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Updated August 2026 · Top 25 of 31 lakes with a Secchi reading

Clearest Lake in Georgia: Top 25 by Secchi Depth

Lake Hartwell in Hart County is the clearest lake in Georgia by Secchi depth, at 13.5 ft. Mapped and ranked below: the 25 clearest of 31 Georgia lakes with a Secchi reading. Secchi depth is clarity alone: phosphorus and chlorophyll-a are separate readings, so a clear lake can carry higher nutrient readings than a murkier one.

Map · 25 ranked lakesTap a pin for its lakeTap a pin for the lake's page

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Nutrient and algae readings on recordNo reading on record#1 in this rankingPins are this ranking's lakes at their surveyed locations.

How clear are Georgia's clearest lakes?

From 13.5 ft at Lake Hartwell to 3.8 ft at #25, Lake Allatoona; the median of the 25 is 6.6 ft.

#	Lake	County	Secchi depth	Area
1	Lake Hartwell	Hart	13.5 ft	55,950 acres
2	Lake Burton	Rabun	12.5 ft	2,775 acres
3	Lake Rabun	Rabun	10.9 ft	—
4	Lake Blue Ridge	Fannin	9.5 ft	3,220 acres
5	Lake Sidney Lanier	Forsyth	9.2 ft	—
6	Lake Nottely	Union	8.9 ft	3,970 acres
7	Lake Juliette	Monroe	8.5 ft	3,600 acres
8	Carters Lake	Gilmer	8.1 ft	3,275 acres
9	Clarks Hill Lake	Columbia	7.9 ft	—
10	West Point Lake	Troup	7.2 ft	25,864 acres
11	Clarks Hill Lake	Lincoln	6.7 ft	—
12	Culps Lake	Polk	6.6 ft	27 acres
13	Lake Richard B. Russell	Elbert	6.6 ft	26,653 acres
14	Lake Oliver	Muscogee	6.1 ft	2,280 acres
15	Harl Lake	Harris	6.1 ft	5,850 acres
16	Wesc Lake	Troup	6 ft	—
17	Lake Oconee	Greene	5.6 ft	—
18	Goat Rock Lake	Harris	5.2 ft	960 acres
19	Lake Sinclair	Baldwin	4.9 ft	15,330 acres
20	Lake Tobesofkee	Bibb	4.7 ft	1,756 acres
21	Lake Jackson	Jasper	4.6 ft	4,500 acres
22	Flint River Reservoir	Dougherty	4.3 ft	1,400 acres
23	Lake Walter F. George	Quitman	4.1 ft	—
24	Lake Blackshear	Crisp	3.9 ft	8,700 acres
25	Lake Allatoona	Cherokee	3.8 ft	—

Sources and method

Secchi depth: Median of each lake's EPA Water Quality Portal readings, sampled February 2012 to October 2025, in feet. For 22 of these 25 lakes the submitting agency is Georgia DNR Environmental Protection Division. Portal: EPA Water Quality Portal.
Readings: clarity, phosphorus and chlorophyll-a from the agency's own sampling, shown as reported. Clarity is a separate measurement from nutrients and algae, which is why a clear lake here can carry higher phosphorus than a murkier one.
Area: state agency lake surveys and, for reservoirs, US Army Corps of Engineers National Inventory of Dams records, in acres at normal pool. A dash means no record carries one.
Map pins: all 25 table rows. No other lakes are plotted.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the clearest lake in Georgia?

Lake Hartwell in Hart County is the clearest lake in Georgia by Secchi depth, at 13.5 ft. Secchi depth is measured by lowering a black-and-white disk until it disappears from view; a deeper reading means clearer water. Lake Hartwell’s phosphorus and chlorophyll-a readings are on its page.

How clear are Georgia's 25 clearest lakes?

They span 3.8 ft to 13.5 ft of Secchi depth, with a median of 6.6 ft. Lake Hartwell leads by 1 ft. Harris County has 2 of the 25; the rest are spread across 21 other counties.

How is water clarity measured?

Water clarity is measured by Secchi depth, named after the 19th-century Italian astronomer Pietro Angelo Secchi who developed the method. A standardized black-and-white disk is lowered into the water on a rope; the depth (in feet or meters) at which the disk disappears from view is recorded. Greater Secchi depth means clearer water, usually a sign of low sediment, low phosphorus, and limited algae growth. The figure for each lake here is the median of its readings.

What makes a lake clear?

Lake clarity is driven by three factors: low suspended sediment (clay, silt), low nutrient load (especially phosphorus, which fuels algae), and low chlorophyll-a (active algae biomass). Deep lakes with rocky basins and forested watersheds tend to be clearest because they take in little soil runoff and few nutrients. Shallow lakes in farmed watersheds are typically less clear because they receive more sediment and fertilizer runoff.

Is the clearest lake the cleanest?

Not always. Clarity (Secchi depth) is measured and shown; nutrient and algae readings (total phosphorus and chlorophyll-a) are a separate measurement, compared against that lake’s EPA ecoregion classes. A lake can be very clear but still have elevated phosphorus that just hasn't bloomed yet. See our companion cleanest-lakes ranking for Georgia for the nutrient-and-algae list.

Where to stay near Georgia's clearest lakes

Planning a trip? Jump to live cabin, resort, and hotel availability near Georgia's clearest lakes.

Clearest lakes across all states →Cleanest lakes in Georgia (combined score) →All Georgia lakes →

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