1
ACrooked Lake
Stearns County, Minnesota · 5.9 mi from Pickerel Lake
- +Higher grade (B → A)
- ++5 ft water clarity
- +Lower phosphorus (14 vs 24 µg/L)
Cleaner Lakes Than Pickerel Lake
3 higher-graded lakes within 30 miles, ranked by grade improvement and proximity.
Pickerel Lake carries a Grade B (Good) water quality score. Within 30 miles, 3 lakes hold a higher grade. Crooked Lake (Stearns County, Grade A, 5.9 mi away) is the closest meaningful upgrade.
2
BUnnamed Lake
Sherburne County, Minnesota · 0.5 mi from Pickerel Lake
- +Higher overall water quality score
- ++3.5 ft water clarity
3
BLong Lake
Stearns County, Minnesota · 2.8 mi from Pickerel Lake
- +Higher overall water quality score
- ++3 ft water clarity
- +Lower phosphorus (17 vs 24 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.