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LakeQuality

Cleaner Lakes Than Yellowstone Lake

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

Yellowstone Lake carries a Grade D (Poor) water quality score. Within 30 miles, 2 lakes hold a higher grade. Black Hawk Lake (Iowa County, Grade A, 24.2 mi away) is the closest meaningful upgrade.

1
A

Black Hawk Lake

Iowa County, Wisconsin · 24.2 mi from Yellowstone Lake
  • +Two grade letters higher (D → A)
  • ++13.1 ft water clarity
  • +Lower phosphorus (19.9 vs 156 µg/L)
2
B

Hidden Valley Lake

Lafayette County, Wisconsin · 1.4 mi from Yellowstone Lake
  • +Two grade letters higher (D → B)
  • ++12.3 ft water clarity
  • +Lower phosphorus (44.7 vs 156 µg/L)

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.