1
BLake Jacksonville
Cherokee County, Texas · 26.4 mi from Upper Lake Palestine
- +Two grade letters higher (D → B)
- ++5.8 ft water clarity
- +Lower phosphorus (22.6 vs 80 µg/L)
Cleaner Lakes Than Upper Lake Palestine
5 higher-graded lakes within 30 miles, ranked by grade improvement and proximity.
Upper Lake Palestine carries a Grade D (Poor) water quality score. Within 30 miles, 5 lakes hold a higher grade. Lake Jacksonville (Cherokee County, Grade B, 26.4 mi away) is the closest meaningful upgrade.
Reviewed by LakeQuality Editorial Team · Updated
2
BLake Hawkins
Wood County, Texas · 27.4 mi from Upper Lake Palestine
- +Two grade letters higher (D → B)
- ++5.1 ft water clarity
- +Lower phosphorus (20 vs 80 µg/L)
3
BLake Athens
Henderson County, Texas · 15.6 mi from Upper Lake Palestine
- +Two grade letters higher (D → B)
- ++4.3 ft water clarity
- +Lower phosphorus (20 vs 80 µg/L)
4
CLake Tyler
Smith County, Texas · 17.9 mi from Upper Lake Palestine
- +Higher grade (D → C)
- ++1.8 ft water clarity
- +Lower phosphorus (30 vs 80 µg/L)
5
CLake Tyler E
Smith County, Texas · 19.2 mi from Upper Lake Palestine
- +Higher grade (D → C)
- ++1.7 ft water clarity
- +Lower phosphorus (25 vs 80 µg/L)
Reading the cohort
5 cleaner lakes sit within 30 miles of Upper Lake Palestine in the EPA water-quality dataset. With that many higher-grade neighbors close by, Upper Lake Palestine's Grade D reflects something specific to the lake itself — not a regional water-quality ceiling. The neighbor list below isn't a small set of marginal upgrades; it's a real cohort of meaningfully cleaner choices for the same Texas weekend.
The nearest cleaner alternative — Lake Jacksonville in Cherokee County — sits 26.4 miles from Upper Lake Palestine, 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, Upper Lake Palestine is the practical choice and the cleaner options are reserved for purpose-specific visits.
The EPA water-quality grading combines clarity (Secchi depth), phosphorus, and chlorophyll-a measurements from state environmental sampling. A higher letter grade reflects measurably cleaner water on those indicators, not subjective beauty or access quality — a Grade A lake might have worse boat-launch facilities or shoreline access than a Grade C neighbor, so the ranking is one input alongside the rest of trip planning. See the methodology page for the full grading formula.
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.