1
BClara Lake
Cook County, Minnesota · 2.1 mi from Rice Lake
- +Higher overall water quality score
- ++1.9 ft water clarity
Cleaner Lakes Than Rice Lake
3 higher-graded lakes within 30 miles, ranked by grade improvement and proximity.
Rice Lake carries a Grade B (Good) water quality score. Within 30 miles, 3 lakes hold a higher grade. Clara Lake (Cook County, Grade B, 2.1 mi away) is the closest meaningful upgrade.
2
BTait Lake
Cook County, Minnesota · 5.4 mi from Rice Lake
- +Higher overall water quality score
- ++1.4 ft water clarity
3
BCaribou Lake
Cook County, Minnesota · 8 mi from Rice Lake
- +Higher overall water quality score
- ++1.3 ft water clarity
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.