1
ALake Greenwood
Washington County, Vermont · 1 mi from Valley Lake
- +Two grade letters higher (C → A)
- +Lower phosphorus (11.1 vs 17.2 µg/L)
Cleaner Lakes Than Valley Lake
4 higher-graded lakes within 30 miles, ranked by grade improvement and proximity.
Valley Lake carries a Grade C (Fair) water quality score. Within 30 miles, 4 lakes hold a higher grade. Lake Greenwood (Washington County, Grade A, 1 mi away) is the closest meaningful upgrade.
Reviewed by LakeQuality Editorial Team · Updated
2
AForest Lake
Washington County, Vermont · 2.8 mi from Valley Lake
- +Two grade letters higher (C → A)
- ++1.2 ft water clarity
- +Lower phosphorus (7 vs 17.2 µg/L)
3
ASabin Pond
Washington County, Vermont · 3.5 mi from Valley Lake
- +Two grade letters higher (C → A)
- +Lower phosphorus (9.7 vs 17.2 µg/L)
4
ALake Mirror
Washington County, Vermont · 3.6 mi from Valley Lake
- +Two grade letters higher (C → A)
- +Lower phosphorus (10.8 vs 17.2 µg/L)
Reading the cohort
Within 30 miles of Valley Lake, 4 water bodies score higher than its Grade C on the same EPA water-quality metrics. That density of cleaner options is itself a signal — when several nearby lakes score better on the same indicators, the issues at Valley Lake are typically lake-specific (depth, watershed inflow, stratification pattern) rather than regional. The choice for a swim, paddle, or fishing trip is genuinely between meaningfully different water bodies, not between marginal differences in the same dataset.
The closest cleaner alternative — Lake Greenwood in Washington County, Grade A — sits 1 miles from Valley 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 Lake Greenwood is mostly a habit change rather than a logistics change.
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.