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LakeQuality

Cleaner Lakes Than Spruce Lake

5 higher-graded lakes within 30 miles, ranked by grade improvement and proximity.

Spruce Lake carries a Grade C (Fair) water quality score. Within 30 miles, 5 lakes hold a higher grade. Lac Lake (Carlton County, Grade A, 2.9 mi away) is the closest meaningful upgrade.

1
A

Lac Lake

Carlton County, Minnesota · 2.9 mi from Spruce Lake
  • +Two grade letters higher (C → A)
  • ++12.2 ft water clarity
2
A

Sofie Lake

Carlton County, Minnesota · 3.9 mi from Spruce Lake
  • +Two grade letters higher (C → A)
  • ++13 ft water clarity
3
C

Rice Portage Lake

Carlton County, Minnesota · 1.9 mi from Spruce Lake
  • +Higher overall water quality score
4
C

Jaskari Lake

Carlton County, Minnesota · 2 mi from Spruce Lake
  • +Higher overall water quality score
  • ++4 ft water clarity
5
C

Perch Lake

Carlton County, Minnesota · 2.8 mi from Spruce Lake
  • +Higher overall water quality score
  • ++2.5 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.

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