What is the cleanest lake near Sand Hill Lake?

Spring Lake in Polk County reads lower on nutrients and algae and is one of the nearest measured lakes to Sand Hill Lake.

What do Sand Hill Lake's readings show?

Sand Hill Lake carries nutrient and algae readings, with about 6.9 ft of water clarity and 26 µg/L of phosphorus. Phosphorus and chlorophyll-a are read against that lake’s EPA ecoregion classes, and clarity is shown separately. The alternatives below read lower on nutrients and algae.

Are these recommendations based on real data?

Yes. Every reading comes from EPA Water Quality Portal samples for the lake. Recommendations are limited to lakes within 30 miles of Sand Hill Lake in Minnesota, with strictly higher numeric grade scores and sufficient monitoring data.

Cleaner Lakes Than Sand Hill Lake, Top 1 Nearby

Reading the cohort

Just one nearby water body scores higher than Sand Hill 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 closest cleaner alternative, Spring Lake in Polk County, sits miles from Sand Hill Lake. 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 Spring Lake 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.