1
ALake Winnibigoshish
Cass County, Minnesota · 8 mi from Middle Sucker Lake
- +Two grade letters higher (C → A)
- ++11.2 ft water clarity
Cleaner Lakes Than Middle Sucker Lake
5 higher-graded lakes within 30 miles, ranked by grade improvement and proximity.
Middle Sucker Lake carries a Grade C (Fair) water quality score. Within 30 miles, 5 lakes hold a higher grade. Lake Winnibigoshish (Cass County, Grade A, 8 mi away) is the closest meaningful upgrade.
2
AWelsh Lake
Cass County, Minnesota · 9.1 mi from Middle Sucker Lake
- +Two grade letters higher (C → A)
- ++8.7 ft water clarity
3
BUpper Sucker Lake
Cass County, Minnesota · 1 mi from Middle Sucker Lake
- +Higher grade (C → B)
- ++6 ft water clarity
- +Lower phosphorus (17 vs 32 µg/L)
4
BSugar Lake
Itasca County, Minnesota · 8.7 mi from Middle Sucker Lake
- +Higher grade (C → B)
- ++2.2 ft water clarity
- +Lower phosphorus (16 vs 32 µg/L)
5
BLower Sucker Lake
Cass County, Minnesota · 1.7 mi from Middle Sucker Lake
- +Higher grade (C → B)
- ++3.5 ft water clarity
- +Lower phosphorus (22 vs 32 µg/L)
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.