-Rmp Bedford
- +Two grade letters higher (C → A)
- ++4.9 ft water clarity
Reading the cohort
5 cleaner lakes sit within 30 miles of Leesville Lakea-Rmp Bedford in the EPA water-quality dataset. With that many lower-nutrient neighbors close by, Leesville Lakea-Rmp Bedford'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 Virginia weekend.
The closest cleaner alternative, Leesville Lakea-Topb-Middlec-Bot in Pittsylvania County, sits 3.4 miles from Leesville Lakea-Rmp Bedford. At that distance, the substitution cost is essentially zero: same drive time, same regional access, demonstrably cleaner water on the EPA indicators. For repeat visitors who care about clarity or phosphorus levels, swapping the routine to Leesville Lakea-Topb-Middlec-Bot is mostly a habit change rather than a logistics change.
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 a strictly higher numeric score, 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.