31 graded lakes within 4 hr of downtown
Driving from Atlanta to a lake worth swimming in
Lake Allatoona is the closest graded water to Atlanta, 48 min away, and it grades D. Lake Blackshear grades B and takes 3 hr — 2 hr 12 min more in the car, each way, for water that clears the bar.
Every lake below is ranked by how long the drive is, and labelled with the water-quality letter it earned. Closest is not the same as cleanest, and this page will not pretend otherwise.
Closer, or cleaner — the whole ladder
31 lakes, sorted by drive time from downtown Atlanta. Letters in range: 3 A, 1 B, 21 C, 6 D. Some of the best water is over a state line — this list crosses into North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee. The furthest entry is Lake Julian at 4 hr.
| Drive | Lake | Grade | Road miles | County | Size | Access |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 48 min | Lake Allatoona | D | 34 | Cherokee County, GA | Not recorded | ✓ Public |
| 1 hr 7 min | Lake Sidney Lanier | C | 51.1 | Forsyth County, GA | Not recorded | ✓ Public |
| 1 hr 7 min | High Falls Lake | D | 52.4 | Monroe County, GA | 573 ac | ✓ Public |
| 1 hr 14 min | Lake Jackson | D | 54.7 | Jasper County, GA | 4,500 ac | ✓ Public |
| 1 hr 24 min | Lake Juliette | C | 69.1 | Monroe County, GA | 3,600 ac | ✓ Public |
| 1 hr 35 min | Lake Tobesofkee | C | 80 | Bibb County, GA | 1,756 ac | ✓ Public |
| 1 hr 41 min | West Point Lake | C | 81.3 | Troup County, GA | 25,864 ac | ✓ Public |
| 1 hr 51 min | Carters Lake | C | 79.2 | Gilmer County, GA | 3,275 ac | ✓ Public |
| 1 hr 56 min | Lake Sinclair | C | 92.3 | Baldwin County, GA | 15,330 ac | Not recorded |
| 1 hr 57 min | Lake Harding | C | 93.1 | Harris County, GA | 5,850 ac | ✓ Public |
| 1 hr 59 min | Lake Oconee | C | 89.7 | Greene County, GA | Not recorded | ✓ Public |
| 2 hr | Lake Oliver | C | 105 | Muscogee County, GA | 2,280 ac | ✓ Public |
| 2 hr 1 min | Lake Blue Ridge | C | 96.9 | Fannin County, GA | 3,220 ac | ✓ Public |
| 2 hr 10 min | Lake Rabun | C | 101.8 | Rabun County, GA | Not recorded | ✓ Public |
| 2 hr 19 min | Lake Hartwell | C | 113.8 | Hart County, GA | 55,950 ac | ✓ Public |
| 2 hr 19 min | Goat Rock Lake | C | 117.9 | Harris County, GA | 960 ac | ✓ Public |
| 2 hr 21 min | Lake Burton | C | 106 | Rabun County, GA | 2,775 ac | ✓ Public |
| 2 hr 24 min | Lake Nottely | C | 110.3 | Union County, GA | 3,970 ac | ✓ Public |
| 2 hr 37 min | Apalachia Lake | C | 124.6 | Cherokee County, NC | 1,100 ac | Not recorded |
| 2 hr 40 min | Chatuge Lake | C | 115.5 | Clay County, NC | Not recorded | ✓ Public |
| 2 hr 42 min | Lake Richard B. Russell | C | 124.6 | Elbert County, GA | 26,653 ac | ✓ Public |
| 2 hr 46 min | Hiwassee Reservoir | C | 126 | Cherokee County, NC | 5,870 ac | ✓ Public |
| 3 hr | Lake Blackshear | B | 158.4 | Crisp County, GA | 8,700 ac | Not recorded |
| 3 hr 8 min | Lake Tugalo | C | 126.2 | Oconee County, SC | Not recorded | Not recorded |
| 3 hr 21 min | Nantahala Lake | C | 148.8 | Macon County, NC | 1,605 ac | ✓ Public |
| 3 hr 25 min | Lake Worth | A | 178.9 | Dougherty County, GA | 1,400 ac | ✓ Public |
| 3 hr 27 min | Flint River Reservoir | A | 180.9 | Dougherty County, GA | 1,400 ac | ✓ Public |
| 3 hr 40 min | Lake Summit | D | 178.5 | Henderson County, NC | 290 ac | Not recorded |
| 3 hr 41 min | Lake Junaluska | D | 171.9 | Haywood County, NC | 195 ac | Not recorded |
| 3 hr 43 min | Caney Creek Lake | D | 188 | Roane County, TN | Not recorded | ✓ Public |
| 4 hr | Lake Julian | A | 197.9 | Buncombe County, NC | 470 ac | Not recorded |
What the numbers are, and are not
Drive times and road miles are one-way road routing from downtown Atlanta to the nearest public road at each lake, over the OpenStreetMap network via OSRM (router.project-osrm.org) over OpenStreetMap, driving profile, free-flow. Free-flow means no traffic model and no time of day, so a weekend morning will beat these numbers and a Friday afternoon will not.
The letter is the lake’s A–F water-quality grade: clarity, total phosphorus and chlorophyll-a measured over years, not a rating of the beach, the boat ramp or the view. An A describes the lake’s record; it does not clear the water for a particular afternoon. Lakes with no letter are not listed here, because the letter is the only axis this page ranks on.
Size and access come from the lake record where the agency published them. “Not recorded” means nobody documented it — it is a gap in the paperwork, not a statement about the lake.
More lakes near Atlanta
Nearby cities
Common questions
Frequently Asked Questions
Lake Blackshear in Crisp County, Georgia. It grades B and the drive is 3 hr, or 158.4 road miles. The closest graded lake of any kind is Lake Allatoona at 48 min, and it grades D.
2 hr 12 min each way. Lake Allatoona is 48 min out and grades D; Lake Blackshear is 3 hr out and grades B.
24 of the 31 lakes here have a public access point on the record, and the closest is Lake Allatoona, 48 min away, grading D. The rest of the table shows "Not recorded" where no access point was documented, which is not the same as no access — check with the managing agency before you trailer a boat.
By road, from downtown Atlanta to the nearest public road at each lake, over the OpenStreetMap road network. They are free-flow times: no traffic, no time of day, no stops. Treat them as the floor, and add for rush hour and for the last stretch to the water.
No. The letter summarises years of phosphorus, nitrogen, algae and turbidity measurements — it describes the lake, not this afternoon. A beach closure, a bloom, or a heavy rain can change conditions on an A lake overnight. Check the lake's own page for its measurement record, and check the managing agency for current advisories before you get in.
Stay by the water, not by the highway
Cabins, hotels and rentals around Lake Blackshear in Crisp County — the closest lake to Atlanta that grades B. 3 hr from downtown.
Top-rated places to stay near Lake Blackshear
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