Updated August 2026 · Top 25 of 63 lakes with a Secchi reading
Clearest Lake in Nebraska: Top 25 by Secchi Depth
Bridgeport Middle Lake in Morrill County is the clearest lake in Nebraska by Secchi depth, at 18.9 ft. Mapped and ranked below: the 25 clearest of 63 Nebraska 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.
How clear are Nebraska's clearest lakes?
From 18.9 ft at Bridgeport Middle Lake to 2.7 ft at #25, Powder Creek Lake; the median of the 25 is 4.9 ft.
| # | Lake | County | Secchi depth | Area |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bridgeport Middle Lake | Morrill | 18.9 ft | — |
| 2 | Hershey Lake | Lincoln | 13.6 ft | — |
| 3 | Elwood Reservoir | Gosper | 10 ft | 1,145 acres |
| 4 | Lake Carter P Johnson | Sioux | 8.3 ft | 17 acres |
| 5 | Crystal Cove Lake | Dakota | 7.8 ft | — |
| 6 | Lake C W Mcconaughy | Keith | 7.2 ft | — |
| 7 | Cottonwood Lake | Cherry | 6.7 ft | — |
| 8 | Skyview Lake | Madison | 6.2 ft | 52 acres |
| 9 | Box Butte Reservoir | Dawes | 5.6 ft | 1,799 acres |
| 10 | Lake Minatare | Scotts Bluff | 5.5 ft | 2,195 acres |
| 11 | Jenny Newman Lake | Cass | 5.4 ft | 4 acres |
| 12 | Cub Creek Lake | Keya Paha | 4.9 ft | 31 acres |
| 13 | Lake Ogallala | Keith | 4.9 ft | 30,500 acres |
| 14 | Kramper Lake | Dakota | 4.5 ft | 226 acres |
| 15 | Davis Creek Reservoir | Greeley | 3.9 ft | 1,430 acres |
| 16 | Calamus Reservoir | Garfield | 3.6 ft | 5,123 acres |
| 17 | Chalkrock Lake | Cedar | 3.3 ft | 44 acres |
| 18 | Prairie Queen Lake | Sarpy | 3.3 ft | 125 acres |
| 19 | Carter Lake | Douglas | 3.2 ft | — |
| 20 | Homestead Lake | Butler | 3 ft | 38 acres |
| 21 | Enders Reservoir | Chase | 2.8 ft | 2,557 acres |
| 22 | Johnson Lake | Gosper | 2.8 ft | — |
| 23 | Harlan County Reservoir | Harlan | 2.8 ft | 13,600 acres |
| 24 | Hugh Butler Lake | Frontier | 2.8 ft | 4,060 acres |
| 25 | Powder Creek Lake | Dixon | 2.7 ft | 108 acres |
Sources and method
- Secchi depth: Median of each lake's EPA Water Quality Portal readings, sampled May 2012 to September 2024, in feet. Every reading in this table was submitted by Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy. 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 Nebraska?
Bridgeport Middle Lake in Morrill County is the clearest lake in Nebraska by Secchi depth, at 18.9 ft. Secchi depth is measured by lowering a black-and-white disk until it disappears from view; a deeper reading means clearer water. Bridgeport Middle Lake’s phosphorus and chlorophyll-a readings are on its page.
How clear are Nebraska's 25 clearest lakes?
They span 2.7 ft to 18.9 ft of Secchi depth, with a median of 4.9 ft. Bridgeport Middle Lake leads by 5.3 ft. Dakota 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 Nebraska for the nutrient-and-algae list.
Where to stay near Nebraska's clearest lakes
Planning a trip? Jump to live cabin, resort, and hotel availability near Nebraska's clearest lakes.
- Bridgeport Middle Lake · Morrill CountyCabins & hotels near Bridgeport Middle Lake →
- Hershey Lake · Lincoln CountyCabins & hotels near Hershey Lake →
- Elwood Reservoir · Gosper CountyCabins & hotels near Elwood Reservoir →
- Lake Carter P Johnson · Sioux CountyCabins & hotels near Lake Carter P Johnson →
- Crystal Cove Lake · Dakota CountyCabins & hotels near Crystal Cove Lake →
More on water clarity
The clearest lakes in America, ranked by measured Secchi depth in feet from EPA monitoring data — and why the famously clear lakes are missing.
What a Secchi depth reading measures, how many feet counts as good clarity, and why clear water is not always clean — with readings from measured lakes.
County-by-county Secchi champions: the clearest measured lake in each county, the murkiest county winners, and why a county title is not a national one.
Surveyed maximum depth against nutrient and algae readings: the pattern, the shallow lakes that still read clean, and why land use beats bathymetry.