Late afternoon sun over Slim Lake, scattering a bright path across wind-textured water

Updated August 2026 · Top 25 of 119 lakes with a Secchi reading

Clearest Lake in Vermont: Top 25 by Secchi Depth

Sunset Lake in Rutland County is the clearest lake in Vermont by Secchi depth, at 36.1 ft. Mapped and ranked below: the 25 clearest of 119 Vermont 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 Vermont's clearest lakes?

From 36.1 ft at Sunset Lake to 20.4 ft at #25, Newark Pond; the median of the 25 is 23.6 ft.

#	Lake	County	Secchi depth	Area
1	Sunset Lake	Rutland	36.1 ft	—
2	Caspian Lake	Orleans	29.5 ft	789 acres
3	Shadow Lake	Orleans	28.9 ft	199 acres
4	Maidstone Lake	Essex	28.5 ft	800 acres
5	Lake Willoughby	Orleans	28.2 ft	—
6	Shadow Pond	Washington	27.9 ft	—
7	Lake Elligo	Orleans	26.2 ft	—
8	Forest Lake	Washington	25.6 ft	—
9	Beebe Pond	Rutland	24.6 ft	—
10	Seymour Lake	Orleans	24.6 ft	1,777 acres
11	Valley Lake	Washington	24.4 ft	—
12	Echo Lake	Rutland	24.3 ft	—
13	Lake Bomoseen	Rutland	23.6 ft	2,360 acres
14	Nichols Pond	Washington	23.3 ft	167 acres
15	Echo Lake	Orleans	23 ft	508 acres
16	Berlin Pond	Washington	21.7 ft	256 acres
17	Lake Fairlee	Orange	21.7 ft	463 acres
18	Sunrise Lake	Rutland	21.3 ft	—
19	Lake Mirror	Washington	21.3 ft	86 acres
20	High Pond	Rutland	21.3 ft	—
21	Spring Lake	Rutland	21.3 ft	—
22	Harveys Lake	Caledonia	21 ft	409 acres
23	East Long Pond	Washington	20.7 ft	177 acres
24	Fern Lake	Addison	20.7 ft	—
25	Newark Pond	Caledonia	20.4 ft	—

Sources and method

Secchi depth: Median of each lake's EPA Water Quality Portal readings, sampled April 2020 to September 2025, in feet. Every reading in this table was submitted by Vermont Dept of Environmental Conservation. 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 Vermont?

Sunset Lake in Rutland County is the clearest lake in Vermont by Secchi depth, at 36.1 ft. Secchi depth is measured by lowering a black-and-white disk until it disappears from view; a deeper reading means clearer water. Sunset Lake’s phosphorus and chlorophyll-a readings are on its page.

How clear are Vermont's 25 clearest lakes?

They span 20.4 ft to 36.1 ft of Secchi depth, with a median of 23.6 ft. Sunset Lake leads by 6.6 ft. Rutland County has 7 of the 25; the rest are spread across 6 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 Vermont for the nutrient-and-algae list.

Where to stay near Vermont's clearest lakes

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

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

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