1
Bowman-Haley Dam Lake
Bowman County, North Dakota · 29.4 mi from Mirror Lake
- ++1.8 ft water clarity
- +Lower phosphorus (96.5 vs 388 µg/L)
Cleaner Lakes Than Mirror Lake
1 lake with lower nutrient and algae readings within 30 miles, ranked by the size of the improvement and by proximity.
Mirror Lake carries nutrient and algae readings on record. Within 30 miles, 1 lake reads lower. Bowman-Haley Dam Lake (Bowman County, 29.4 mi away) is the closest meaningful upgrade.
Reviewed by LakeQuality Editorial Team · Updated
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Compare cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals around Mirror Lake in North Dakota. The lake above sits within 30 miles, so one base reaches it. Switch the map to Satellite to see how close each stay is to the water.
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Reading the cohort
Just one nearby water body scores higher than Mirror Lake on the EPA metrics within a 30-mile radius. The single cleaner option (below) is the practical alternative; beyond that, the next-cleanest lakes sit farther out and warrant a longer drive only if the water-quality difference is the deciding factor.
The nearest cleaner alternative — Bowman-Haley Dam Lake in Bowman County — sits 29.4 miles from Mirror 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, Mirror 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.